Faculty of Sociology and the Centre de civilisation française et d'études francophones both at University of Warsaw and the Czech Společnost pro výzkum dějin vojenství (SVDV), which FHS historian Petr Wohlmuth chairs, organise a seminar in Warsaw called Between Salons and Trenches: Social Histories and Sociologies of the Military Uniform at the end of March 2025. Scholars who are interested in attending the seminar are asked to send their abstracts (in English, separate files in docx or pdf format, up to 300 words) to the address: or until December 8, 2024.
The seminar aims to study and discuss selected issues related to the history of the modern military uniform. Despite a large number of publications about the army clothing, only a few of them employ the social perspective or deal with the cultural meaning of uniforms. Therefore, we would like to draw the interest to those understudied research areas of military history, historical anthropology and sociology.
The seminar is an attempt to map out and connect the research areas for historical, anthropological and sociological studies of military uniforms. Scholars interested in historical, anthropological and sociological study of military uniforms, whatever branch of social sciences and humanities they represent, are invited. The seminar would cover the history of the modern uniform in the armed forces from the beginning of the standardized military clothing during the 17th century to contemporary army gear.
There would be four types of issues to discuss. The first one relates to the very materiality of army clothing: their life-cycles from the production, through the practical ways in which they were used. The second one are the cultural meanings and practices of military communities. We would also like to analyse the afterlife of uniforms in the civilian life, especially when used by ex-military personnel. The last, but by no mean least interesting topic is the aesthetics of the army uniform and its social meaning, as intended by those who designed and issued them, but also as perceived by the broader public.
Organizers:
Centre de civilisation française et d’études francophones and Faculty of Sociology, Warsaw University and Společnost pro výzkum dějin vojenství.
Organization committee:
Jarosław Kilias (Warsaw University), Laurent Tatarenko (Warsaw University / CNRS) and Petr Wohlmuth (Společnost pro výzkum dějin vojenství / Charles University, Prague).
Different military uniforms from 1670 to 1865, image from Britannica.
Charles University
Faculty of Humanities
Pátkova 2137/5
182 00 Praha 8 - Libeň
Czech Republic
