Thinking Alternatives: A Historical Perspective
Principal Investigator at ZRC SAZU
Tanja Petrović, PhD-
Original Title
Misliti alternative: zgodovinski pogled
Project Team
Ana Hofman, PhD, Assist. Prof. Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc, Oto Luthar, PhD, Martin Pogačar, PhD, Valter Cvijić, PhD-
Duration
1 October 2016–30 September 2018 Partners
Nikolai Ssorin-Chaikov, PhD, Department of History at The Higher School of Econ…, Marina Loskutova, PhD, Department of History at The Higher School of Economics …, Alexander M. Semyonov, PhD, Department of History at The Higher School of Econo…, Julia Lajus, PhD, Department of History at The Higher School of Economics in St…, Tatiana Borisova, PhD, Department of History at The Higher School of Economics …
However urgent the alternatives seem at the moment, the search for alternatives, imagining and realizing them has been a longstanding and essential shaping force of modern history across the globe. Hence it is urgent to investigate why and for whom the alternatives to the existing regimes mattered in various historical and socio-political contexts. We need to decipher who were the actors behind their realization and, not least, what “being an alternative” at all meant in a particular historical moment. Thus we may not only gain a better understanding of the current state affairs in politics, society, economy, and culture, but also a thorough grasp of the wider dynamics of political, social, and economic processes.
This bilateral project addresses these issues through a comparative analysis of several historical moments and the social, cultural, and political contexts that were either significantly marked by seeking alternatives or have employed the discourse of alternative.