Scholarly work on transnational history has often focused on a Eurocentric standpoint, and looked at how and why Europe especially fits into the transnational mold. Europe has undergone a series of border realignment, and since the 18th century there has
Transnational trafficking networks, 1940-2000
There are few instances of networks more clearly transnational than those in which human traffickers operate. Deliberately operating beyond the confines of state laws by definition, human traffickers and their victims clandestinely navigate boundaries. For this reason, the proposed project
Strategic Migration in British Empire? Yes or No?
When Giovanni Gozzini utilized the phrase ‘strategic migration’ to describe the exploits and agency of migrant workers in the 19th and 20th centuries, he knowingly confronted a long-standing historiographical viewpoint on the subject of Indenture. As Hugh Tinker’s A New
Project Proposal | Transnational Space: Agrarian Development and Circulation in India (1757-1858)
On 31 December 1600, Queen Elizabeth I presented the East India Company [EIC] with the ability to monopolise English trade in the East Indies. The Company, incentivised by the abundance of resources in India, secured a strong foothold in a
Ideas of culture, identity, and borders
The border between the United States and Mexico, which spans approximately 3 million miles of land between the two nations, has been a topic of political, economic, and migratory tension which has been heightened significantly in the age of
Let’s get transdisciplinary
‘If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?’ Let’s imagine that I go for a walk in Switzerland— in the easternmost part of the state, near the little-known
Repatriation vs Settlement or is it something else?!
After initially looking at the project proposal and the possible range of ideas I had for my final topic, I realized my main two ideas for the extended essay were actually closely related. First, I wanted to analyse the rates
The Forgotten Fourth Horseman
While doing reading for my upcoming project on the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919, I was struck by something in particular: a glaring lack of information on the subject. One would think that there would be plenty of sources to be
An Indian Villager, An American Sailor, A Frenchwoman, an Opium Trader and an African American On A Ship
Sea of Poppies is a historical novel written by Amitav Ghosh, and is an intriguing study into opium trade, and how it affected the Indians who were involved. It also focuses on indentured servitude of Indians away from the subcontinent
Where to begin?
As I sit here contemplating my project proposal, I have come to wonder exactly what my specific 5000 word essay should be on? There are a number of avenues I would like to explore, and I have
‘I’ll put a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes’ – Doing and Practicing Transnational Theatre
I’ve been kind of running with one of the ideas that I put forward in a previous blog post, about how art is inherently transnational. And specifically, I’ve been pushing towards the idea of a project proposal rather than an
A Croatian Electrician, Two Army Officers, and a French Tennis Legend: Toward a Global Microhistory
In one of our readings last week by Tonio Andrade, one part particularly stuck out me and is worth quoting in full. ‘There are stories out there waiting to be told, traces in the archives that can provide individual perspectives
End of Year Project: The Silk Road?
In last week’s seminar, I was considering two possible project ideas. One related to the Silk Road, and the other related to the India-Pakistan partition. At this stage, I’ve done a bit of research on both these ideas, and will
Getting started
I’m starting to sink my teeth into some sources that might lead me in a sensical direction for my project, and along the way I’ve come up with several new ideas and buzzwords. These discoveries all lead me to ask
Microhistory: The Debate
Micro history gained prominence as a school of historical thought during the 1960s and 70s. It essentially seeks to attribute worldwide historical events to smaller, seemingly insignificant occurrences on a micro level. There is a great debate surrounding the effectiveness