Sociability in the Long-Eighteenth Century
DIGITENS: Sociability in the Long Eighteenth Century
The European Commission has given significant financial support for DIGITENS, the flagship project of an international collaboration on sociability in the long Eighteenth Century. Funding comes from the H2020 (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions - Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (MSCAS-RISE-2018) programme, and the project is led by the University of Western Brittany, Brest. Several EMECC members, including Prof. Mark Knights, Dr Charles Walton, Prof. Giorgio Riello, Prof. Beat Kumin, Dr Naomi Pullin and Prof. Mark Philp will be involved in collaborative work with partners across Europe.DIGITENS brings together historians, literary scholars, philosophers, linguists and scientists from eleven institutions across Europe and Canada to develop research on British sociability and examine the circulation of models of sociability in Europe and its colonial empires.
Many members of EMECC have contributed to the project's Digital Encyclopedia of British Sociability in the Long Eighteenth Century for the period from 1650 to 1850, and have been involved in a range of conferences, events and collaborations with museums and archives.
Dr Charles Walton is the chair of the network and Dr Naomi Pullin sits on the Scientific Council.
Sociability and Politics
A collaboration between the Université de Bretagne Occidentale and the University of Warwick as part of the GIS SOCIABILITÉS Network
Although there is a well-developed literature on sociability, there is much less that explores the intersection between sociability and politics in a conceptual way. Most efforts to connect sociability and politics focus on ‘public opinion’ – an abstract political force generated within a ‘public sphere’ where sociability happens to be going on. But how has sociability historically operated in the spheres of political decision-making? How have historical actors used sociability practices, or transformed them, for political ends? Were women active and visible agents in political sociability? And how far was political sociability and association shaped by different colonial and imperial contexts?
Led by Dr Naomi Pullin and Dr Charles Walton, the collaboration has involved reading groups and a major conference at the University of Warwick in June 2023 'Sociability in Politics, Travel and Food', bringing together students and scholars from the network interested in these themes.
The Politics of the 'Sociable Self': Theories and Practices (1650-1850)
The aim of this interdisciplinary research seminar is (1) to explore the formation and evolution of the concept of a ‘sociable self’ during the long eighteenth century (1650-1850); (2) to historicize theories of sociability by grounding them in social practices so as to understand their mutual influence; (3) to examine the role of sociability in the definition of social bonds and civic practices (sense of belonging, social attachment, national affection, public engagement); (4) to explore how these concepts and practices were subject to debate, contest and change.
