After the crisis. Changes and narratives of normality in Franconia and beyond from a historical perspective / online conference

After the crisis


Ethnic & Cultural Studies History Anthropology Archaeology



‘Back to normal’ is a basic human need in the aftermath of a crisis. It can be seen as an attempt to regain a seemingly lost normality by selected and controlled measures.

defined as trying to get back to a lost normality by applying selected, controlling actions.

However, a look at past crisis situations suggests that the previous status cannot simply be reconstructed. New sets of perceptions, structures and narratives of ‘normality’ come into existence, which leads to several questions: How did they develop? Who was involved in the decision-making process? And how influential and substantial were these changes?

All these topics will be in the focus of an online conference organized by the Institute for Franconian History (Thurnau) from October 19th to 20th 2020.



The conference aims to demonstrate lasting social, political, and economic changes caused by crises and to gather insight into perceptions of ‘normality’ over a wide range of periods and contexts. Additionally, we want to examine the spectrum of measures that have been tried – successfully or unsuccessfully – in the aftermath of crises.



Proposed contributions should focus on one or more of the following questions:



- How did narratives of ‘normality’ change by crises?

- To what extent did existing structures, activities and processes transform due to a crisis? How long did they last and how persistent have they been?

- In what way did crises expedite, inhibit, disrupt, or end processes already going on?

- What protagonists and what institutions participated in surmounting a crisis? Was there an evolution of new structures carrying responsibility?

- What circumstances laid the ground for actually defining a situation as a crisis? How did the awareness of being in a crisis establish?

- Did historic examples of rating and finally overcoming crises play a role?

- Can we even state regular patterns of establishing new normality?



On the first day, we will open up the topic on a transregional level without any specific local or chronological focus. Thus, topics from European and Non-European contexts are welcome (conference language will be English on that day). The second day will focus on case studies for the Franconian area (conference language will be German).



The Institute plans to publish the contributions in a digital format.



Organizational matters:

Contributions should not exceed 20 minutes. Please send your proposal, including an abstract (2.000 characters including spaces), a short academic CV and your contact address to info@iflg-thurnau.de. Deadline for submission of proposals is July 23th, 2020.

Postgraduates are explicitly encouraged to submit their own individual papers.



The online conference is going to use a ‘Zoom’-platform. Conference languages are English (day 1) and German (day 2).



The conference team will select proposals and inform applicants by mid-August 2020. Participants will receive all access information in due time before the conference.



By submitting your proposal, you agree to the use of your contact data for further communication and organizational matters during the event.