In recent decades, historians have increasingly questioned center–periphery models that cast “borderlands” as passive, reactive zones shaped only by imperial expansion. This shift is part of several broader trends in scholarship, including the rise of global and connected histories, comparative imperial studies, and, more recently, calls to decolonize Russian and Eurasian studies, all of which seek to highlight the agency of local actors, communities, and intellectual traditions. Though our conference is certainly in dialogue with these newer approaches our aim is somewhat different: to emphasize the internal vibrancy and generative power of the Caucasus itself throughout early modern and modern era.

The Caucasus has long been imagined as a marginal zone, sandwiched between larger powers such as Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and Persia. Yet this perspective risks overlo oking the region’s remarkable vibrancy and its formative role in shaping the very structures and policies of those empires. Defined by its striking geography — from the Black Sea to the Caspian littoral, from high mountain ranges to lowlands and steppe frontiers — the Caucasus has furthermore long been a meeting place of languages, religions, and cultures. This diversi ty fostered distinctive political and social forms, and created conditions in which local initiatives could resonate beyond the region itself. Local traditions of governance and law, religious and intellectual movements, and practices of resistance and accommodation all had consequences that radiated inward and outward, affecting as such imperial policy and cross-regional dynamics. By stressing on these processes, we aim to reestablish the Caucasus as a space of initiative, not just response.

For the programme, venue and other details see HERE