The Islamic Trust Studies International Workshop / Tobunken Seminar “Petitions and “Individuals”: First-Person Narratives and Historical Agency at Intersections of Diplomatic, Administrative, and Legal History” will be jointly organized by Islamic Trust Studies Gruoup B01“The Ideas of the Muslim Community and State Systems(Principal Investigator: KONDO Nobuaki)” and the Working Group “Methodological Issues in the Study of Ottoman Primary Sources” at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia(Principal Investigator:Jun Akiba).

Date & Time: March 13, Wednesday, 2024, 15:00~17:00 (JST)

Orçun Can Okan (University of Oxford)
“Petitions and “Individuals”: First-Person Narratives and Historical Agency at Intersections of Diplomatic, Administrative, and Legal History”

Discussions

Abstract

Petitions and “Individuals”: First-Person Narratives and Historical Agency at Intersections of Diplomatic, Administrative, and Legal History
Orçun Can Okan
Historians use various kinds of first-person narratives to trace past experiences and analyze historical actors’ claims about the past, the present, and the future. These include memoirs published in multiple editions, manuscripts written for the eyes of the very few (if any), as well as petitions processed (or ignored) on the desks of bureaucrats. With a focus on petitions in particular, this talk invites renewed attention to how first-person narratives can facilitate the contextualization of historical agency in new, explanatory ways. It critically engages with the role of memoirs in recent scholarship on World War I and its aftermath(s) in the Ottoman Empire, and highlights alternative research directions that foreground petitions formulated to address specific administrative and legal problems in times of state succession. By questioning some of the basic assumptions underlying notions of “ordinary people” and “bottom-up” approaches, it problematizes uncritical reliance on these notions in analyses of social interactions through archival sources. Ultimately, the talk aims to stimulate conversation on how to balance structural factors with “individual” (and collective) agency in particular historical contexts.

Language: English

Venue:  Second Conference Room, 3rd floor, Institute for Advaced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo (registered participants may also access the workshop online by Zoom), Open to public/Admission free, Pre-registration is required.

Pre-registration: please use this form for in-person participation. 
                                     please use this form for online participation. 

Co-organizer: Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (A), “The Ideas of the Muslim Community and State Systems” (Principal Investigator: KONDO Nobuaki (ILCAA); 20H05827)/ Working Group at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (IASA), “Methodological Issues in the Study of Ottoman Primary Sources” (Principal Investigator:Jun Akiba (IASA))/Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B), “International joint research on social class and gender in the Ottoman Empire” (Principal Investigator:Jun Akiba (IASA); 20H01322).

Contact: MORITA Madoka (mmorita[at]aa.tufs.ac.jp)