Re-examining Empire from the Margins, Munich October 2021

This two-day international workshop, organised by Bernhard Schär and Mikko Toivanen, brought together scholars working on historical imperial entanglements of European spaces not conventionally thought of as major imperial powers, such as Scandinavian as well as Central and Eastern European territories. The purpose of the event was to encourage dialogue between experts working on different geographical regions, providing an opportunity to take stock and learn from each other, but also to identify gaps in the emerging literature and push the field into fruitful new directions. In particular, the workshop sought explore the ways in which a ‘view from the margins’ can transcend individual national contexts and enrich our global understanding of the transnational workings of empire.

The workshop focussed on modern, rather than early modern empires, but in many ways that made the dialogue with the PI’s and the project’s research more interesting. As a discussant, Felicia got to listen to all papers and contributions, which made for fascinating parallels with – and contrasts to – early modern marginalities and empires.