Events

Fate of Nations workshops, conferences and seminars

Upcoming events

BLOCKADE IN THE ERA OF THE TWO WORLD WARS

Date: 17-18 June 2022

Full program 

In both world wars, blockades constituted a key means of warfare, which impacted profoundly on the living conditions of European and non-European populations, on world trade, on major strategic decisions (like unrestricted submarine warfare), on neutrality, on technology and science, on war economies and resource management, and on overall policy decisions. The experience of blockade in the First World War in particular informed trade and economic policies, military preparations, diplomatic negotiations, international law, and mentalities for the next three decades. Blockade became a defining feature of modern warfare itself.

This 2-day conference debates the developments, effects and legacies of blockade in 20th-century warfare, principally the two world wars. The conference brings together scholars working on a wide variety of topics and employing different methodological approaches to showcase and debate current research trends. It focuses on questions of economic, diplomatic, legal, and military history as well as social and cultural history. The intention of this conference is to review the current state of scholarship and stake out the ground for new research. In all, it interrogates the significance of the blockades for the era of the two world wars, paying special attention to how the 'first blockade' affected and shaped the 'second blockade'. 

Full program


Past events

AUTHOR'S WORKSHOP: A GLOBAL HISTORY OF COPPER  


Date: 15-16 August, 2019
Venue: "Akrinn" (Sverresgate 12, Trondheim), conference room U 204


Full program


FATE OF NATIONS SEMINAR

Date: 3 May 2018
Venue: D4, Dragvoll, Trondheim

"Weighty matters: Lessons from historical body mass"
Deborah Oxley, Professor of Economic History, All Souls College, University of Oxford

Abstract: Economic historians have long used height as a measure of historical welfare. It is a cumulative measure of net nutrition over the growing years, revealing much about conditions in childhood. Here, we use body mass (weight adjusted for height) as a current measure of net nutrition. Because weight changes over lifetimes in response to surfeit and shortage, weight and body mass tell a story about adult welfare and ageing. When we have body measurements for both males and females, we can interrogate gender differences, shedding light on two key issues. One is the household allocation of nutrition. The second is health risk. Modern epidemiology has identified strong connections between height and weight, and morbidity and mortality. Body mass is thus an important new tool for understanding welfare, gender and health inequality.

3rd WORKSHOP 'Hidden Companies of the Global Economy'

Date: 16 March 2018
Venue: Fylkesmannsbolig, Trondheim

Commodity Trading Companies in the First Global Economy
Organizers: Espen Storli, Marten Boon

JOINT WORKSHOP in the History of Statoil project

Date: 1-2 March 2018

Venue: Statoil Research Centre Rotvoll, Trondheim 
Conveners: University of Oslo, NTNU, Statoil

More information 

FATE OF NATIONS SEMINAR

Date: 12 Frebruary 2018, 13:15 pm
Venue: D8, NTNU Dragvoll, Trondheim

"Why is Korea rich and Africa poor"
Knut Thonstad (Norad)


FATE OF NATIONS: SYMPOSIUM ON THE HISTORY OF THE EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES AND AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT

Date: 2-3 February, 2018
Venue: Yiri Lodge, Accra, Ghana


JOINT HISTORY & ECONOMICS SEMINAR

Date: 25 January 2018, 12:15 pm
Venue: D4, NTNU Dragvoll, Trondheim

"Education in 19th-century Spain"
Fran Beltrán Tapia (Associate professor, NTNU)

FATE OF NATIONS SEMINAR - CANCELLED

Date: 1 December 2017
Venue: NTNU Dragvoll, Trondheim

"Capital Entrepôts at the Margins of States: The Role of the British Administration in Tax haven and Offshore Banking Developments in Former Colonies, 1961-1978"
Kristine Sævold (PhD candidate, University of Bergen)

JOINT FATE OF NATIONS / DEPT OF ECONOMICS SEMINAR

Date: 12.15-13.15, 23 November 2017
Venue: NTNU Dragvoll, room D150 (building 6 level 2), Trondheim

"The End of Capitalism: Misadventures in Social Forecasting since Karl Marx"
Francesco Boldizzoni (University of Helsinki)

FATE OF NATIONS SEMINAR

Date: 9 November 2017
Venue: D7, NTNU Dragvoll, Trondheim

"Reassembling Hydrocarbon Production Networks: Commodification of Liquefied Natural Gas recourses and Energy Development in Peripheral Southeast Asia "
Alexander Dodge (PhD candidate, Department of Geography, NTNU)

FATE OF NATIONS SEMINAR

Date: 26 September 2017
Venue: NTNU Dragvoll, Trondheim

"Mining-led growth and living standards in pre-independent Mexico: A revisionist view"
Rafael Dobado (Universidad Complutense)

FATE OF NATIONS SEMINAR

Date: 28 August 2017
Venue: NTNU Dragvoll, Trondheim

Arctic resources, with Roald Berg (Professor, University of Stavanger) and Iben Bjørnsson, PhD. 

FATE OF NATIONS SEMINAR

Date: 9 June 2017
Venue: Fylkesmannsboligen, Trondheim

The Birth of an International Legal Principle: An Interdisciplinary Reappraisal of Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources
Lucas Lixinski (Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, UNSW Sydney) and Mats Ingulstad (Researcher, Department of Historical Studies, NTNU)

Cold War, Hot Metal: The Political Economy of the International Mercury Markets, 1945-1954
Pablo del Hierro (Lecturer in Global History, Maastricht University) and Espen Storli (Associate Professor, Department of Historical Studies, NTNU)

Natural Resource Regulations and the Global Economy, 1870-2015: An Overview
Andreas Dugstad Sanders (PhD Candidate, European University Institute, Firenze), Pål Thonstad Sandvik (Professor, Department of Historical Studies, NTNU) and Espen Storli (Associate Professor, Department of Historical Studies, NTNU)

CONFERENCE: Fate of Nations. Natural Resources and Historical Development, 1880-2015

Date: 3-4 March 2017
Venue: Luftkrigsskolen / Royal Norwegian Air Force Academany, Trondheim
Opening conference of the research project "The Fate of Nations. Natural resources and historical development, 1880-2015". Full program here. 

FATE OF NATIONS SEMINAR

Date: 28 February 2017
Venue: NTNU Dragvoll, Trondheim

"Finns det sällsynta metaller? Att förstå och hantera metallknapphet, 1870 - 2015"
Hanna Vikström (PhD-student, KTH, Stockholm)

WORKSHOP: Commodity Trading Companies in the First Global Economy, 1870-1913

Date: 3-4 February 2017
Venue: Erasmus University Rotterdam
Second workshop in the project "Hidden Companies of the Global Economy".  Full program and conference summary.

WORKSHOP: Resource policies and regulation in national, regional and global perspectives.

Date: 28-29 August 2016
Venue: Fylkesmannsboligen, Kalvskinnet
Start-up workshop for the research projects "Political Regulation of Natural Resources 1870-2015, Global Perspectives" & "European Integration and the Quest for Access to External Natural Resources 1945-2015." Full program here.