The Franco-British Network for Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century research is seeking panellists for ‘Social networks 1450-1850, an interdisciplinary conference at the University of Sheffield’. The panel title is Franco-British Social Networks in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. During these two periods of heavy cross channel conflict, networks and communities of residents of both France and the British Isles maintained connections, in a variety of different forms. We are seeking papers which assess the Franco-British connection of the early modern period through the study of social networks. This might be a study of a particular community of French, British, or Irish immigrants living on the other side of the channel, and the ways in which their ‘social networks’ (their ties of obligation, communication, sociability and patronage), interacted with, and excluded, local residents. Or it might be a study of how social networks were maintained across the channel between a particular group, questioning how social networks functioned when they took place across borders that were frequently at war with one another. It could also be a comparative study of social and community networks within both France and the British Isles, or a demonstration of how a particular kind of community or connection affected Franco-British relations. How did national identity affect the construction of the ‘social network’? Were there specific national differences in the way such networks were formed? Was it possible to maintain such networks across borders at times of war and crisis?
If you are interested in taking part in this panel, please contact francbritnetwork@gmail.com by 10th January.