“This beautifully written and engaging book is a veritable intellectual feast. Not only does it bring the rich scholarly tradition of the Polish historiography of ‘backwardness’ and ‘development’ to bear on global discussions of economic inequality; it also offers an opportunity to rethink the ‘in-between’ place of East Central Europe in the global system of accumulation. Filling a major lacuna concerning the historical record of specifically East Central European contributions to one of the most important debates of our time, this book is a must for scholars working on the social histories/historical sociologies of global social change far beyond the west European core.”-József Böröcz, Professor of Sociology, Rutgers University

More: http://ceupress.com/book/explaining-economic-backwardness

Year 2025/2026

May 27: “We Shall Meet at the Crossroads, Where Nothing and Everything Grows: Imaginations of Nature and Culture in the Hungarian New Weird.”

May 22, 2026

Hear, hear! Weird Fictions Research Group is teaming up with Speculative Texts and Media Research Group for the final meeting in the “Weird Vegetation” series.

American Studies Colloquium Series

May 28: “Extroverted Financialization: Banking on USD Debt”

May 21, 2026

We are pleased to invite you to the last lecture of the American Studies Colloquium Series in the 2025/2026 Spring semester! This time we are pleased to host Mareike Beck with a lecture “Extroverted Financialization: Banking on USD Debt”.

Year 2025/2026

May 25: “Standing Woman – Fear Takes Root: Exploring Eco-Horror and dystopia through short film practice”.

May 20, 2026

Weird Fictions Research Group is pleased to invite you to an online film screening and conversation with Max Gee (University of Salford), the writer behind the short film Standing Woman. Join us on Zoom to watch the film together and learn more about arts-based research practices and eco-horror.

Year 2025/2026

May 20: “In the Orbit of Empire: Space, Race, and Inequality in Brazil and the United States”

May 18, 2026

Join us for the next lecture in the ‘Western Hemisphere Lecture Series’! This time we are pleased to host Sean T. Mitchell from Rutgers University, Newark with a lecture titled “In the Orbit of Empire: Space, Race, and Inequality in Brazil and the United States”.

Year 2025/2026

May 19: “Bummerland: Ruin and Restoration in Trump’s New America”

May 18, 2026

Join us for a public talk titled “Bummerland: Ruin and Restoration in Trump’s New America” by Randolph R. Lewis (University of Texas at Austin).