I have to admit, in all my time reading academic articles, I have yet to come across a phrase that has surprised me quite as much as this, the “fetishization of connections”. You could replace ‘connections’ with ‘mobility’ and have
Black Metal: Music Nationalism in the era of Globalisation
When coming up for a project to explore within this module I had a few ideas. For instance, I wanted to explore the reasoning behind international media reaction to Bashar al-Assad’s regime’s use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil
Into the wide open. Navigating the transnational ocean(s)
I has only been three weeks and three sessions with and around transnational and global history – thus far. Today we plunged into the wide Indian Ocean (with Sugata Bose, A Hundred Horizons). There is one more week to go
Dear Granny, greeting from transnational land…..
Confession up front: I am an analogue boy, i.e. growing up in the 1970s and 1980s. And I do remember sending postcards. How exciting was that. Travelling to a new place, an unknown place, then – out of sense of
Globalisation: a result of Nationalism? Or vice versa?
Definitions are tough. ‘Transnational’, ‘Global’, ‘Shared’, ‘Comparative’… the list goes on. However, Sebastian Conrad’s book Globalisation and the Nation in Imperial Germany has enlightened me on the differences between these terms. More than that, this book, particularly its introduction, has
‘Nation’ in Transnational History
During our discussion in week two I struggled with reconciling or understanding the parameters and definitions of ‘nation’ under which transnational history operates under. This weeks reading helped me understand the development of nations and why they exist he way
True History of the Kelly Gang
Reading Clare Anderson’s piece this week has inspired me to return to a novel which I began reading earlier this year: Peter Carey’s True history of the Kelly Gang. Having little knowledge of Irish-Australian history, it was not transnational motivations
Seeing Transnational History in Practice
Following the introduction to this module, the readings for this week’s tutorial have been very useful in witnessing transnational history ‘in action’. I had read in broader articles on transnational history about the significance of Sugata Bose’s work in the
The Individual in The Transnational Balancing Act
The readings from this week really helped clarify to me the meaning of transnational history approaches in practice. Particularly, what that means for the role of the individual lived experience. Generally, using personal accounts in history can accent the narrative
The Creation of Mentalities
Where to start with this week’s readings? There was something just so exciting about the overturning of some teleological perceptions which we have about Empire. Firstly, George Morgan, what an absolute badass (except for the part where he stole from
The ‘National’ in Transnational History
After doing the readings from week one and two I thought that the discipline of transnational history was starting to become a bit clearer. However, after doing this week’s readings (Conrad in particular) I’ve come to realise that whilst historians
The Significance of the Individual
When reading our key texts last week, I was surprised to see how important individual people were to understanding transnational history. The oxo article demonstrated the significance of individuals as connectors who connected places to allow the oxo brand to
The Threads that Tether Us?
When the inevitable question of: “What modules are you taking this semester?” appears between friends and family the most typical reaction to the name “Transnational History” is usually that of “isn’t that very broad?”. As echoed by my fellow students
Transnational History and Postcolonialism in Latin America
In his article ‘Global History, Imperial History and Connected Histories of Empire’ S.J. Potter speaks of a ‘fruitful cross-fertilization’ that can be achieved between Imperial and Global histories in order to bring together Imperial histories ‘top-down’ approach and Global histories
An Introduction to the Possibilities of Global and Transnational History
When I first glanced at the readings for Week 1, I was perhaps even more perplexed than when I knew nothing about the course at all… However, after persevering and delving into the text, the notion of transnational and global