Andrei Poletayev Memorial Readings (September 27th, 2011)
Higher School of Economics
Institute for Theoretical and Historical Studies in the Humanities
20, Myasnitskaya str.
Andrei Poletayev Memorial Readings
September 27th, 2011
The Institute for Theoretical and Historical Studies in the Humanities at the Higher School of Economics invites all colleagues to take part in a one-day conference devoted to the memory of Andrei V. Poletayev. During the conference, a collection of his works will be presented that has been edited by his friends and colleagues. This volume reflects the wide range of Andrei Poletayev’s research endeavors and the invariably high standard of scholarly work that his texts in all disciplinary areas show. The variety of Andrei Poletayev's interests and his unique experience as scholar and research facilitator are reflected in the structure of the conference. It includes four panels: "history", "economics", "sociology", and "classical studies", each panel providing an opportunity for substantial discussion of issues that are of particular importance for the respective field of knowledge nowadays. The format of each panel is set by its chairperson. The Institute for Theoretical and Historical Studies in the Humanities intends to make the Andrei Poletayev Memorial Readings an annual interdisciplinary conference.
The conference program
11-00. Plenary session. Room 311.
Conference opening. Commemorative contributions about Andrei Poletaev. Presentation of the book: Non-classical heritage. Andrei Poletayev (Moscow, 2011).
12-30. Panels.
Historical knowledge: supply and demand (History). Chaired by Irina M. Savelieva (ITHSH). Room 309
In several articles by Andrei Poletayev, a case is made for the idea that in different types of knowledge the past social reality is constructed in different ways and according to different rules. Elaborating on various aspects of this theme, participants of the panel analyze the theoretical foundations, research frameworks and practices that are characteristic of scientific and ‘public’ history (‘public history’, ‘people’s history’, ‘policy-relevant history’). The discussion is focused on how the past is constructed in scientific and public history, and on the historian’s professional identity. How is historical knowledge produced in academic institutions? What conventions govern the construction of the past beyond the academic context? Is ‘public history’ a separate trade (or even a discipline) with special legitimacy conditions applied to the knowledge produced by it? What are the mechanisms of a scientific historian’s transformation into a public one when he acts as a ‘knowledge transmitter’?
Speakers:
Mikhail Boytsov (HSE, Moscow State University). National history as a sort of fairy tale.
Vladimir Berelovitch (EHESS, Paris). The prefaces to courses of Russian history as a genre: from Karamzin to Klyuchevsky.
Pavel Uvarov (HSE, Institute of Universal History, Russian Academy of Sciences). The useful history and professional historians.
Cycles - crisis of 2008-2011 - rate of return (Economics). Chaired by Leonid M. Grigoryev (HSE, REA). Room 327-k
The panel is focused on cycles and crises. These two issues seem to have been forgotten by economists but they always interested Andrei Poletayev and became extremely topical during the worldwide crisis. While the real cycle theory meant the end of the traditional analysis of cyclic fluctuations, today the crisis means the end of many established views of 1980-2008. More specific issues to be discussed include fluctuations of business activity in Russia’s past and present.
Speakers:
Sergey Smirnov (HSE). Cycles in the Russian industry … since 1861.
Elena Belyanova (Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences), Sergey Nikolaenko (Vneshekonombank). The 1998-2008 business cycle in Russia: domestic mechanisms of cyclic development emerging or international calamities imported?
Leonid Grigoryev (HSE, REA), Alexey Ivaschenko (Moscow State University, REA). The cycle theory: sustaining the third year of crisis.
14-30-15-30. Lunch break
15-30. Panels.
Mechanics of explanation in social sciences: beyond rhetoric and politics (Sociology). Chaired by Victor S. Vakhshtain (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration). Room 309
The panel works as a round table. Contributions by Aleksandr F. Filippov (CFS, ITHSH), Inna Devyatko (HSE), Mikhail Sokolov (European University of St Petersburg), Andrey Korbut (CFS ITHSH), Roman Abramov (HSE), Andrey Kozhanov (HSE) and others.
The epistemological wars which have inflamed in sociology in 1970’s aren't finished to this day. Instead, they usually assume the form of ‘low-profile issues’ with doubts periodically arising as to sociological explanations being actually scientific ones. Are sociological narratives mere ‘rhetoric exercises’ and ‘politically motivated actions’ (as critical epistemologists believe)? What is beyond rhetoric and politics? What status do sociological explanations have in scholarly communications and what does this status rest on? Does it have to do with the very mechanics of sociological explanation/descriptions, or is it, rather, a result of external and internal ‘stigmatization’? These are the questions on which the discussion at the round table is supposed to focus.
Medieval and early Modern Reading and Literary Culture (Classical studies). Chaired by Julia V. Ivanova (ITHSH). Room 327-k
Drawing on hitherto barely studied sources, the three speakers of this panel attend the peculiarities of the literary culture in the late Middle Ages, the Renaissance and Modernity, respectively. They focus on how different ways of book publishing and dissemination influenced the literary canon and the genre system of literature.
Speakers:
Oleg Voskoboynikov (HSE, Moscow State University). De modo legendi: Hugh of Saint Victor’s Didascalion and reading practices in the 12th century Western Europe.
Mikhail Shumilin (HSE, RSUH). “To fill lacunas and to return the sweetest poet his original splendor”: The adventures of a text in 16th century Europe.
Nikolay Gordiychuk (RSUH). The spread of book-printing and the transformation of the literary canon in colonial Southern India.
17-30. Conference closing, good-bye banquet. Room 309.
Organizing committee: Irina Savelieva, ITHSH Director; Natalia Samutina, ITHSH Chief Researcher; Alexey Pleshkov, ITHSH Academic Secretary.