CfP: ACTIVATE Workshop ": The archivist, the researcher and the activist: challenges of collaboration from a historical and comparative perspective"
ACTIVATE, an EU Horizon Europe project approaching social dissent as cultural heritage announces CfP for its second hybrid workshop. The archivist, the researcher and the activist: challenges of collaboration from a historical and comparative perspective will take place on 18 May 2026, at Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli and online. Submit your proposal until February 27, 2026.
Call for Participation
On 18 May 2026, the second seminar of Work package 2 will take place at Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli and online.The workshop is co-organised by University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, International Institute of Social History and Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli.
Seminar description
This second hybrid seminar of Work Package 2, Activating archives: a comparative transnational history, of the European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Staff Exchange project ACTIVATE, focuses on the challenges archivists and researchers face when collaborating with and collecting archives from political and social movements, from the 19th century to the present day.
The following themes will be prioritised in the case studies and challenges discussed: revolutionary movements, feminisms, environmental struggles, and international solidarity.
Initial attempts to convince activists of the importance of their archives and the need to preserve them are not always successful. Beyond the well-known challenges associated with archiving documents and data, are there specific issues related to collaborating with these archive producers? We also wish to examine, from a diachronic perspective, the changing role of the archivist (curator, mediator, facilitator).
From the activists' perspective, what is their position on the constitution and deposit of their archives? What developments can be observed here, and how do they fit into the wider context? The seminar will examine the purposes of archiving documents and data produced by political and social activism: preserving memory, strengthening collective identity, recording activities, and enabling activists to establish their own narrative in opposition to dominant official narratives.
Researchers also act as participants in this process, bringing their scientific expectations and methodological approaches to it. More fundamentally, questions arise about the identity and status of these three groups — archivists, researchers, and activists — which are distinct a priori: are the boundaries between them shifting and porous? And if so, are there historical or national evolutions or specificities?
The seminar will be conducted in a hybrid format (on site and online) and is open to consortium partners and external contributors. The working language of the seminar will be English.
Themes
Three main themes will structure the discussions:
1) The process of establishing contact and dialogue
How does collaboration come about? What role can the researcher play between the archivist and the activist? How can relationships of trust be established and the importance of archives conveyed? How can future archivists be trained for this work, and what skills do they need? What lessons can be learned from past failures? How can different expectations be managed? How should institutions with very informal organisational structures be approached, and who should be contacted?
2) Archival activists and activist archivists
What can we learn from the long-term practice of archiving about the blurring of boundaries between archivists, researchers, and activists? Is it possible to speak of archival activists or activist archivists before the 1970s and the debate around the neutrality of archivists (Howard Zinn)? If so, what periodisation can be outlined? Should archivists and activists share the same values or ideology? Should archives put into practice what they collect (e.g. reducing their carbon footprint)?
3) New forms of activism and new archiving challenges
How have new archiving tools and forms of activism influenced collaboration between archivists and activists, as well as the purpose of archiving documents and data? How can archivists respond to the increased transnational dimension of political and social mobilisations, born-digital data, and critical approaches to archiving, including postcolonial perspectives?
To apply
We encourage archivists, activists, and researchers to submit papers addressing these topics from a theoretical or methodological perspective, or by presenting specific case studies or experiences. A historical and comparative perspective is particularly welcome.
Please submit your proposal (maximum 300 words, including spaces) along with a brief CV by 27 February 2026 to:
caroline.moine@uvsq.fr
edr@iisg.nl
Subject: “ACTIVATE Seminar WP2 May 2026”
Application deadline: 27 February 2026
Organising Committee
Caroline Moine (University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines)
Serena Rubinelli (Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, Milan)
Eric de Ruijter (International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam)
About the project ACTIVATE
This hybrid seminar is part of the project “ACTIVATE: The activist, the archivist and the researcher. Novel collaborative strategies of transnational research, archiving and exhibiting social and political dissent in Europe (19th–21st centuries)”.
ACTIVATE receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2023 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 101182859.
The project was launched in January 2025 and explores, over a four-year initiative, practices of collecting, archiving, and promoting documents, objects, and data, contributing to a renewed European history of social and political dissent from the early 19th century to the present day.
