by the Past & Present editorial team

Received from Dr. Craig Griffiths (Manchester Metropolitan University) June 2019 marked the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City, often credited as the spark that set gay liberation alight, not just in the U.S., but around the Western world. However, rather than a one-way flow from across the Atlantic, the European gay liberation and lesbian feminist movements that sprang up in the early 1970s were also influenced by national events, ideologies and imaginaries. They interacted with each other in a network of action and ideas. With this conference, we want to rethink the movements that Stonewall supposedly spawned in Europe. Join us at Manchester Metropolitan University on 6th December to explore the national, European and transnational factors that gave rise to gay liberation. Registration is free: please book via Eventbrite by 1 December. A vegetarian lunch is provided; please let us know if you have any further dietary or access requirements. Event Details: Date/Time; 9:00-18:45, 6th December 2019 Location; Room JD T0.03, John Dalton Building, Chester Street, Manchester M1 5GD A full-programme can be found here.  

by the Past & Present editorial team 2019 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the end of the state “socialist” regimes in central and eastern Europe. To reflect upon what did and didn’t change during momentous year, how the anniversary has been marked so far, and to consider what the long term effects might be, Past & Present is pleased to present our latest Viewpoint “1989 At Thirty: A Recast Legacy” by Prof. Paul Betts (St. Anthony’s, Oxford). It is available via open access. “These days 1989 isn’t what it used to be. Not so long ago the wildfire revolutions that swept across Eastern Europe during that momentous year were routinely celebrated as the grand victory of liberal democracy over Soviet-style communism. However, recent developments in Poland, Hungary and elsewhere on the continent which in various ways all invoked 1989, either as inspiration or negative foil, behove us to reconsider the effects of that fateful year in Central Europe from a different perspective. The rise of xenophobia, resurgent populist politics on both the Radical Right and the Left, as well as the spread of ‘illiberal democracy’ across Europe, the US and elsewhere have predictably generated great alarm. Plenty of commentary on […]