The reconstruction of geographic granular evidence in historical perspective is a significant issue affecting several relevant streams of literature. Reconstructing homogenous statistical units at the municipal level allows for a deeper understanding of local dynamics, at least for population, which is the immediate economic proxy to untangling long-run development patterns, as population movements are tightly linked to economic events and could lead as a result to the development of agglomeration effects in the long run. However, numerous political and administrative changes have affected territories, their inhabitants and, inevitably, the historical sources on which we historians draw to reconstruct population figures. Therefore, strategies are necessary to confront these changes and the problems they represent both when obtaining data from historical sources and when carrying out historical analyses based on it. In this regard, we can say that this type of research often involves reconciling the irreconcilable.
Thus, this workshop proposal aims at bringing together scholars from various disciplines interested in reconstructing historical figures of population and, when available, measures on other socio-economic aspects of society (such as employment or literacy) for European countries by introducing the pseudomunicipalities or constant borders approach that would allow for the use of such data from an intertemporal perspective. We believe that this could be a promising starting point for constructing a network devoted to the fine-grained reconstruction of European local population in the long run. Contributions that focus on methods or empirical applications regarding all European countries, regions and time periods are encouraged.
There is no workshop fee. The organization will provide accommodation for one presenting author per paper. Meals are included, and there will be food and refreshments available during the breaks. Travel expenses cannot be covered.
Deadline for submission: May 17, 2024 (
PDF)
Submission instructions: Please send an abstract (around 300 words) through this
form.
