In recent years, the past, and particularly national pasts, have become the object of intense public scrutiny and political debates. Throughout Europe, the importance of "mastering" the past has long been recognized by the political elite and leadership. Indeed, there is virtually no other way of reading narratives of the past - especially the national but also cultural, personal and other "micro-level" past than politically. While "history" has always been at stake in national construction and any reading of it, "remembering" and narrating personal memories has always been an individual way of responding and criticizing official attempts of mastering national histories and other master narratives of history.
More often than not, the teleological story of heroic history of a country has been constructed in terms of a century-old struggle for freedom and independence. But what is the case of micro-level personal memories and narratives? Do they follow the same patterns as official macro-level attempts of mastering the past? Do individuals want to remember the past of their own and their country in terms of hero-stories and heroic fight for liberty and even democracy? How do individual people receive macro-level stories of national histories and other master discourses?
Are these "small voices" heard anywhere and have they been taken seriously. How do "ordinary" people construct their understanding of the past? Do they "trust" master narratives or do they prefer to remember and believe stories told by their relatives, neighbours and other individuals? Are official master narratives important to ordinary people in the construction of their political identity and selfhood? 
        The principal aim of this doctoral symposium is to examine the micro-level reception of master narratives. Our intention is to gather together young scholars and post-graduate students of the politics of the past to discuss the relationship between official master narratives and individual memories and stories of individual past. 
        In addition, we want to invite to participate representatives of those groups of people - such as national minorities, romas, immigrants, foreigners - who have had particular difficulties to get their voices heard and taken seriously.
        Thirdly, our intention is to examine the possibilities of contemporaries of judging and understanding the question of what is really at stake in the endless fights between different master narratives. Are people able to understand that more often than not the politics of the past is one of the most effective ways of fighting for power shares in the present?
 
All papers dealing with the above-mentioned questions are welcome.
Please send your abstracts (max. one page) by the end of October at the latest to Jouni Tilli ([email protected]), Tuija Parvikko ([email protected]) and Ir�ne Herrmann ([email protected])   
The final papers (10-30 pages) are to be delivered at the beginning of December at the latest. 
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: 
        Professor Michael Bentley (St. Andrews College, UK):
"The Politics of Historiography"
        Professor Enzo Traverso (University of Picardie Jules Verne, France):
"The Construction of European Memory"
ORGANISERS:Finnish Centre of Excellence in Political Thought and Conceptual Change (University of Jyv�skyl�) and the Department of History of the University of Fribourg.
CONTACTS: MA Jouni Tilli ([email protected]), Prof. Tuija Parvikko ([email protected]) and Prof. Ir�ne Herrmann ([email protected])