De Achttiende Eeuw. Jaargang 43

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Annual Conference of the Dutch-Belgian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Werkgroep De Achttiende Eeuw
Centre and Periphery in the Enlightenment

In recent years, Enlightenment studies have moved away from a traditional national, most often Francocentric or Anglocentric focus towards a new view of the Enlightenment as an international process. New conceptual categories have emerged, including that of an international, transnational or Atlantic Enlightenment, while older categories such as the Republic of Letters have been revived. Yet these categories do not fully do justice to the power relations also underlying much Enlightenment debate, in the Low Countries and beyond. As attractive as the notion of a transnational Enlightenment may be, it obscures the unequal access to power of different participants in Enlightenment debate, not only in terms of geography but also related social, institutional, and class identifications.

This conference examines the usefulness of the concepts of centre and periphery in addressing power discrepancies between participants in Enlightenment debates. In doing so, it takes up the provocative question formulated by one of the conference's key-note speakers, Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra: ‘whose Enlightenment was it anyway?’ Who defined what the Enlightenment's central discourse and players were, and who defined its periphery? How did centre-periphery relations work horizontally, i.e. across national borders, as well as vertically, i.e. within them? And how does the existence of such relations complicate current historiography on the Enlightenment, in Europe and beyond?

Friday January 20

University administration building/ Bestuursgebouw, Oude Boteringestraat 44, Grote Vergaderzaal

11.30 - 12.30	Annual meeting of the Dutch-Belgian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Sandwich lunch
12.45 - 13.00	Opening of the conference: prof. dr. Goffe Jensma
13.00 - 14.00	Keynote: ‘The Enlightenment’: On Imperial Historiograpical Categories and Forgotten Epistemologies Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra (University of Texas)
14.00 - 15.00	Session 1: Colonial centres and peripheries From Heathen to Hindus: Europe, India, and the Enlightenment Hanco Jürgens (University of Amsterdam)
	Dirk and Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp's Colonial Utopias Edwin van Meerkerk (Radboud University Nijmegen)

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15.00 - 15.30	Coffee break
15.30 - 17.00	Session 2: European centres and peripheries Looking back at eighteenth-century European cultures: How peripheral are peripheries? Vanda Anastacio (University of Lisbon)
	Outsiders on the Inside: The ‘singularity’ of Pieter van Woensel and his Lantaarn within an Enlightenment context Ivo Nieuwenhuis (Universities of Amsterdam and Utrecht)
	The Reception of the Scottish Enlightenment in East-Central Europe Monika Baár (University of Groningen)
17.00 - 17:30	Prize ceremony, MA thesis prize of the Dutch Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies

Saturday January 21

Conference centre ‘Het Kasteel’, Melkweg 1, Congreszaal

9.15-11.15	Session 3: Centre and periphery in Enlightenment political discourse Introductory remarks Joris van Eijnatten (Universiteit Utrecht)
	On the Periphery of Paris Sociability: Representations and Realities Erica J. Manucci (University of Milano-Bicocca)
	Monarchism as Political Paradox and Periphery Carolina Armenteros (University of Groningen)
	The Politics of Enlightenment: From Peter Gay to Jonathan Israel Annelien de Dijn (University of Amsterdam)
11.15-11.45	Coffee break
11.45-12.45	Session 4: Insiders and outsiders in the arts Literature and the Imperialism of Enlightenment in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815 -1830) Janneke Weijermans (University ofAntwerp)
	Centre and periphery in eighteenth-century European music history Krisztina Lajosi (University of Amsterdam)
12.45-13.45	Sandwich lunch
13.45-14.45	Keynote: Between construction and mapping: Centre-periphery relations in the history of science and technology Lissa Roberts (University of Twente)
14.45-15.15	Coffee break
15.15-16.45	Session 5: Centre and periphery in scientific discourse Evaluating Johann Reinhold Forster's Engagement with the Enlightenment Marja van Tilburg (University of Groningen)

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	Wonders, tricks and education: Early popularization of science and the road to modern religion Alexandra Grieser (University of Groningen)
	Fringe Knowledge? Rethinking the esoteric Enlightenment Kocku von Stuckrad (University of Groningen)
16.45 - 17.00	Closing remarks Alicia Montoya (University of Groningen)

Participation

Conference registration website Werkgroep 18e eeuw (Dutch-Belgian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies): www.18e-eeuw.nl or to secretariat of the congress: attn. Dr Lex Raat, Corneillelaan 22, 3533 CW Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Admission fee Friday January 20, 2012: € 15,- (students and AIO € 10,-). The price includes lunch, coffee, tea and reception Groningen town hall.

Admission fee Saturday January 21, 2012: € 25,- (students and AIO € 15,-). The price includes lunch, coffee, tea.

After registration the costs of the admission fee have to be paid to the Werkgroep 18e eeuw in Utrecht: girorekening 5533514, please mention name, day(s) of participation and ‘conference 2012’.

Participants from Belgium can use Postcheque 000-1714065-75, please mention name, day(s) of participation and ‘conference 2012’.

International payments by bank transfer: ING bank, IBAN NL09INGB0005533514 and BIC INGBNL2A. Please mention name, day(s) of participation and ‘conference 2012’.

For hotel reservations please consult the website of the Werkgroep 18e eeuw: www.18e-eeuw.nl.

Places of meeting

Friday January 20, 2012:

University administration building/ Bestuursgebouw, Oude Boteringestraat 44, Grote Vergaderzaal.

Saturday January 21, 2012:

Conference centre ‘Het Kasteel’, Melkweg 1, Congreszaal.