Minority History
The BASEES Study Group for Minority History (SGMH) is a forum devoted to the study of minority groups in the national and regional histories of Central, Eastern and Southeastern European from the Napoleonic Wars to the contemporary past. Its key aim is to assist scholars, currently working in this area of enquiry by fostering international networks to help promote and share their research. It also seeks to encourage collaborative forms of scholarship across different aspects of minority history such as the evolution of identity, diaspora-formation, inter-communal engagements, the development of cultural institutions, relations with states and state actors and the impact of regional conflicts. In addition, the SGMH aims to encourage the use of new methodologies, interdisciplinary scholarly approaches and theoretical frameworks in the study of minority groups.
The SGMH main activities include:
a biannual 2-day workshop allowing scholars to present and receive feedback on their current research;
events organised through the BASEES Annual Conference including panels, roundtables and symposia;
publication of papers presented at the SGMH events in relevant peer-review journals, as well as non-specialist publications dedicated to the on-going research in the field.
The group's current organisers are Olena Palko (University of Basel), Samuel Foster (University of East Anglia), and Raul Carstocea (Maynooth University).
The SGMH is open to all scholars working in relevant research areas at academic institutions from across the UK and internationally. Registration and membership are free. For further information, membership enquiry and/or to join our mailing list please e-mail: sgmh.basees@gmail.com.
Membership in the group is free.
The Study Group was launched with an inaugural symposium ‘Being a Minority in Times of Catastrophe’, which took place at Birkbeck in Spring 2021
Other activities of the SGMH include:
The podcast series “Eastern Europe’s Minorities in a Century of Change” also on Youtube
Special Issue “Contested minorities in the ‘New Europe’: Special Issue”, published in National Identities, Volume 23, Issue 4 (2021).
Special Issue “Being a Minority in Times of a Crises”, published in Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas, Volume 71, December 2023, issue 3
Special Issue “Minorities at War” in The Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe (JEMIE):
Part 1: State Policies in Times of Conflict, published in Vol. 23 No. 2 (2024)
Part 2: Minority Agency in Times of Conflict, published in Vol. 23 No. 3 (2024)
Online lecture series “Discover Ukraine: history, culture, and its people”. All lectures can be viewed on demand on the SGMH YouTube channel.
Open Access Spanish-language volume about Ukraine, Descubriendo Ucrania. Su pueblo, su historia y su cultura, Olena Palko y Manuel Ferez (cords.), Buenos Aires, Poliedro Editorial de la Universidad San Isidro, 2022.
Open Access volume Ukraine's Many Faces
Land, People, and Culture Revisited, edited by Olena Palko and Manuel Ferez Gil (Belfield: Transcript-Verlag, 2023)
The Prize for Best First Book Proposal in Minority History was established to recognize scholarly excellence among early career academics seeking to publish their original research with a major English-language academic press. The call for nominations in 2025 can be found here.
Our third international workshop, Minorities at War from Napoleon to Putin took place on 11-12 May 2023, at New Europe College, Bucharest, Romania. This event has been sponsored by the Center for Governance and Culture in Europe at the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland), and the New Europe College in Bucharest (Romania).
The Conference Report can be found here.
