CFP 2027 | Many faces of prosperity

5-6 February 2027 | Faculty of Arts, Charles University | Prague, Czech Republic

The Prague Conference of Young Historians invites undergraduate, master’s, and early doctoral researchers to submit proposals for the first conference organized by FFabula – Students of History Association at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University.

The inaugural edition of the conference, titled Many Faces of Prosperity, seeks to explore prosperity as a historical, cultural, political, economic, environmental, and symbolic phenomenon. Across different periods and societies, prosperity has been imagined as abundance, growth, stability, salvation, progress, or power, while its absence has often shaped experiences of crisis, inequality, scarcity, and decline. The conference aims to create an interdisciplinary platform for discussing how prosperity has been defined, pursued, represented, institutionalized, and contested throughout history.

We welcome contributions from a broad range of historical perspectives and methodological approaches, including interdisciplinary, didactic, museological, and comparative research.

Suggested topics

Possible themes include, but are not limited to:

Economic and Material Prosperity

  • Historical concepts of abundance and scarcity 
  • Distribution of wealth and access to resources 
  • Social inequality and prosperity 
  • Economic crises, overproduction, and consumerism 
  • Political economies of prosperity 
  • Colonialism, imperial expansion, and the pursuit of prosperity

Political and Ideological Dimensions

  • Prosperity as a tool of political legitimacy 
  • National prosperity and state-building 
  • Propaganda and representations of prosperity in political regimes 
  • Scarcity, rationing, sanctions, and controlled deficit 
  • Utopian and dystopian visions of prosperous societies

Cultural and Symbolic Representations

  • Prosperity in art, literature, religion, and visual culture 
  • Symbols and aesthetics of abundance 
  • Rituals, celebrations, festivals, and public performances of prosperity 
  • The “Golden Age” and other idealized pasts 
  • Cultural production and the development of fine and applied arts

Environmental and Ecological Perspectives

  • Nature as an abundant or exhaustible resource 
  • Environmental exploitation and sustainability 
  • Climate crisis and the limits of growth 
  • Historical relationships between societies and natural resources 
  • Comparative perspectives on environmental abundance

Religious and Philosophical Approaches

  • Theological understandings of prosperity, providence, and grace 
  • Prosperity and asceticism 
  • Moral regulation of excess and consumption 
  • Philosophical reflections on scarcity, excess, and human desire

Media, Technology, and Knowledge

  • Digital abundance and information overload 
  • Technological utopias and post-scarcity visions 
  • Automation and changing concepts of labor and productivity 
  • Archival excess and large-scale historical data

Body, Emotion, and Everyday Experience

  • Sensory experiences of abundance and excess 
  • Hunger, famine, and bodily experiences of scarcity 
  • Emotional responses to prosperity, decline, and uncertainty 
  • Consumption, discipline, and the regulation of the body

Temporality, Instability, and Decline

  • Cycles of prosperity and crisis 
  • Loss, decline, and transformations of prosperity 
  • Nostalgia for periods of abundance 
  • Historical perceptions of progress and decline

Museums, Memory, and Education

  • Representations of prosperity in museums and exhibitions 
  • Prosperity in heritage and memory institutions 
  • Educational and didactic approaches to prosperity and scarcity 
  • Public history and collective memory of abundance and decline

Methodological and Interdisciplinary Approaches

  • Quantitative and qualitative approaches to prosperity 
  • Comparative and transnational perspectives 
  • Intersections of history with anthropology, sociology, economics, environmental studies, media studies, and related disciplines

Conference Details

Date: 5–6 February 2027
Venue: Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Language: English

Eligibility

We invite proposals from:

  • Undergraduate students
  • Master’s students
  • Recent graduates (MA/Mgr.)
  • Early doctoral students

Submission Guidelines

Presentations should be 15 minutes long.

Please submit an abstract of approximately 200–300 words outlining:

  • the main argument or research question,
  • methodological approach, and
  • primary sources or materials used.

Submissions should be sent via Google Forms no later than 31 October 2026.

Applicants will be notified of acceptance in December 2026.

Conference Fee: The conference fee will be announced at a later date and is expected to be approximately 20 EUR (500 CZK).

Please note that accommodation and travel expenses cannot be reimbursed.

Contact

E-mail: pcyh@ffabula.cz
Website: www.pcyh.ffabula.cz
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