CfP: The Past, the Present and the Future of Popular Music Research in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe – IASPM CESE (11–12.09.2025, Jagiellonian University Kraków) Deadline: 31.01.2025
The Past, the Present and the Future of Popular Music Research in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe
IASPM CESE 1st international conference, 11–12.09.2025
Organized by the International Association for the Study of Popular Music – Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (IASPM CESE) at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.
IASPM’s Central, Eastern and Southeastern European branch invites submissions for its first international conference, focusing on the evolving landscape of popular music research in our region. As popular music continues to shape cultural narratives and social identities, we invite researchers from and of this part of Europe to contribute their (self-)reflections on the region’s historical contexts, contemporary practices, future directions, as well as on the ways in which their own work expands this field.
In 2024, the regional branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, focusing on Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, was established. The event was motivated by the region’s exciting and varied history of popular music research. The creation of the branch was another important step in offering a platform for scholarly exchange, the sharing of experiences and methods, and discussions on shared legacies, especially in the environment where a number of crucial musical movements took place and influential scholars placed their analyses.
Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe has seen a variety of musical phenomena in the last century, which can be, and often are, the subject of insightful analyses. These studies contribute to the field, while providing a better understanding of the cultural environment of the region. The social impact of jazz music in the 1950s, the anti-establishment manifestos of punk and new wave in 1980s, the idea of popular music as a social signifier of 1990s, the usage of popular music in local politics, regional adaptations of rock, metal, hip-hop and electronic music after the end of the socialism, or even contemporary popularity of the folk-pop genres or popular indie rock – they all contributed to the way popular music is seen, practiced, consumed, and thought of in the region, as well as how this region is (self-)represented around the world.
Over the last few decades, historians, sociologists, anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, and, lastly, musicologists from the post-Soviet, ex-Yugoslav, ex-Eastern Bloc countries have started researching and teaching popular music at various university levels. Several associations for popular music studies have also been founded, and the network of scholars and common themes is getting more significant by the day. This includes Josef Kotek’s work in the Institute for Musicology, which constituted popular music studies in Czechoslovakia since the 1960s, Wojciech Burszta’s contribution to this field in Poland since the 1980s, Vesna Mikić and her Center for Popular Music Studies in Serbia in the 2010s, as well as Catherine Baker, Ljerka Vidić Rasmussen, Dean Vuletić, Radina Vučetić and many others. This ever-growing field of research is continuing its history with new initiatives and a younger generation of scholars, enriching and redefining what it means to study popular music in the region.
Therefore, we welcome contributions that address a range of themes, highlighting the inter- and multidisciplinary nature of popular music studies. We expect contributions from researchers specializing in the fields of aesthetics, anthropology, area studies, cultural and music geography, economics, ethnomusicology, history, literature studies, musicology, political sciences, sociology, and, of course, popular music studies both from the CESE region, but also all those interested in this part of Europe as a subject of studies.
With this variety of topics, the conference aims to emphasize the importance of a unique perspective of popular music research in the region, but also emphasize its ongoing projects and latest successes. Therefore, the conference welcomes both popular music research on the topic of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, and research concerning popular music in general from academics located in the region or having interest in it.
The following list of suggestions presents a potential list of subjects to be discussed during the conference:
History of popular music research in the CESE region
Historical perspectives on popular music in the region
Regional, contemporary trends in music production, consumption, and performance
The impact of digital platforms and streaming on music accessibility and diversity
Intersectionality in popular music, including gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic factors
The role of popular music in shaping cultural heritage and memory
Innovations in music technology and their implications for future research
The position of music from the region in the global music market
Submission details:
We encourage both individual papers and organized panels.
Individual abstracts should be 250-300 words, accompanied by a brief bio (100 words) and a list of relevant references (appx. 5).
Panel proposals should include a collective abstract and individual abstracts for all participants with their bios and general list of relevant references
Deadline: January 31, 2025
Acceptance of papers: February 28, 2025
Format:
Individual presentations: 20 minutes plus 10 minutes for discussion
Panels: 90 minutes for three presentations or two papers with a discussant
Please submit your abstracts: iaspmcese[at]gmail[dot]com
Each applicant should be a member of IASPM. Each accepted speaker will have an option to join the IASPM CESE branch during the conference.
In case of any questions, please contact IASPM CESE through general email iaspmcese[at]gmail[dot]com or Dr Maciej Smółka maciek[dot]smolka[at]uj[dot]edu[dot]pl .