Conference 2012
INNOVATION BEFORE THE MODERN:
CLOTH AND CLOTHING IN THE EARLY MODERN WORLD
Nordiska Museet, Stockholm
27-29 September 2012
Over the past two decades scholarship has provided an array of examples of how in the middle ages, the renaissance, the early modern period and up to the early nineteenth century, in Europe, but also in China, India and other world regions, the introduction of new fabrics, fashionable garments and objects came to reshape people’s lives. Although a great deal is known regarding new patterns of consumption and product innovation for specific areas and periods, there is still a limited and prescribed understanding of how innovation functioned within the culture of cloth and clothing in the period before industrialization and modernity.
The 2012 Pasold Conference is jointly organized by the University of Uppsala, Stockholm University, K. A. Almgren Sidenväveri & Museum and the Nordiska Museet. It will consider the dynamics of change and innovation within the production, trade, retailing and consumption of textiles and clothing in the period before the nineteenth century. This requires an understanding of the history of making cloth and clothes, of the training and organization of labour, and of the relative value of technical and conceptual skills. The conference aims to reflect on product as well as process innovation, invention, changes in design and more general shifts in the politics of production (for instance, the nature of the guilds, notions of quality and value) and also consumption (for example, the gendering of cloth and clothing; access to markets and mindsets).
Amongst the various topics, we encourage submissions on the following:
- Product and process innovation in the production of cloth, clothing and accessories; adoption of machinery and changes in organization of production;
- Innovative consumer practices; gendering of production/consumption;
- The role of guilds and other productive, commercial and familial instructions in fostering/discouraging change and innovation;
- Changes in design, materials, shapes and forms of cloth and clothing;
- Commercial and market expansion; segmentation of markets.
Papers should be 20 minutes long. We encourage submissions on wider topics as well as object-based analyses and/or papers focused on specific collections.
To submit a proposal, please send a 250-word abstract of the proposed paper, together with a one page CV, to: MA Håkan Jakobsson ( cfp@nordiskamuseet.se), Stockholms stadsarkiv, P. Box 22063, SE-10422 Stockholm, Sweden. The closing date for proposals is 15 February 2012. Successful candidates will be notified by the 15 March 2012. A small number of bursaries will be made available to graduate students.
If you have any further questions, please contact:
Professor Klas Nyberg, University of Uppsala klas.nyberg@ekhist.uu.se
Professor Peter McNeil, University of Stockholm Peter.McNeil@uts.edu.au
This conference is organized in association with the Pasold Research Fund (www.pasold.co.uk). Please contact g.riello@warwick.ac.uk for further information.