Late Modern & Contemporary history (1801 to present) : main subdisciplines
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Forgotten Roots of the Nordic Welfare State in Protestant Cultures
The Nordic welfare state of the 20th century has been hailed around the world as a model of how to build democratic and egalitarian societies. It has often been described as a project of social democracy often following a narrative of secularization and rationalization of society. However some of the most important actors and ideas of the "Scandinavian Sonderweg" had their roots in Protestant often Pietist and revivalist milieus that dreamed of creating an egalitarian community. The present volume explores these often forgotten roots in several case studies of phenomena from the seventeenth to the twenty-first century focusing primarily on questioning the function of aesthetics in the creation of the welfare state model. We argue that aesthetics and what Friedrich Schiller called aesthetic education played an important unifying role for Nordic societies. These aesthetics were shaped by Protestant ideas and practices. Through references to the then widespread circulation of educational texts based on Luther's catechism the later pietistic catechism of Erik Pontoppidan Nordic hymnbooks and practices such as communal singing and preaching in church church coffee reading circles and conventicle meetings a common aesthetic language emerged that unified different social groups and their competing goals and claims. Civic actors and movements learned specific ways to engage in society to develop practices of internalizing responsibility (self)critique and accountability and to communicate and develop a more democratic modern civic sphere. We therefore propose to look at this history from the perspective of a historically changing aesthetic as an integrating principle for understanding the political social cultural economic and many other aspects of the Nordic welfare state.
Pius XII and the Low Countries
The opening of the different Vatican Archives for the pontificate of Pius XII (1939-1958) in March 2020 sparked the interest of scholars across different disciplines worldwide. It invigorated tendencies to revisit the history of the 1940s and 1950s beyond the established narratives and sources and nourished hopes to address both longstanding and emerging questions and to discover innovative themes and approaches. Three years after the opening of these archives a multidisciplinary group of scholars from Belgium and the Netherlands convened at a scientific conference in Rome organized by the editors of this volume to study the impact of the archival access on diverse research domains. This publication presents new research based on documentation unearthed in the Vatican archives spanning both the Second World War and the postwar period and challenges existing scholarship not only on the history of the Catholic Church but also on broader themes in the Low Countries.
Produire et publier de la théologie dans le monde catholique
Des Restaurations à Vatican II
Issu d’un colloque organisé en septembre 2020 ce volume part de la nécessité de faire dialoguer histoire de la théologie et histoire des savoirs. Il se concentre plus particulièrement sur les lieux académiques de la production de la théologie sur son rapport à d’autres disciplines et son séquençage en sous-disciplines sur sa circulation dans des espaces plus vastes et sur le rapport aux éditeurs. Les 16 contributions ici rassemblées rompent avec l’écriture classique de l’histoire de la théologie qui est restée à grande distance des questions et des méthodes de l’histoire des savoirs ils rompent également avec la réticence des historiens des savoirs à appréhender l’objet-théologie malgré son importance dans les universités européennes des deux derniers siècles. Ce volume s’inscrit dans un agenda renouvelé d’historicisation des conditions et de la production des savoirs théologiques dans le monde catholique depuis les restaurations européennes du 19e siècle jusqu’à Vatican II.
The Co-production of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Artefacts, Rituals, Communities, Narratives, Doctrines, Concepts
Judaism Christianity and Islam have always formed re-formed and transformed themselves in conversation. That is these religions have come to exist in all their varieties by interacting with thinking about and imagining each other. In this sense they are co-produced linked by a dynamic and ongoing inter-dependence. The fifteen essays collected in this volume explore moments of such religious coproduction from the second to the twenty-first century from early pilgrimage sites to social media. The case studies range across textual and material cultures showing how a variety of artefacts coins rituals communities narratives theological doctrines and scholarly concepts were all co-produced across the three religious traditions. In so doing they present a panorama of possibilities from the past as well as a taxonomy that can help us think about the future of religious co-production. An introductory essay describes the advantages of approaching the past present and future of these religions through the lens of co-production and reflects on crucial methodological issues related to the understanding of Judaism Christianity and Islam as co-produced religions.
The Formation of Agricultural Governance
The Interplay between State and Civil Society in European Agriculture, 1870-1940
This book unravels how the agricultural sector and the rural world in Europe became more and more organised within capitalism in the years 1870-1940 and this with the aim of tackling the important challenges of the time. The focus is not so much on the myriad of individual farmers’ actions but on the collective efforts undertaken through the interplay between the state and the agricultural civil society.
A wide variety of actors from landowners associations farmers’ unions cooperatives scientific institutions and researchers to farmers themselves (or civil society) played a critical role in the process of drafting a policy agenda developing agricultural policies and were instrumental in implementing them in close relationship with the state. The result was a metamorphosis from mobilisation and representation of agrarian interests to a form of self-government or co-government of the agricultural sector at the national level which would only reach its highest point after the Second World War.
These issues are explored by established rural historians covering a period of seven decades (1870-1940). The papers provide a wide geographical perspective from the north of Europe to the Mediterranean.
Disoriented
Gender Territories in Contemporary Art
'Desnortar' or disoriented means to lose the north or the sense of direction to disorient. In Disoriented a collective book from a gender perspective we consciously seek to lose both the geographical north and the north of the contemporary art canon. We aim to rethink and disrupt from feminist LGTBQ+ and postcolonial approaches the coordinates that have articulated the discourses on the art history and art system along the 20th and 21st centuries. Coordinates that define how these artistic practices and systems of modernity and the contemporary are understood the cardinal directions and main conceptual issues or which artists are relevant or expendable according to the narratives of avant-garde and contemporary art history. It is crucial to reinterpret and disorientate to disnorth and thereby shatter these references to overcome the gaps that prevent the emergence of alternative knowledges. To address questions or artists often perceived as peripheral to a grand historical narrative we propose an intersection of modern and contemporary art history gender feminist queer and postcolonial approaches and transnational interrelations. This intersectionality allows us to actively lose the north of the canon and to direct our gaze towards subjects outside the usual centres of legitimation. Mostly we attend to women artists to peripheral geographical centres to subaltern collectives or to practices or materials regularly considered of little artistic interest. All of the above critiques how conventional discourses have excluded some collectives or certain artistic proposals and the resistances that have emerged against them.
‘Through Diplomatic Channels’. Science, Diplomacy, and Greece’s Efforts for Election to the IAEA Board of Governors, 1957–1961 *
This paper examines Greek efforts to secure a position on the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) during its early years. Fuelled by pride in his country’s advancements in nuclear matters and bolstered by what he saw to be a positive alliance to the United States Admiral Athanasios Spanidis president of the Greek Atomic Energy Commission attended the first General Conference of the IAEA in 1957 with high hopes. However Spanidis and Greece soon discovered that the diplomatic game in this novel international setting was much more challenging than anticipated. Greek ambitions suffered a double setback: not only did the US fail to support Greece’s candidacy for the IAEA board instead it backed Turkey’s application for this prestigious role — at a time of heightened tensions between Greece and Turkey regarding the unresolved Cyprus issue. This paper argues that Greece had quickly to adapt to the power plays of diplomacy within the multilateral framework of the IAEA. Learning from the bitter experience with the US in 1957 Greece strategically sought to forge relationships with other influential countries within the Western Bloc. This chapter shows how by carefully navigating the intricacies of the multilateral diplomatic dynamics at work within the IAEA Greece secured a position on its Board of Governors in 1961. The analysis also underlines how the internal dynamics of the IAEA were powerfully shaped by the wider geopolitical developments of the 1950s–1960s Cold War.
Needle Diplomacy. Acupuncture and Scientific Exchange in Cold War China and the United States
In the early 1970s while China was emerging from the height of the Cultural Revolution a surprising technology helped pave the way for the future rapprochement between China and the United States: the acupuncture needle. As an ostensibly apolitical practice acupuncture came to serve as a scientific lubricant that eased the Cold War tensions between the two countries providing an entryway into Sino-American people-to-people exchanges and future intellectual collaboration. At the same time acupuncture represented an alternative imagining of a new world order one in which scientific knowledge could just as easily flow from East to West as it did the reverse. By showcasing China’s ability to break new ground in the realm of medicine and surgery acupuncture became a form of soft power that highlighted the innovative capacity of Chinese communism and the revolutionary potential of Mao Zedong Thought. Through the captivating achievements of new needling technologies the Chinese government was able to not just extol the effectiveness of Maoism on a global scale but to also — albeit briefly — direct the terms of its diplomatic engagements with the capitalist West.
From ‘Integration Project’ to ‘Three-in-One Project’. Family Planning and Health Diplomacy between Japan and the People’s Republic of China, 1970s–1980s
This paper examines the co-production of knowledge-making and health diplomacy in the course of implementing the Japanese family planning overseas development aid program ‘Integration Project’ (integurēshon purojekuto インテグレーション・プロジェクト) known as the ‘Three-in-One Project’ (sanjiehe xiangmu三结合项目) in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The analysis focuses on the historical background to this program and the actual process toward its implementation. The paper argues that the implementation of the ‘Integration Project’ as the ‘three-in-one project’ in the PRC was more than just a simple act of linguistic translation. Rather it shows how this involved epistemological and political negotiations that resulted from the specific ways in which healthcare advocacy and diplomacy were arranged in a constellation that involved Japan PRC and organizations active in the sphere of international governance since the 1970s as the political contours of the Cold War were changing significantly.
Cooperation, or Control? Scientist-Diplomats, the IAEA, and the Global Nuclear Order *
This paper critically examines the case of three prominent scientist-diplomats to elucidate the functional aspects of post-World War II nuclear science diplomacy. The paper biographically maps the rise of these three scientist-diplomats namely Homi J. Bhabha from India Bertrand Goldschmidt from France and Vasily S. Emelyanov from the Soviet Union in post-WWII nuclear diplomacy and their role in shaping global atomic energy governance. Their technical expertise and bearings of national styles profoundly influenced their approach to nuclear scientific cooperation. The science diplomats we show became instrumental in setting the norms of scientific cooperation as they forged a common diplomatic understanding of crucial scientific and technological matters based on varying ideological and geostrategic considerations. The three scientist-diplomats constantly negotiated the domestic and international spheres using their specialized knowledge and positioning to shape necessary techno-political outcomes. The three scientist-diplomats in turn reveal the character of scientific cooperation that is innately political with diverse ideational and material underpinnings.
Cosmic Diplomacy and Vertical Sovereignty. The Equator’s Claims over the Geostationary Orbit, 1976–1982 *
The emergence and rapid advancement of space technology during the Cold War led to heated discussions about the geopolitical and legal framework of a world expanding into the stars as nations grappled with the implications of their newfound capabilities. During the early years of space exploration the competition for ownership access and use of outer space ignited multilateral debates involving not only the United States and the Soviet Union but also alternative discourses expectations and experiences from various stakeholders. This intricate web of cosmic diplomacy significantly contributed to the formation of a legal order for outer space. This chapter analyses the political legal and technoscientific arguments put forward by African Southeast Asian and Latin American representatives in international fora regarding the regulation of activities in a particular strip of outer space. It uses the development of a regulatory framework for the geostationary orbit (GEO) as a case study in which to explore this alternative perspective. It shows how equatorial countries pushed for a regulatory regime in space that accounted for the vertical dimension of national sovereignty. Drawing upon principles of decolonization internationalism and scientific cooperation their central argument advocated equal access to outer space for non-spacefaring countries. The analysis follows these negotiations by examining the records of the United Nations the proceedings of its Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and the first and second declarations of the equatorial countries (1976 and 1982) which staked their sovereignty claims over the GEO.
Investigating CERN’s Science Diplomacy in the Midst of the Cold War. The Case of the CERN–Serpukhov Collaboration *
For all that has been written about the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN) including its important political and diplomatic role less attention has been paid to its material aspects. This chapter highlights the pivotal importance of this material dimension to the formation of the organization’s worldwide networks. It emphasizes too how CERN has been shaped by technology transfer and the circulation of instruments innovations and artefacts. To this end the chapter uses the CERN–Serpukhov collaboration as a case study to illuminate the material dimension of CERN’s place and role in Cold War diplomacy including its scientists. During the 1960s Western Europe was both scientifically and politically seeking to move beyond the influence of the United States and to become an independent force in the Cold War. This would also enable the region to forge détente with the Soviet Union. In this geopolitical context spearheaded by the French the CERN–Serpukhov collaboration involved scientific technological diplomatic financial and industrial dimensions. It centred on a powerful particle accelerator — the U-70 Synchrotron located at the Soviet Institute for High Energy Physics in Serpukhov — which enabled research into high-energy particles. The analysis focuses on two different technical systems which formed part of the U-70 Synchrotron set-up and which travelled from Europe to the Soviet Union and were used as assets in diplomacy between governments scientific organizations and intelligence agencies. The first system was the gigantic ‘Mirabelle’ bubble chamber which was constructed in the French nuclear laboratory of Saclay and then transported piece by piece to Serpukhov. Second were the computers of the British manufacturer ICL which afforded prime opportunities for increased economic cooperation and trade flows between Western Europe especially the UK and the Soviet Union. These computers became a source of serious friction between the US and the UK an episode which involved of the CIA and the CoCom and highlights the sensitivities surrounding East–West technology transfer at CERN during the Cold War.
Reaching for the Stars during the Cold War. Science and Diplomacy in the Rise of Astronomy in Chile *
In the late 1950s and early 1960s scientists from the United States Western Europe and the Soviet Union arrived in Chile to build astronomical observatories. Their initial task was to find a suitable location which required exploring the desert and negotiating with local authorities which had little experience in astronomy. Some Chilean scientists and politicians saw this as a unique opportunity to advance national interests by leveraging the involvement of three international organizations. The Chilean State University played a crucial role in negotiations with both the American team and the Soviet Union while the government favoured Western Europeans and the US involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These transnational exchanges significantly advanced astronomy in Chile highlighting how science in the 1960s was influenced by Cold War politics. This process not only impacted northern-hemisphere science but also enabled Chile a Third World country to take an active role in cutting-edge astronomy establishing a precedent for international scientific agreements and paving the way for future astronomical growth in the country.
The Global Experiment. How the International Atomic Energy Agency Proved Dosimetry to be a Techno-Diplomatic Issue *
This paper draws attention to the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in shaping radiation dosimetry practices instrumentation and standards in the late 1950s and 1960s. It traces the beginnings of the IAEA’s radiation dose intercomparison program which targeted all member states and involved the WHO so as to standardize dosimetry on a global level. To standardize dosimetric measurement methods techniques and instruments however one had to devise a method of comparing absorbed dose measurements in one laboratory with those performed in others with a high degree of accuracy. In 1964 the IAEA thus started to build up what I call the ‘global experiment’ an intercomparison of radiation doses with participating laboratories from many of its member states. To carry out the process of worldwide standardization in radiation dosimetry I argue an organization with the diplomatic power and global reach of the IAEA was absolutely necessary. Thus ‘global experiment’ indicates a novel understanding of the experimental process. What counts as an experiment became governed by a process that was designed and strictly regulated by an international organization; it took place simultaneously in several laboratories across the globe while experimental data became centrally owned and alienated from those that produced it.
Imai Ryūkichi. Japan’s Nuclear Diplomat
The onset of the nuclear age led to a revolution in international politics and diplomacy. It also gave rise to the need for a new kind of diplomat one who could operate effectively across the diverse fields of international organisations national politics and the scientific communities associated with nuclear physics. One such nuclear diplomat who emerged in this new system and who did much to create and define the role was Imai Ryūkichi a Japanese and US-trained nuclear engineer and an executive at the Japanese Atomic Power Company. Over the course of a long career Imai acted as an intermediary between the Japanese government and the country’s nuclear power industry and also between Japan and its international nuclear partners. He made a major contribution to Japan’s stance on nuclear weapons to its adherence to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and to the international safeguards regime under which the nuclear energy industry operated. A further dimension of his work involved a role in public diplomacy writing books and articles advancing and explaining his way of thinking on nuclear matters to a wider audience. Imai’s career and how he positioned himself within the nuclear nexus nationally and internationally illustrates the changing nature of international diplomacy in the nuclear age. It also shows the importance of figures who could operate across — and form links between — diverse spheres of activity countries and international agencies.
A Disunited Front? The World Federation of Scientific Workers and the 1952 Korean War Bacteriological Warfare Allegations
Historical scholarship on international science and the relationship between science and diplomacy have tended to focus on a common set of ‘canonical’ institutions. This is certainly true of international scientific organizations for these have long served as the normative defaults. Others like the World Federation of Scientific Workers (WFSW) have been cast as comparatively fringe examples when discussed at all owing to their comparatively overtly politicized character. This chapter considers internal diplomacy that took place among WFSW scientists set in motion by a state-supported delegation of scientists from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) looking to leverage their influence in the international nongovernmental organization to encourage its public support for allegations that the American military had used bacteriological warfare during the Korean War. Against the backdrop of long-running armistice negotiations and a wider push on the part of PRC foreign affairs officials and scientist interlocutors to gain international support for these allegations the internal dynamics of the WFSW provides new insights into the tensions and challenges that arise when state actors seek to leverage international scientific organizations for diplomatic ends. The WFSW case is especially notable for taking place during a crucial period in which ideologies of science were in flux providing a window onto the nature of scientist-to-scientist diplomacy.
The Missing Interaction: Science and Diplomacy in the Early Cold War
This book enriches our understanding of the circumstances and conditions that have made the relation between science and diplomacy a primary concern of the political landscape in the twenty first century. As western liberal democracy and its effects on the environment but also on global war politics are under question authors in this collective volume rethink the effects that an ahistorical definition of science diplomacy has had on world politics. They document the historicity of the entanglement between on the one hand epistemic practices and knowledge production and on the other foreign policy strategies and negotiation tactics. The book is the first in a series of what Rentetzi calls 'Diplomatic Studies of Science' a highly inter- and trans- disciplinary field that analyzes science and diplomacy as historically co-produced. It primarily focuses on the entanglements of science and diplomacy after the Second World War bridging history of science diplomatic history and international relations