The year of 2008 will mark the 40th anniversary of the Prague Spring, the French May events, as well as numerous other protest movements which attempted to bring about domestic change and transform the geopolitical confines of the Cold War. Due to this occasion, the Marie-Curie-Conference and Training Courses on "European Protest Movements since 1945" invite applications for an international summer school in Prague on European peace and protest cultures from 1945-1989.

We will take the anniversary and the historical location as an
opportunity to discuss the contributions of protest movements to processes of political participation and transformations of culture and value systems in European societies from an interdisciplinary perspective. Our goal is to examine the variety of political, social, cultural and aesthetical forms of protest and social dissent by including all sides of the political spectrum. Particular emphasis will be laid on the impact of peace and protest cultures for the development of a European transnational civil society and for the international diffusion of alternative lifestyles and cultural practices.

Though mainly focusing on the years of the Cold War, our aim is also to analyze the influence of longer historical trajectories reaching into the first half of the century, as well as to make the connection to more recent forms of social dissent and protest phenomena in the era of the internet. By bringing together innovative approaches to phenomena of social change, protest movements and cultures of dissent in Europe
during the Cold War from a variety of disciplines, the summer school wants to offer a more comprehensive view of historical and cultural transformations in the 20th century.

Thematically, we therefore invite applications from scholars whose research is focused on:
- aesthetic and literary avant-gardes (e.g. DADA, surrealism,
situationism, etc.)
- anarchist and autonomous movements
- nationalist and conservative movements
- fascist and neo-fascist movements
- peace movements
- workers and peasants protest
- labor and trade union activism
- 1968 in East and West
- sexual politics
- new social movements (womens / environmental movement, etc.)
- the revolutions of 1989
- recent nationalist or right-wing movements
- terrorist movements and violence
- cyber-protest / dissent in the age of the internet

We especially encourage applications implementing perspectives on:
- media strategies of protest movements
- alternative lifestyles within countercultural movements
- transnational networks and communication
- transfer and re-contextualization of cultural practices
- languages of dissent and protest
- emotions
- constructions of race and class
- the impact of protest movements on international relations
- the perception of the superpowers and the Cold War
- aesthetics and artistic dimensions of protest from the field of
cultural studies

The organizational format of the summer school will feature various workshops with leading scholars of different disciplines, panel discussions on overarching themes and innovative approaches, as well as oral presentation by the participants. The aim is to foster an academic dialogue across disciplinary boundaries while at the same time providing ample space for discussion and mutual exchange.

Applications from postgraduate students, early stage researchers (PhD-students), postdocs and young scholars from all disciplinary and national backgrounds are strongly encouraged and form the main, although not exclusive, target group for this event.

Successful applicants will be provided with a travel grant and a living allowance that should cover all necessary expenses.

Although the conference language will mainly be English, we also invite proposals in Czech, French, Spanish, Dutch, German and Polish, if a short summary in English is provided.