From: Tapio Bergholm
Making Global and Local Connections: Historical Perspectives on Port Economics
Call for Papers for a port history session of the XIV International Economic History Congress IEHC, Helsinky, Finland, 21-25 August 2006 and a pre-conference to be held in Kotka (Finland), 18-20 August 2006
Organising committee: Senior Lecturer Tapio Bergholm, University of Helsinki (Finland), Professor Lewis R. Fischer, Memorial University of Newfoundland (Canada); Doctor M. Elisabetta Tonizzi, University of Genoa (Italy). For more information about the organisers, please see below.
The organising committee has made a proposal to International Economic History Association (IEHA) for a port history session, entitled Making Global and Local Connections: Historical Perspectives on Port Economics, which has been accepted and officially scheduled as session of the XIV International Economic History Congress (IEHC: www.helsinki.fi/iehc2006/), Helsinki, Finland, 21-25 August 2006. In preparation for the congress session mentioned above, a pre-conference, to be held in Kotka, Finland, 18-20 August 2006, will be organised.
Both the congress session and pre-conference are sponsored by the International Maritime Economic History Association (IMEHA), an affiliate of the International Commission for Economic History. The pre-conference in Kotka is also co-sponsored by the University of Helsinki's Continuing Education Centre in Kotka, the town and port of Kotka, and the Provincial Museum of Kymenlaakso.
Call for papers
Structural change has always been one of the main questions addressed by economic historians. Ports, which are focal points of international, national and local economic development and change, have also been a staple of historical research. Yet the two strands too often have been divorced: The pre-conference in Kotka and congress session in Helsinki aim to help to close this gap in the record of the past.
Although economic activities and social relations are heavily dependent on the dynamics in a particular locale, first and foremost they reflect key issues in global economic development. This is exemplified by the recent evolution of the world economic and transport systems. Beginning in the 1970s, globalisation, containerisation and intermodality led to the creation of a "door-to-door" transport system operated by international multi-modal operators which are not linked to a particular port but rather choose the hub which can accommodate massive volumes, provide the best cargo handling and guarantee frequent and rapid connections to other ports and the hinterland. Consequently, ports have been transformed into mere nodes of multi-modal transport and delivery networks which connect original producers to final consumers regardless of location. To meet the demands of growing traffic flows, infrastructure for handling, storage and parking are needed. So too are new transport connections, such as railways and motorways. On the other hand, owing to major technological and organisational innovations, the traditionally positive impact of ports on employment and revenues has decreased sharply.
As a result of all these changes, port history has become a significant field of research to aid in our understanding of the historical transformation of economic, commercial, transport and technological networks, as well as industrial, social and urban relations. Interesting research projects from various temporal periods are now nearing completion. Moreover, new research on port economics has deepened our comprehension of the complicated interplay between import and export markets, whether beyond the sea or closer at hand. The congress session and related pre-conference aim to bring together a group of port historians interested in these kinds of issues.
Deadline for papers submission
Participants are invited to submit a short proposal in English indicating the scope of their intended papers, together with a summary of their CV. Proposal should reach the organising committee by 15 October 2005. Notification of acceptance will be given by 15 December 2005. Papers are due by 15 July 2006 in order to distribute them in advance to all participants. Selected and revised papers from the pre-conference and congress session will be published in an edited volume in the series Research in Maritime History.
Application and requests for more information about the pre-conference and congress session should be sent to:
Tapio Bergholm
SAK
Box 157
FIN-00531 Helsinki, Finland
Tel: +358 9 7721339
(mobile + 358 50 5472771)
fax: + 358 9 7721373
e-mail:
Tapio Bergholm has researched transport history, port labour and structural changes of trade flows through ports. His relevant publications in English include "Masculinity, Violence and Disunity: Waterfront Strikers and Strikebreakers in Finnish Ports in the 1920s and 1930s," International Journal of Maritime History, VIII, No. 1 (June 1996); "Female Dockers in Finland, c. 1900-1975: Gender and Change on the Finnish Waterfront," International Journal of Maritime History, XI, No. 2 December 1999, with Kari Teräs; and "Dockers of Turku, c. 1880-1970." In S. Davis, et al. (eds.), Dock Workers, 2 vols., Ashgate, 2000, with Kari Teräs.
Lewis R. Fischer is editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Maritime History and series editor of Research in Maritime History. The author of more than 150 books and articles on maritime economic history, he is currently completing a study of comparative international port economics. His publications on ports include Harbours and Havens: Essays in Port History in Honour of Gordon Jackson (St. John's: International Maritime Economic History Association, Research in Maritime History No. 16, 1999, edited with Adrian Jarvis); "Port Policies: Seaport Planning around the North Atlantic, 1850-1939," in Fischer and Jarvis (eds.), Harbours and Havens, 229-244; and "Any Port in a Storm: The Development of North Atlantic Harbours, 1850-1914," in Peter T. Haydon and Gregory L. Witol (eds.), An Ocean Management Strategy for the Northwest Atlantic in the 21st Century (Halifax: Maritime Affairs, 1998), 85-99.
M. Elisabetta Tonizzi teaches Modern History in the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Genoa. She is member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Maritime History. She has researched transport history, port development and urban change in Genoa. Her publications in English include "Economy, Traffic and Infrastructure in the Port of Genoa, 1861-1970," in G. Boyce and Richard Gorski (eds.), Resources and Infrastructures in the Maritime Economy, 1500-2000 (St. John's: International Maritime Economic History Association, Research in Maritime History No. 22, 2002); and "Recent Maritime Historiography on Italy," in G. Harlaftis and C. Vassallo (eds.), New Directions in Mediterranean Maritime History (St. John's, International Maritime Economic History Association, Research in Maritime History No. 28, 2005, with Michela D'Angelo).