ceecon 26: Call-for-Papers

Call-for-Papers

!Deadline for submissions in all categories is January 15, 2026!

On 8 and 9 October 2026, the German Association for East European Studies (DGO), the Freie Universität Berlin (FU) and the Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS) will jointly host the third Congress of Central and East European Studies (ceecon26) in Berlin.

ceecon is the largest multidisciplinary congress on Central and Eastern Europe in the German-speaking realm. It was established in 2022 as a cooperative project of the DGO and the Freie Universität’s Institute for East European Studies (Osteuropa-Institut).

ceecon provides the international research community with an important froum for exchanging and discussing the latest research findings on the region. The congress spotlights scholarly work on the Baltic States, Central and Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia.

Academic exchange on topics relevant to all scholars in the field will take place in plenary sessions. Parallel sections will address research questions concerning a broad variety of topics and methodological approaches. ceecon also offers space for the presentation of research projects and round tables on special issues. We especially encourage young researches to participate in the congress.

The theme of ceecon26 is (Un)Certainties

There is a tangible sense of living in a time when established certainties are unravelling and new uncertainties are reshaping global realities. Russia’s war against Ukraine and its far-reaching implications for Ukraine, Russia, the wider region, and the world are still impossible to fully grasp. At the same time, the international order rooted in the post-World War II era is undergoing significant changes. Europe, particularly its former socialist regions, but also Central Asia and the Caucasus, are pivotal areas for a restructuring of orders. Old alliances are put to the test, while new alliances and institutions are forming with uncertain stability and outcomes. While we observe the emergence of new orders, the resilience of both democracies and autocracies is contested. Political, economic, and military power, norms, identities, and memories are being renegotiated. Violent solutions have become more appealing to various actors, shaping perceptions, practices, and policies at local, national, and international levels. In this complex situation, literature and culture play a special role as spaces where new cognitive frames and models are explored.

ceecon26 will bring together different disciplinary perspectives (history, sociology, political science, political economy, geography, anthropology, literary and cultural studies, etc.) to reflect on historical and contemporary uncertainties and certainties and on interactions between the two. How much certainty is there within the apparent uncertainties? How do people and societies deal with growing uncertainties, and how does this influence the stability of orders? How do changes of regional power relationships, structures, and institutions intersect with global developments? The inherent tension between certainty and uncertainty also raises definitional and methodological issues: What exactly constitutes (un)certainty? How can it be measured or observed?

Under the umbrella theme of (Un)Certainties, we especially welcome contributions on the following themes:
• Dynamics and effects of war and violence
• Security perceptions and policies
• Global (dis)order and the formation of new political, economic, and social orders
• Democratisation and autocratisation
• Resilience through adaptation
• Historical perspectives on (un)certainties
• Contested ecologies, environmental catastrophes, and environmental humanities
• Migrations and movements
• Academic freedom and civil/fundamental rights
• Artificial intelligence and new orders
• Crisis response and innovation
• Culture, memory, and politics
• Comparative perspectives
• (Un)certain perspectives for East European Studies

We welcome proposals for:

• Individual papers
• Panels (Proposals for panels should consist of three thematically relevant papers from different institutions and, preferably, from different disciplines. We especially welcome submissions for panels that also include junior researchers.)
• Presentations of research projects by PhD students (PhD students may also submit proposals for individual papers and for panels).
• Roundtables
• Other innovative formats

Junior researchers whose papers are accepted will be invited to compete in the Young ceecon Award for best submission. More information will be provided upon official acceptance of a proposal for the congress. Eligibility for participation in the competition is limited to junior researchers and post docs whose dissertation was submitted no more than three years before the date of receipt of the ceecon proposal.

Submit proposals here:

• Paper: https://forms.gle/rb6x44wff11AaHbt9
• Panels: https://forms.gle/VNBf37orQpgyn8xA9
• New Research Pe(e)rspectives (PhD projects): https://forms.gle/Dm1Q3fBDGhdvop3j8
• Round Tables: https://forms.gle/gnd71z3WzX1pVU3CA
• Others:https://forms.gle/eG97YBkxemBG29fR6

!Deadline for submissions in all categories is January 15, 2026!

There are no conference fees. Participants are expected to pay for travel and accommodation themselves. (Junior) researchers who do not receive institutional support may apply for travel grants.

Please note:
The organizers of ceecon do not collaborate with Russian state institutions. Anyone supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine will not be welcome.

Organising committee:
Anna Artwińska, Katharina Bluhm, Fabian Burkhardt, Gabriele Freitag, Heidi Hein-Kircher, Robert Kindler, Ariana Kravchuk, Gwendolyn Sasse

Contact:
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Osteuropakunde / German Association for East European Studies (DGO)
Schaperstraße 30
10719 Berlin