CALL FOR PAPERS: Plunder, Pillage and Spoils of War in History and Law (Leeds: The Royal Armouries Museum, 28-29 APR 2025) [DEADLINE: 11 OCT 2024]

(Image source: Royal Armouries Museum)

‘Looting’ or ‘plunder’ – the appropriation of material goods as the outcome of warfare – has received renewed attention in recent years. Interest has focused on both the immediate act of looting in contemporary warzones from Syria to the Ukraine, as well as its legacy in respect of the way in which Western museums acquired their collections. However, the urge not just to defeat an opponent but to strip them of their possessions has been consistent throughout history. The fact of being looted has often enhanced the status of particular objects, from the Roman practice of displaying spolia to the Native American practice of ‘counting coup’ through the acquisition of an opponent’s horse or weapons. Yet plunder also has a significant material component: the ashigaru soldiers, whose use of firearms revolutionised Japanese warfare, originated in groups of impoverished farmers following an army in order to systematically despoil the enemy. Whatever the motive, spoils of war of all kinds flowed from battlefields to the centres of civil and religious authority, traversing national boundaries and diverse geographies, communicating unexplored histories of cross-cultural contact.

This conference seeks to bring to bear on the topic the widest range possible of thematic, disciplinary, geographical, and chronological perspectives. Its goal is to disentangle specific manifestations of looting from their fundamental, underlying, anthropological motivations, allowing us to understand all aspects of plunder more effectively. It will explore how different societies have prohibited, regulated, and encouraged the phenomenon of loot, and the historical, social, legal, cultural, and political motivations which such practices reveal.

The conference will take place 28–29 of April at The Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds, UK. We welcome proposals by scholars at all stages, including PhD and early career. A number of bursaries will be available to assist with attendance expenses and we would especially like to be able to support traditionally underrepresented scholarship.

We welcome any of the four following types of proposal:

• Individual papers (20 minutes plus Q&A): https://forms.office.com/e/UzQePkeJLg
• Chaired panel proposals of three papers (20 minutes plus Q&A) including chair: https://forms.office.com/e/jfvuZwxkLD
• ‘Lightning presentations’ (5 minutes plus Q&A) focused on a particular artefact: https://forms.office.com/e/8jXXp8stYc
• Poster presentation: https://forms.office.com/e/689yb2iKRC

Follow the appropriate link to submit your proposal by 5pm GMT on Friday 11 October. 
For any queries please contact Connor Wilson (Connor.Wilson@mmu.ac.uk) and Mark Bennett (Mark.Bennett@armouries.org.uk)

More information can be found here.