Professor Holger Nehring

Chair in Contemporary European History

History University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA

Professor Holger Nehring

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http://www.stir.ac.uk/people/holgernehring

About me

I am a contemporary historian of Europe (including Britain) who believes that all good history is in some shape or form contemporary history. I also work a lot with theories and concepts from the social sciences, especially sociology and International Relations. I do research on two themes: the transnational history of social movements (especially peace movements) and the history of the Cold War (in particular the history of military infrastructure).

Together with Dr Sam Alberti at National Museums Scotland (PI), I am currently working on a large project 'Materialising the Cold War', generously funded by the AHRC (AH/V001078/1). The project analyses museum collections and displays across the UK and Europe - covering everything from military and social history to technology, art and design - to understand how the Cold War materialised in a specific national context and ask exactly how it features in museums today (http://mcw.stir.ac.uk/).

I also hold a British Academy Innovation Fellowship (together with Wilton Park, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office's executive agency) to work on paradiplomacy and regional development in the UK context (https://pare.stir.ac.uk/).

My biography has prepared me for this interdisciplinary journey. I received my training in contemporary history, political science, and philosophy. Before joining Stirling's Division of  History and Politics in September 2013, I was based in various positions at the University of Sheffield. I hold a DPhil from Oxford which I had the pleasure to attend with very generous funding from a Rhodes scholarship.

I have held a number of visiting research fellowships at universities in Europe and north America: at the Forum for Contemporary History, Oslo and the Norwegian Nobel Institute (2007 and 2008); at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, Columbus, OH, USA (2009); at the Hamburg Institute for Social Research (2009); at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris (as professeur invité in 2010); at the History Department at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA (2012); and at CISAC-TEC at Stanford (2019).

Divisional / Faculty Contribution

Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Other Academic Activities

Co-Convenor, Research Programme in Human Security, Conflict and Co-Operation
https://www.stir.ac.uk/research/hub/tag/104198

Co-Director, Centre for Policy, Conflict and Co-Operation Research
https://www.stir.ac.uk/…erationresearch/

Co-Editor, Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements
https://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14580

Co-Editor, Studies in Civil Society
https://www.berghahnbooks.com/…in-civil-society

Professional membership

Fellow, Higher Education Academy

Fellow, Royal Historical Society

University Contribution

Member of Academic Council

Member of University Court

Research (3)

I am a historian of post-1945 Western Europe, with special interests in the history of social movements, protests and political activism in Britain and West Germany, the history of violence and peace, the social history of the Cold War, and environmental history.

Together with colleagues in Vienna and Berlin, I collaborate on a platform that brings together colleagues working on the history of science in the Cold War, and especially the Pugwash movement: https://www.writing-pugwash-histories.org/project-description/

I have now begun work on a major project that examines the role of infrastructure for NATO in the Cold War, with special respect to the extreme environments in NATO's northern rim ('the High North') as well as transatlantic debates about burden sharing in the alliance.

Projects

Materialising the Cold War
PI: Professor Holger Nehring
Funded by: Arts and Humanities Research Council
–

The Scottish Privy Council, 1692-1708: government from Revolution to Union
PI:
Funded by: The Leverhulme Trust
–

Paradiplomacy and regional development (PARE): transnational agency in the making of regional social and cultural infrastructures since 1945
PI: Professor Holger Nehring
Funded by: The British Academy
–

Outputs (63)

Outputs

Edited Book

Cold War Museology

Douthwaite J, Nehring H & Alberti SJMM (eds.) (2024) Cold War Museology. London. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032690414

Authored Book

Cold War Scotland

Nehring H, Douthwaite J, Alberti SJMM & Harper S (2024) Cold War Scotland. Edinburgh: NMS Enterprises Ltd - Publishing.

Book Chapter

April 1960: Aufbruch zum ersten Ostermarsch

Nehring H (2021) April 1960: Aufbruch zum ersten Ostermarsch. In: Langebach M (ed.) Protest: Deutschland 1949-2020. Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, pp. 158-163. https://www.bpb.de/shop/buecher/zeitbilder/342469/protest/

Book Chapter

"Grenzen der Demokratie?" Bundesdeutsche Friedensbewegungen und die Westarbeit der SED im Übergang von den 1950er zu den 1960er Jahren

Nehring H (2020) "Grenzen der Demokratie?" Bundesdeutsche Friedensbewegungen und die Westarbeit der SED im Übergang von den 1950er zu den 1960er Jahren ["Limits of Democracy?" West German peace movements and he SED's Western Department from the 1950s to te 1960s]. In: Berger S, Dietz B & Muller-Enbergs H (eds.) Das Ruhrgebiet im Fokus der Westarbeit der DDR. Stefan Berger et al ed. Schriftenreihe des Instituts für soziale Bewegungen, A65. Essen: Klartext Verlag, pp. 59-86. https://klartext-verlag.de/programm/fachbuch/schriftenreihen/veroeffentlichungen-des-instituts-fuer-soziale-bewegungen/3170/das-ruhrgebiet-im-fokus-der-westarbeit-der-ddr

Book Chapter

Failed Utopia? The University of Stirling from the 1960s to the early 1980s

Nehring H (2020) Failed Utopia? The University of Stirling from the 1960s to the early 1980s. In: Taylor M & Pellew J (eds.) Utopian Universities: A Global History of the New Campuses of the 1960s. Oxford: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 191-206. https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/utopian-universities-9781350138636/

Book Chapter

Europäische Friedensbewegungen seit dem 19. Jahrhundert [European peace movements since the nineteenth century]

Nehring H (2017) Europäische Friedensbewegungen seit dem 19. Jahrhundert [European peace movements since the nineteenth century]. In: Echternkamp J & Mack H (eds.) Geschichte ohne Grenzen? Europäische Dimensionen der Militärgeschichte vom 19. Jahrhundert bis heute [History without borders? European Dimensions of Military History from the nineteenth century to the present day]. Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, pp. 99-110. https://www.degruyter.com/view/product/449809; https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110454864-010

Book Chapter

Peace Movements

Nehring H (2017) Peace Movements. In: Berger S & Nehring H (eds.) The History of Social Movements in Global Perspective. Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 485-513. https://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9781137304254

Book Chapter

Introduction: Towards a Global History of Social Movements

Berger S & Nehring H (2017) Introduction: Towards a Global History of Social Movements. In: Berger S & Nehring H (eds.) The History of Social Movements in Global Perspective: A Survey. Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1-35. https://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9781137304254

Book Chapter

Friedensforschung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Entwicklung und Debatten von den 1960er bis in die 1980er Jahre [Peace Research in the Federal Republic of Germany. development and debates from the 1960s to the 1980s]

Nehring H (2016) Friedensforschung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Entwicklung und Debatten von den 1960er bis in die 1980er Jahre [Peace Research in the Federal Republic of Germany. development and debates from the 1960s to the 1980s]. In: Defrance C C & Pfeil U (eds.) Verständigung und Versöhnung nach dem "Zivilisationsbruch"? Deutschland in Europa nach 1945. L'Allemagne dans les relations internationales, 9. Brussels: Peter Lang, pp. 711-734. https://www.peterlang.com/view/product/62134?format=EPDF

Book Chapter

Peace Movements and the Politics of Recognition in the Cold War

Nehring H (2016) Peace Movements and the Politics of Recognition in the Cold War. In: Gosewinkel D & Rucht D (eds.) Transnational Struggles for Recognition: New Perspectives on Civil Society since the Twentieth Century. Studies on Civil Society, 8. New York: Berghahn Books, pp. 231-251. http://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/GosewinkelTransnational

Book Chapter

The Last Battle of the Cold War: Peace Movements and German Politics in the 1980s

Nehring H (2015) The Last Battle of the Cold War: Peace Movements and German Politics in the 1980s. In: Nuti L, Bozo F, Rey M & Rother B (eds.) The Euromissile Crisis and the End of the Cold War. Cold War International History Project. Stanford, CA, USA: Stanford University Press, pp. 309-330. http://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=25241

Book Chapter

Perspektiven: Friedenserziehung und Friedenspädagogil, Gewalt und Zivilität. Zur Historisierung einer “Praxeologie des Friedens

Nehring H (2014) Perspektiven: Friedenserziehung und Friedenspädagogil, Gewalt und Zivilität. Zur Historisierung einer “Praxeologie des Friedens. In: Koessler T & Schwitanski A (eds.) Frieden lernen: Friedenspädagogik und Erziehung im 20. Jahrhundert. Frieden und Krieg - Beiträge zur Historischen Friedensforschung. Essen: Klartext Verlag, pp. 275-286.

Book Chapter

Transnationale soziale Bewegungen

Nehring H (2014) Transnationale soziale Bewegungen. In: Dulffer J J & Loth W (eds.) Dimensionen internationaler Geschichte. Studien zur Internationalen Geschichte, 30. Munich: Oldenbourg, pp. 129-150. https://www.degruyter.com/viewbooktoc/product/222498

Edited Book

Den Kalten Krieg denken: Beiträge zur sozialen Ideengeschichte seit 1945

Bernhard P & Nehring H (eds.) (2013) Den Kalten Krieg denken: Beiträge zur sozialen Ideengeschichte seit 1945 [Thinking the Cold War: Contributions to the social history of ideas since 1945]. Frieden und Krieg, Beiträge zur Historischen Friedensforschung. Essen: Klartext Verlag.

Book Chapter

Transnationale soziale Bewegungen [Transnational social movements]

Nehring H (2012) Transnationale soziale Bewegungen [Transnational social movements]. In: Dülffer J & Loth W (eds.) Dimensionen internationaler Geschichte [Dimensions of International History]. Studien zur internationalen Geschichte, 30. Munich: Oldenbourg, pp. 129-150. https://www.degruyter.com/view/product/222498

Book Review

The Price of Freedom

Nehring H (2012) The Price of Freedom. Review of: Der Preis Der Freihiet: Geschichte Europas in unserer Zeit by Andreas Wirsching, Munich: Beck, 2012, 487 pp. ISBN 9783406632525. TLS: The Times Literary Supplement, (5720), pp. 35-35. https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/private/history-22/

Article

La Guerra fredda e la storia del secolo XX

Nehring H, Engerman DC, Rupprecht T, Moro R, Fulbrook M, Gestwa K & Beige B (2012) La Guerra fredda e la storia del secolo XX [The Cold War and XX century history]. Contemporanea, 15 (1), pp. 119-176. https://doi.org/10.1409/36300

Book Chapter

'Generation', modernity and the making of contemporary history: responses in West European Protest Movements around ‘1968’

Nehring H (2011) 'Generation', modernity and the making of contemporary history: responses in West European Protest Movements around ‘1968’. In: von der Goltz A (ed.) Talking ‘bout my generation: Conflicts of generation building and Europe' s '1968'. Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, pp. 73-95. http://www.academia.edu/6048712/Generational_belonging_and_the_68ers_in_Europe

Book Chapter

Vtoraya mirovaya voijna v nemetskih i britanskih shkoljnih uchebnikah istoriji: mezhdu imperijej, Evropoi I gegemonijjej liberalizma

Nehring H (2010) Vtoraya mirovaya voijna v nemetskih i britanskih shkoljnih uchebnikah istoriji: mezhdu imperijej, Evropoi I gegemonijjej liberalizma. In: Guzenkova T & Filianova V (eds.) Vtoraya mirivaya I Velikaya Otechestvennaya vojny v uchebnikah istoriyi sstran SNH I ES: problem, podhodi, interpretaciyi. Materiali mezhdunarodnoy konferenciyi (Moskva, 8-9 aprelja 2010 goda). Moscow: Rossiskii institut strategicheskih issledovanii, pp. 95-109.

Book Chapter

Britain as the Cradle of German extra-parliamentary protests?

Nehring H (2006) Britain as the Cradle of German extra-parliamentary protests?. In: Bauerkamper A & Eisenberg C (eds.) Britain as a model of modern society? German views. Arbeitskreis Deutsche England-Forschung, 56. Augsburg: Wissner, pp. 111-132.

Book Chapter

The British Response to SDI: Introductory Paper

Nehring H (2005) The British Response to SDI: Introductory Paper. In: Kandiah M & Staerck G (eds.) The British Response to SDI. Witness seminar held in the Chancellor's Hall, Senate House, University of London on 9 July 2003. CCBH Oral History Programme. London: Centre for Contemporary British History, pp. 17-24. https://keats.kcl.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/1402689/mod_resource/content/1/SDI%20Witness%20Seminar.pdf

Article

National internationalists: British and West German protests against nuclear weapons, the politics of transnational communications and the social history of the cold war, 1957-1964

Nehring H (2005) National internationalists: British and West German protests against nuclear weapons, the politics of transnational communications and the social history of the cold war, 1957-1964. Contemporary European History, 14 (4), pp. 559-582. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0960777305002766

Teaching

I teach post-1945 European (including British) history, with a special focus on the history of the Cold War. I also teach a Special Subject on the rebellions and revolutions around 1968. I also enjoy teaching first-year students in our introductory modules on British history and concepts of history.

In addition, I have a keen interest in the history and practice of diplomacy. I am a programme director for Stirling's professional doctorate of diplomacy. In that context I have developed a keen interest in the use of simulations to foster negotiations skills. Together with senior foreign and defence experts, I have run a series of crisis simulations as part of our diplomacy programmes. This has helped our students gain key professional skills through experiential learning.

Research programmes

Research centres/groups

Research themes