New Perspectives on the History of Firearms
12.12.2025
From December 18 to 19, 2025, the Joint Workshop EU-Guns / GlobArms titled "New Perspectives on the History of Firearms: Global Markets, Gun Control and Gun Cultures in the Contemporary World" will be held in the Conference Hall of Palazzo Liviano in Padua.
The event will feature scholars dedicated to the analysis of the historical circulation, regulation, and social meanings of firearms in various regions of the world. It is designed as a forum for dialogue between the STARS GlobArms project—which focuses on global movements, monitoring infrastructures, and commercial dynamics of firearms from the late 19th century to World War II—and the ERC EU-Guns project, which examines practices, cultures, norms, and daily implications of legal firearm ownership in contemporary Europe.
This workshop represents a meeting point between the STARS GlobArms project and the ERC EU-Guns project, promoting a comparative reflection on firearms as configuring elements of political orders, market logics, state processes, and cultures of violence. Various topics will be discussed, such as the transimperial trade of arms, paramilitary mobilisation, and firearm regulations in colonial and postcolonial contexts.
The event aims to reconsider established historiographical paradigms and highlight the importance of interdisciplinary and transnational approaches in understanding the role of firearms in modern and contemporary history.
Participation is open and free, and all interested parties are invited to attend.
