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ANNOUNCING A 'C' SESSION IN SEVILLE IN AUGUST 1998 
 
ETHNO-NATIONAL DIVIDES AND ECONOMIC CO-EXISTENCE: 
AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 
 
Jacob Metzer (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and Cormac O Grada 
(University College, Dublin) are organizing a 'C' session at the Seville 
Congress of the International History Association (August 24 - August 28, 
1998) on the theme of "Ethno National Divides and Economic Co-existence." 
We would like to hear from people who are interested in offering a paper 
on some aspect of this topic. 
 
Rivalry and divides of a national character between ethnically - or for 
that matter religiously or culturally - self-identified peoples, sharing 
a common state or an otherwise territorially defined identity, have 
played a significant role in history throughout the world and continue to 
do so. Among the factors which feed such rivalries are: competing claims 
over territory and material resources; disputed desires for ethnic 
expression, autonomy, or self-determination; and various kinds of 
discrimination or segmentation along ethnic lines. Prominent historical 
examples include the conflicts and tensions of an ethnic and cultural 
nature in Quebec, Northern Ireland, the United States, the Indian 
subcontinent, the low countries, and Spain. Continuing evidence of such 
disputes may be found in the old and newly revived ethnic conflicts in 
the Balkans and in other territories of the former Austro-Hungarian, 
Ottoman, Soviet empires, the Arab-Jewish conflict, and the ethnic and 
religious struggles in post-colonial Africa and South-East Asia. 
 
A key question about these ethno-national divides in modern history is 
what role did economic considerations play in them. In what sense - if at 
all - did ethnically-driven conflicts influence economic relations 
between the people involved? How important and how genuine were perceived 
differences in economic performance and preferences? What effect did the 
economic interaction between rival groups have on the dynamics of these 
conflicts? Can the economic cost of such conflicts be evaluated? 
 
The goal of our proposed 'C' session would be to explore such issues 
historically. By providing a forum for the presentation and critical 
discussion of case studies, and possibly also intergrative survey essays, 
it aims at a better understanding of the interplay between 
ethno-nationality and economics in modern history. 
 
So far we have preliminary offers of presentations on topics such as 
'political conflict and economic competition as explanations of 
Hindu-Muslim violence in India'; 'Irish history without the protestants: 
demography, democracy, and industrialization'; 'the uneasy economic 
co-existence of Arabs and Jews in Mandatory Palestine'; 'the methodology 
of dealing with the costs (or benefits) of ethno-national conflicts'; and 
some other less concrete offers of case-studies and applications of 
theory to historical issues. 
 
As you probably know 'C' sessions provide a relatively informal and often 
lively forum at IEHA congresses. We envisage a half-day session of 
presentations from as broad a range of experience as possible. At this 
stage we are seeking further offers of contributions; the precise format 
can be decided later. 
 
If interested please contact by e-mail: 
Jacob Metzer;  [log in to unmask] 
or Cormac O Grada; [log in to unmask] 
 
Please send your suggestions not later than December 31, 1996. We shall 
inform you about the program by April 1, 1997. 
 
 
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