Chris Hann delivered a Plenary Lecture in Astana

May 23, 2014

On 22nd May 2014 Chris Hann delivered a Plenary Lecture in Astana, Kazakhstan, to the joint conference of the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) and the Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS)

Summary:
Eurasia can be defined territorially in a variety of ways, ranging from restricted zones of Central (or Inner) Asia to the whole of Asia, plus Europe, plus North Africa. The latter, expansive definition is warranted by the substantial measure of unity which developed across this landmass following the urban revolutions of the Bronze Age. Scholarship has privileged the civilizational innovations of the Centre-South, and analysed alternating leadership between East and West. But with Europe in decline and the great traditions of the East and South on the rise, openings may soon appear for the Centre-North to broker a world-historical compromise. Until this becomes politically realistic, Eurasia is best considered detached from territory altogether - as an inclusive, unified mental space.

For more information concerning Hann's vision of Eurasia in relation to ongoing crises in Europe, see his recent article in Soundings, reprinted in Eurozine, 9th May 2014:

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