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Empire of solidarities: a connected history of private charity across a decentred Romanov Empire, 1855–1914

Project description

Solidarity and private charity in the Romanov Empire

In the late 19th century, the Romanov Empire spanned a vast territory from Tallinn to Vladivostok, encompassing a diverse range of populations. However, our understanding of whether people felt inclined to help each other during times of need is limited. The ERC-funded EMPSOLID project aims to pioneer a new history of affective practices by focusing on private charity as a means of making solidarity visible. It will examine the history of solidarity in the Romanov Empire during the long nineteenth century and analyse grassroots private charitable initiatives across four distinct regions from 1855 to 1914. The project will digitally map the flows and networks of donations to identify trends and spatial patterns in charitable practices.

Objective

By the late nineteenth century, the Romanov Empire stretched half-way across the globe, turning inhabitants of the territory stretching from todays Tallinn to Vladivostok into subjects of one and the same empire. Yet, we know little about whether the population felt any impulse to help one another in times of need. Under what circumstances did people feel compassion towards distant others and how far-ranging did their sympathies extend? What did these solidarities mean, how were they enacted and expressed through ideas, emotions, and lived experiences? If solidarities could reach across such a multiconfessionally and multiethnically heterogenous empire, how does the Romanov experience enrich our understanding of empire and solidarity as seemingly irreconcilable notions? EMPSOLID applies an unconventional lens to answer these questions. It pioneers a new history of affective practices that, for the first time, focuses on private charity as a method to make solidarities visible and allow us to study them in action. The projects objectives are to: 1) trace the conceptual history of solidarity in the empire; 2) gather and analyse examples of grassroots private charitable initiatives (benevolent and charitable associations, fundraising campaigns, and private donations) across four regionally distinct Romanov imperial border regions (Baltic provinces, Southwestern provinces, South Caucasus, Turkestan) from 1855-1914 on behalf of beneficiaries outside of the givers vicinities; and 3) digitally map flows and networks of donations to generate insights into larger trends and spatial patterns in charitable practices. The projects ambitious, decentring perspective aspires to envision a long-overdue new spatial history of the Romanov Empire in the long nineteenth century founded on horizontal threads of solidarity linking regions and postulates that these charitable entanglements formed a crucial part of the social fabric holding together nineteenth-century empires.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) ERC-2024-STG

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Host institution

TARTU ULIKOOL
Net EU contribution
€ 1 499 954,00
Address
ULIKOOLI 18
51005 Tartu
Estonia
Region
Eesti Eesti Lõuna-Eesti
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
€ 1 499 954,00

Beneficiaries (1)