Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and the ensuing war, has far-reaching consequences for the entire region and beyond. The subject of East European area studies is currently undergoing a process of violent transformation. For the past 30 years, as an area, Eastern Europe and post-Soviet states have been defined as post-communist, and the sphere belonging to the former Soviet Union as post-Soviet. “Post” has marked a transition through a process of continuation and negation. The war may end this condition of “post”, since it implies the collapse of the post-Soviet geopolitical consensus, which has implications for the entire region and beyond.

The conference invites critical discussion about the potentials, limitations and (mis)uses of methodologies that challenge hegemonic approaches in East European Studies/area studies. What is happening to area studies? Where are we now, as a consequence of the war? What new theoretical and methodological instruments do we need in the new situation?

The transformation of the region also poses serious challenges to scholars. Continual redefinition of the “areas” of study reproduces the hierarchies of geopolitical entities, languages and cultures reflected in the distribution of resources, academic interests and practices. Knowledge production always risks ensnaring in hegemonic structures (imperial, patriarchal, authoritarian) and non-academic interests and discourses (e.g., policy and profit-making).
This conference seeks to critically examine the area's current conditions for knowledge production. How is knowledge produced, and by whom? How can we work in and with the area today?