Zurich, 8–10 September 2009

Press
Photo Gallery

The conference, which took place at the Museum Rietberg and the University of Zurich, critically addressed the widely used concepts of /multiple modernities/ and /alternative modernities/ in the specific context of Asia and Europe. Countries of the Eurasian continent have been involved in manifold processes of mutual appropriation and demarcation since the beginning of history. This thematic focus of the conference not only allowed for a comparative view of contemporary Eurasian societies, but also for a diachronic perspective on single historical events and across large periods of time. The conference brought together proponents and critics of the concept of /multiple modernities/ and sought to subject the intensive debates on the topic in sociology and in cultural studies to an interdisciplinary view. Etiological and evaluative studies of the notion of modernity, theoretical reflections on modernity in the plural were presented side-by-side and sometimes alongside interdisciplinary empirical research of topics such as Hasan-al Banna, the founder of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, or the idiosyncratic modernity between China and Europa, as it reveals itself in the experimental science of the producition of porcelain in the 18th century.

ReferentInnen:
Pheng Cheah (University of California, Berkeley), Bettina Dennerlein (University of Zurich), Rolf Elberfeld (University of Hildesheim), Wolfgang Knöbl (University of Göttingen), Gudrun Krämer (FU Berlin), Lydia H. Liu (Columbia University), Tamara Loos (Cornell University), David L. McMahan (Franklin&Marshall College), Shalini Randeria (University of Zurich), Andrea Riemenschnitter (University of Zurich), Volker Schmidt (National University of Singapore), Sanjay Subrahmanyam (UC Los Angeles), Sven Trakulhun (University of Zürich), Christoph Uehlinger (University of Zurich), Ralph Weber (University of Zurich)

Conference organizers:
- Sven Trakulhun (trakulhun{at}access.uzh.ch)
- Ralph Weber (ralph.weber{at}access.uzh.ch)

Program and Poster of the Conference for Download:

Press

Articles, Reports and Interviews

• Können Buddhisten modern sein? Report of the Conference on "Variety of Modernity?".
  In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 16 September 2009 (PDF, 128 KB)

• Hybride Moderne: Interview with the Assistant Professor of the URPP Asia and Europe Sven Trakulhun on the Conference "Varieties of Modernity?".
  In: UZH News, 29 September 2009

Films of the Key Note Speakers

• 8 September 2009: Address of welcome by Prof. Dr. Christoph Uehlinger (Co-Leader of the URPP Asia and Europe) und Prof. Dr. Andreas Jucker (Vice Dean Ressources of the University of Zurich)
  Link zum Film

• 8 September 2009: Sanjay Subramanyam (UC Los Angeles), "Nec sit terris ultima Thule": On the Utility of the "Early Modern" as a Historical Category
  Link zum Film

• 9 September 2009: Address of welcome by Prof. Dr. Andrea Riemenschnitter (URPP Asia and Europe, University of Zurich)
  Link zum Film

• 9 September 2009: Pheng Cheah (University of California, Berkeley), Of Other Worlds to Come
  Link zum Film

Photo Gallery