I really enjoyed looking through everyone’s presentations this week, they are all incredibly well done and reflected a super interesting mix of methods, styles and interests. Every project looks fascinating, and I have no doubt they are going to lead to incredible final pieces of work.
Feedback-
Marion- Your opening slides on the Anthropocene were fascinating, it’s a topic I have always associated with the last few decades and the way that you engaged with it to broaden its scope was done really well, both in terms of research, and the way you presented it as well.
You clearly have a very strong knowledge of your historiography, which will be invaluable in your final essay. In the same vein, your awareness of the defects of each branch of historiography you considered will no doubt allow you to weave the different narratives together in a way that is new and exciting! I think your project looks incredible, and I would love to see the final piece!
In terms of your research and sources. It looks like you have enough actors to write a really erudite piece already. The one potential thing I would say (though you have probably thought about this already) is that looking at your source list, it is almost entirely localised within the geographic areas of the revolutions which you want to study. Revolutionary discourses are arguably a global phenomenon during this time and there may be writers in conflicts such as the Latin American wars of Independence, the United Irishmen’s Rebellion or the Serbian Revolution, who engage with climate and human impact on the environment in a revolutionary context. More excitingly still, there may be nexuses where ideas from all these external areas meet to shape the intellectual currents in your states of study.
This may well not be a route you want to go down, but it’s the only piece of advice I could really give to what was an incredibly coherent presentation and a really cool project.
Jemma- Firstly, I really want to commend you on how good I thought your presentation was. It was incredibly clear, concise and informative.
Whilst I haven’t done much research on Eurocentrism in women’s organisations, I have done a decent amount relating to peace movements which has led to a little overlap, and I think you have found a really important research gap. Additionally, the way you identify Eurocentrism as a key feature, using images and maps in conjunction with secondary work, was really effective at getting your arguments across. If you were not already planning on doing so, I would recommend discussing the usage of images in your essay/project with Milinda and Bernhard.
Looking at your conference map, I noticed that as well as excluding Asia, Africa and South America, there were also no conferences in much of Eastern Europe. I wonder women’s movements in this ‘semi peripheral’ area could be productive for your research? Though it may well also be outside the scope of what you want to do.
Additionally, my research on women’s peace movements so far has identified class as a really important aspect which characterises peace movements, their aims and their members. If you have access to attendance lists for some of these conferences, I think it would be super interesting to apply an intersectional methodology looking at both race and class and how these shaped different groups.
Overall, though, I envy the coherence with which you have put together your arguments. I learned a decent amount about structuring an argument just from watching your presentation! It looks like it will be an incredibly strong and focussed piece of work. Really good luck!
Sophie- Your presentation had by far the most surprising title of any of them, but after watching it, your argument really made sense! How you managed to spot the connections between South Africa and Czechoslovakia is completely beyond me, but it makes for a super interesting and original perspective.
As projects go, yours seemed in super impressive shape. Strong research questions, coupled with a large primary source base and a decent chunk of secondary reading.
The one thing I saw in your research that I thought I could add to was your further question on whether the Czechoslovakian government’s solidarity with South Africa was fake. Whilst a fascinating question by itself, I would suggest that it could be really interesting to explore whether Czechoslovakian resistance movements’ solidarity with South Africa was genuine as well, and if not, what motivations underpinned their employment of anti-apartheid rhetoric.
The reason that I make this point is that in a recent conversation with Malaka Shwaikh, she mentioned how Palestinian dissidents were consciously avoiding the appropriation of BLM rhetoric to avoid stealing the limelight from them in an act of ‘fake solidarity’.
To be honest though, it seems like you are in a really good spot in terms of preparing for this final essay. You already have enough to write a very interesting essay studying a very unorthodox pairing of countries in a very productive way!