Les mondes de Fernand Braudel

Titled Les mondes de Fernand Braudel. Histoire globale, histoire connectée (The Worlds of Fernand Braudel. Global History, Connected History), the conference will offer a critical exploration of several core dimensions of his work. Discussions will focus especially on his conceptions of time and space, as well as his use of multiple scales of analysis — approaches that have profoundly reshaped the way research is written in the human and social sciences. The conference will also examine dynamics of connection, domination, and transformation across the world’s major regions. Particular attention will be given to the continuing relevance of Braudel’s thought in a changed global context, shedding light on its legacies, limitations, and potential reconfigurations in an increasingly interconnected world.

The conference will be held at the “Maison” founded by Fernand Braudel, under the auspices of an international scientific committee chaired by Professor Sanjay Subrahmanyam (University of California, Los Angeles).

9:30 AM | Participant Welcome

10:00 AM | Durations, Spaces, Events

Chaired by: Alice Crary (The New School for Social Research)

Christian Grataloup (Université Paris Cité)
L’histoire, l’œil de la cartographie

Marie-Vic Ozouf-Marignier (EHESS)
Espaces urbains et économies-mondes : une géohistoire qui s'ignore ? 

Cyprian Broodbank (Cambridge University)
The early Mediterranean seen upside down: Towards a long-term archaeological history of Mediterranean Africa and the African Mediterranean before the Phoenicians

12:30 – 2:00 | Lunch Break

2:00 PM | The Mediterranean: Past and Present

M’hamed Oualdi (European University Institute)
Les esclaves maghrébins dans l'Europe du XVIII^e siècle. Quelle histoire de la Méditerranée par le sud ?

Guillaume Calafat (Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne)
Une histoire toujours recommencée : la Méditerranée de Fernand Braudel

Derin Terzioğlu (Boğaziçi University) 
Whither the social and political history of religion in the early modern Ottoman world?

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7:00 PM | L'histoire, mesure du monde by Fernand Braudel

To close the first day of the conference, an exceptional session of the Livres en dialogue series will spotlight the new edition of a pivotal text, based on lectures delivered by Fernand Braudel while in captivity during World War II. Set to be published in November 2025 by Éditions de la MSH, L'histoire, mesure du monde lays the foundation for Braudel’s thought and the emergence of global history.

The event will feature Christian Grataloup (Université Paris Cité) and Maurice Aymard (EHESS, former director of the FMSH).

→ Learn more _ _ _

9:30 AM : Participant Welcome

10:00 AM | The Ocean and Its Connections

Chaired by: Delphine Allès (Inalco)

Mihoko Oka (University of Tokyo) 
The Image and Reality of African Mercenaries in Pre-Early Modern East Asia

François Gipouloux (CNRS)
Méditerranée asiatique : pertinence et limites du concept

Mike O’Sullivan (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
An Anti-Mediterranean? Ottoman Functionaries and Entrepreneurs in Indian Ocean Trade, 1650-1800

12:30 – 2:00 PM | Lunch break

2:00 PM | What Is Global History?

Chaired by: Teresa Castro (Fondation Gulbenkian - Délégation France)

Giuseppe Marcocci (Oxford University)
A Global Historian avant la lettre ? Fernand Braudel and the Problem of the Global

Ousmane Traoré (Pomona College)
L’art politico-religieux de la pratique diplomatique entre les mondes méditerranéen, atlantique et africain depuis le XV^e jusqu’au XVIII^e siècle.

Íris Kantor (University of São Paulo)
L'économie-monde sur la carte et au-dessus : hiérarchies visibles et logiques cachées

Charlotte de Castelnau-L'Estoile (Sorbonne Université)
Fernand Braudel et l’histoire du Brésil 

4:30-5:00 Break

5:30 PM | Roundtable: Forty Years Later

Chaired by: Antonin Cohen (President of the FMSH)

Sanjay Subrahmanyam (University of California Los Angeles), Gábor Czoch (Eötvös Loránd University) et Ian Merkel (University of Groningen)

The presentations will be held in French and English, without translation.

President

• Sanjay Subrahmanyam, professor, Irving & Jean Stone Chair, University of California Los Angeles, USA

Members

• Maurice Aymard, Emeritus Director of Studies, EHESS, France

• Mercedes García-Arenal, Honorary Research Professor, CSIC, Spain

• Giuliana Gemelli, Professor Emerita, University of Bologna, Italy

• Iris Kantor, professor, University of São Paulo, Brazil

• Giuseppe Marcocci, professor, Oxford University, United Kingdom

• Masashi Haneda, Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo, Japan

• Marie-Vic Ozouf-Marignier, Director of Studies, EHESS, France

• Ousmane Traoré, Associate Professor, Université Pomona, USA