The 2016 Skytte Manuscript Workshop Successfully Completed

2016-11-24 by Elin Bjarnegård

At the same time as this year’s Johan Skytte festivities took place, the Skytte Foundation hosted the sixth Johan Skytte Manuscript Workshop, held at the Department of Government, Uppsala University.

During three days, a distinguished group of international and Swedish scholars discussed the book manuscript “Cabinets, Ministers, and Gender” by Claire Annesley, Karen Beckwith, and Susan Franceschet. The three authors all agree that the workshop was very important for their continued work with the book manuscript. Although it is perhaps too soon to say exactly what changes the workshop discussions will generate, all three emphasize that the combination of having scholars with different areas of expertise sitting in the same room, discussing the same manuscript for an extended period of time, is both unique and extremely valuable. One of the authors, Susan Franceschet, says:

“The Johan Skytte Manuscript Workshop offers authors a rare and remarkable opportunity to discuss their work in-depth with a group of experts in a collegial and face-to-face setting. There are no other opportunities for this kind of engagement and deep reflection on a book manuscript prior to publication.”

 

The workshop itself took place in the Gyllenhielmska Library in the House of Skytteanum, but there was also time for the authors and workshop participants to discover Uppsala. Claire Annesley particularly mentions the guided tour of Uppsala: “The workshop organizers arranged an amazing tour of Uppsala, led by a guide dressed up as Carl von Linné. Lots of fun.”

Workshop dinners provided opportunities for conversations to continue in a more social setting, something the authors found served as a nice counterpoint to the intense intellectual work of the workshop itself. The workshop participants were also invited to take part in the Johan Skytte festivities celebrating Jon Elster as this year’s recipient of the prestigeous Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science. Karen Beckwith appreciated this experience: “Our inclusion in the Skytte Prize events underscored the seriousness and the prestige of the intellectual work that continue at the Uppsala University as part of Johan Skytte legacy.”

The Johan Skytte Manuscript Workshop is a unique opportunity that allows authors to present book manuscripts and to invite feedback from a distinguished group of international and Swedish scholars during an intellectually stimulating exercise in Uppsala. The 6th Johan Skytte Manuscript workshop took place from September 29 to October 2, 2016. Invited international participants were Diana O’Brien, John Scheeperel, Juan Rodriguez Teruel, Matthew Kerby, Meryl Kenny, and Vivien Lowndes. From Stockholm University: Lenita Freidenvall. From the Department of Government, Uppsala University: Elin Bjarnegård, Christina Bergqvist, Pär Zetterberg, Josefina Erikson, Thomas Persson, Cecilia Josefsson, and Pernilla Tunberger. Elin Bjarnegård coordinated this particular workshop, but for further information about the Johan Skytte Manuscript Workshops in general, please contact Michal Smrek at michal@skytteprize.com.

A short picture gallery from the event follows below.