Call for Applications: Conference “Hybrid Identities in Imperial Spaces of Northern Eurasia”, Szczecin, Poland

The conference (28 - 29.10.2026) at the University of Szczecin in Poland seeks to interrogate nuanced mechanisms of imperial governance and identity formation, with a particular focus on the Russian Empire and its successor, the Soviet Union. It examines coercive and violent practices that sustained imperial power, but it also looks at the diverse strategies of adaptation, negotiation, and resistance that were employed by local populations. By foregrounding the interplay between imperial policies and individual behavior, the conference aims to capture the complex, context-specific ways in which people negotiated power, pursued their interests, and shaped imperial governance from below.

The organizers invite contributions that examine specific regions of the Russian Empire and/or the Soviet Union and their interactions, including but not limited to:

• the western and northern imperial territories (mainly the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Finland, the Baltic provinces, and the western provinces of the Russian empire that roughly correspond to today’s Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova)
• the Transcaucasian region;
• Central Asia;
• the Far East;
• alternative colonial projects, such as Alaska, as well as processes of inner colonization within the imperial core or inter-imperial contexts.

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Application deadline: 10. April 2026.