Fondazione Istituto Internazionale di Storia Economica “F. Datini” and the European School for Training in Economic and Social Historical Research (ESTER) will organise their 13th jointly-organized Datini-ESTER Advanced Seminar for economic and social historians on 9th-15th May 2027, in Prato (Italy) on the theme of: “The Role of Foreigners in Economic and Social History”
The topic of the Datini-Ester seminar is closely related to the theme of the yearly congress organized by the "F. Datini" International Institute of Economic History and devoted in 2027 to “The role of foreign communities in the economic growth of pre-industrial Europe and the Mediterranean Area (13th-18th centuries)”.
The 2027 Datini-Ester seminar will deal with the role of foreigners in economic and social history.
Foreigners - merchants, craftsmen, professionals, and labourers - occupied intermediate legal and social positions that made them both vulnerable and indispensable within historical societies. They also were central to economic growth, trade networks, and cultural exchange. Their mobility enabled the circulation of skills, capital, and innovations, fostering transregional integration in history.
We invite papers on legal status, professional roles, networks, and institutional frameworks, as well as conflict, xenophobia, generation of trust, adaptation, and cultural transfer. Comparative perspectives are encouraged to deepen understanding of economic interdependence.
We welcome scholars working on both the macro and micro level. Papers can cover any relevant aspect and any period from Antiquity until today.
Participants in the Datini-ESTER advanced seminar can receive 4 ECTS credits.