In last week’s seminar we discussed (among other points) the role of the nation and modern-nation state in trans-national history. Questions were raised – as in some of the blog posts – as to how the nation-state interconnects with other levels and scales of investigation: the regional, the inter-national or supra-national level. This is an essential question and not an easy one. Not the least as transnational history is still relatively, but also as the entry point to transnational history varies widely and can be an object (OXO), a network or organisation (League of Nations, Red Cross, an NGO), individuals or the nation (in comparison – see Kiran Patel’s “Soldiers of Labour).

Matryoshka Dolls
Matryoshka Dolls

This week, based on Ian Tyrrell’s “Transnational Nation” and Sebastian Conrad’s “Globalisation and the Nation”, we will continue the debate. We will ask how the levels and scales interact, how nations are made transnationally and how nations and nation-states (more traditionally seen as separated entities in comparative or inter-national history) interact?

Contest of the week: Do you dare to draw a transnational diagram or visualisation of Tyrrell’s or Conrad’s vision of how the regional, national, and global interact? It is not easy how to connect the Matryoshka Dolls – but it can help to see how different approaches to transnational and global history work.

Transnational History and the riddle of how to connect the Matryoshkas
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