Periodic Reporting for period 5 - BETWEEN THE TIMES (“Between the Times”: Embattled Temporalities and Political Imagination in Interwar Europe)
Reporting period: 2024-06-01 to 2024-12-31
Teleology and progressivism have never been systematically defined political concepts, yet they dominate the political poetics for some of our most cherished pursuits, including democratization, Europeanisation, and emancipatory movements. In the past decade, however, Europe’s present – the reality of enduring and agonizing crises – has tuned the tension between our tenaciously progressivist “horizon of expectation” and the newly disillusioned “space of experience” close to the point of exhaustion. In this time of a radical need for a redefinition of Europe’s self-identity, progressivist public regimes of historicity are failing to deliver their elusive promise. Yet what are – if any – the alternative historicities for reframing our political horizons? The project seeks to answer this question both theoretically and historically.
Historically, the first aim of the project was to offer a new intellectual history of the political imagination in the interwar period that places the demise of progressivism and the emerging anti-teleological visions of time at the center of some of its most innovative ethical, political and methodological pursuits. Here, we have presented a distinctively cross-disciplinary (theology, jurisprudence, classical studies, literary theory, linguistics, sociology, philosophy) and a trans-national European narrative of the reinvention of temporality in order to capture its multiple ramifications.
The second main aim was to challenge the sufficiency of the conventional focus on one or two, at most three (usually “Western” European) countries in interwar intellectual history by exploring these themes across national contexts (France, Britain, Germany), including in Central and Eastern Europe (Russia, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, Hungary). We hope to have significantly extended the geographical scope of twentieth century history of political thought by offering both comparative studies across national contexts, as well as intellectual histories of several Eastern and Central European, in addition to the German, French, British and Italian temporal imaginations in our project.
The third aim was to methodologically shift the usual focus in intellectual history on individual thinkers to intellectual groupings, which we have successfully pursued in research publications (articles, monographs), although whether this will be a more widely implemented method, will be seen in the future.
The fourth aim was to trace the eclectic legacies of interwar novel experiences and concepts of temporality in the philosophical, methodological and political dicta of post-1945 thought. We aimed to unearth some of these genealogies, as well as explore the ways in which these alternative historicities and their legacies can illuminate the present crisis of progressivism. With this aim in mind, we have made contributions to recent surge in philosophies of history, attempts to conceptualise the various implications of the Anthropocene, as well as intervened in debates on presentism and post-growth discourses.
Historically, the first aim of the project was to offer a new intellectual history of the political imagination in the interwar period that places the demise of progressivism and the emerging anti-teleological visions of time at the center of some of its most innovative ethical, political and methodological pursuits. Here, we have presented a distinctively cross-disciplinary (theology, jurisprudence, classical studies, literary theory, linguistics, sociology, philosophy) and a trans-national European narrative of the reinvention of temporality in order to capture its multiple ramifications.
The second main aim was to challenge the sufficiency of the conventional focus on one or two, at most three (usually “Western” European) countries in interwar intellectual history by exploring these themes across national contexts (France, Britain, Germany), including in Central and Eastern Europe (Russia, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, Hungary). We hope to have significantly extended the geographical scope of twentieth century history of political thought by offering both comparative studies across national contexts, as well as intellectual histories of several Eastern and Central European, in addition to the German, French, British and Italian temporal imaginations in our project.
The third aim was to methodologically shift the usual focus in intellectual history on individual thinkers to intellectual groupings, which we have successfully pursued in research publications (articles, monographs), although whether this will be a more widely implemented method, will be seen in the future.
The fourth aim was to trace the eclectic legacies of interwar novel experiences and concepts of temporality in the philosophical, methodological and political dicta of post-1945 thought. We aimed to unearth some of these genealogies, as well as explore the ways in which these alternative historicities and their legacies can illuminate the present crisis of progressivism. With this aim in mind, we have made contributions to recent surge in philosophies of history, attempts to conceptualise the various implications of the Anthropocene, as well as intervened in debates on presentism and post-growth discourses.
From its inception, the project focused on the exploration and rethinking of temporalities and political thought in interwar Europe, offering a detailed and transnational examination of historical reconceptualizations and their political dimensions. Over the course of five years, the project furthered all of its initial aims and its main results have been presented in 35 research articles and chapters, 3 monographs, and 1 edited volume, alongside significant contributions to academic conferences, workshops, and public outreach through TV, radio, and press engagements. Notably, two PhD dissertations were successfully defended as part of the research, also contributing to the project’s core aims. The publications, several of them in highly recognised academic peer reviewed journals, engage with the history of political thought, addressing topics such as the crisis of historicism, ontological and political reimaginings of temporality, and the role of intellectual movements in shaping political ideologies. The project’s results contribute to the recent "temporal turn" in the history of political thought, shedding new light on the political use of temporal concepts across Europe.
One of the most significant intellectual achievements of the project was the upcoming edited volume Time and History in Modern European Political Thought (Routledge, 2026), which assembles 14 chapters by leading scholars and consolidates key insights from the project. This volume, born out of a deeper understanding of temporalities in political discourse, explores how temporal frameworks have been central to the construction of political ideologies and collective identities in Europe. With an emphasis on Southern, Northern, Central, and Eastern European perspectives, the volume juxtaposes the "century of history" with the "century of crises," focusing on critical moments like 1918, 1968, and 1989. Moreover, the project fostered a broad scholarly network, including collaborations with other researchers, conferences, and a comparative intellectual history methods summer school for graduate students. Through these efforts, the project significantly advanced the study of transnational intellectual history in a pan-European context, enriching both the academic community and public discourse.
One of the most significant intellectual achievements of the project was the upcoming edited volume Time and History in Modern European Political Thought (Routledge, 2026), which assembles 14 chapters by leading scholars and consolidates key insights from the project. This volume, born out of a deeper understanding of temporalities in political discourse, explores how temporal frameworks have been central to the construction of political ideologies and collective identities in Europe. With an emphasis on Southern, Northern, Central, and Eastern European perspectives, the volume juxtaposes the "century of history" with the "century of crises," focusing on critical moments like 1918, 1968, and 1989. Moreover, the project fostered a broad scholarly network, including collaborations with other researchers, conferences, and a comparative intellectual history methods summer school for graduate students. Through these efforts, the project significantly advanced the study of transnational intellectual history in a pan-European context, enriching both the academic community and public discourse.
The project has made significant progress beyond the current state of the art in the fields of intellectual history, political theory, and cultural history by offering a fresh and transnational perspective on the conceptualization of time and temporality in the interwar period. It goes beyond traditional studies of individual thinkers or political ideologies by focusing on how temporal concepts - such as progress, decline, and historical inevitability - have been deployed to legitimize political ideologies and shape societal understandings of history. Through its comparative approach, the project has broadened the geographical scope of intellectual history by incorporating often-neglected Eastern, Southern, and Northern European perspectives, as well as examining how the "long" 19th century linear, progressive temporality gave way to diverse and fragmented temporalities before and after the First World War. By focusing on this transition, the project offers a novel reading of how different intellectual and political groups in post-1918 Europe redefined their understanding of history and temporality, and how these reconceptualizations contributed to the emergence of modern political ideologies, movements, and crises. The edited volume Time and History in Modern European Political Thought presents one of the most systematic contributions by mapping these shifts across Europe, challenging the conventional focus on Western Europe and offering new insights into the political use of time in intellectual history. Furthermore, by bringing the "temporal turn" to the forefront, the project has introduced a new interdisciplinary framework that influences not only the history of political thought but also cultural history and contemporary political theory, marking an advancement in the understanding of how historical time continues to shape modern political imagination.