In response to the presentations on Tuesday (all of which were centered around fascinating topics, I might add), I just wanted to post my thoughts about a few ideas that stuck out in my mind. I was very taken by
Project Problems: Structure, Sources and the Transnational Context
The current challenge I’m facing in writing my project is deciding upon a structure that keeps the transnational element at the centre. The essential purpose of my project is to uncover the transnational connections between Belfast and Glasgow through the
Project Progress and Problems
Where my project stands at the moment is one that still lacks focus and a specific argument at such. As the nature of my project has evolved from focusing on the first Documenta exhibition in 1955 to covering three (1955,
Some Clarity (finally!) with My Project
After my research frustrations, I decided to turn back to David Goldblatt’s comprehensive book about the global history of football, The Ball is Round. In his chapter on the turn of the professionalization of the game, he argues that the European game
Project problems: accounts from the angle of the Ghadarites
Ghadar has been written about from two main perspectives: firstly (and primarily), building it into the story of Indian nationalism; secondly, fitting it into the history of revolutionary movements of the early twentieth century. It is the challenge of how
Project Progress: Dead Ends and New Entry Points
When I began my research for my project, I was very optimistic about the role that primary sources would play in my sources. Much like Sebastian Conrad examined the role of work in his study of migration in 19th Century
Project Problems
The process of developing my project around the theme of Prohibition bootlegging on the Michigan-Ontario border has proved a challenging one. The wealth of primary and secondary sources which I have found has made it increasingly difficult to find a
The Agency of the Individual
When examining history in the context of nation-states interacting with nation-states, it is often easy, and sometimes inevitable, that we lose sight of the role of individuals. Even if individuals are considered, it is difficult to imagine them as individual
Actors and networks- rethinking space and time
The concept of networks in transnational history is potentially a very powerful one; they can elucidate exactly why certain phenomena developed, and why in specific spaces, both socially and geographically. Human connections have often connected geographically independent regions or individuals
Personal Interactions: The Perfect Starting Point for Studying Networks (or a Historian’s Worst Nightmare)?
In her article we read back in Week 1, Patricia Clavin states that transnational history is “first and foremost about the people.” This might be stating the obvious, but it is a useful quote to keep in mind when looking
Researching the project
Researching Ghadar has involved using a range of different source bases. In addition to published memoirs and collections of official documents – available through inter-library loan – I have consulted contemporary newspapers online through the library subscription to the ProQuest
Scale and Scope in Transnational History
It is clear from the literature on the topic that the level of detail in an article or book is an important consideration in the writing of transnational history. The two examples of transnational history that we read this week,
Space and Scale within Microhistory
Critics of transnational history seem to attribute the term as a buzzword, a fad occurring within the historical discipline. Despite the opinions of its proponents and opponents, both would agree that transnational history is by no means new. Its rise
Microhistory – The enticing potential & the great challenge
Our discussion this morning centred heavily on pinpointing the value of microhistory, with close reference to the article “A Chinese Farmer, Two African Boys; and a Warlord” by Tonio Andrade, and Heather Streets-Salter’s “The Local was Global: The Singapore Mutiny
Micro History, Global History, Narrative and the Transnational Perspective
Since its heyday in the 1970s and 80s, cresting the waves of Ginzburg’s breakthrough tale of cheese and worms, micro history has remained both a popular and yet controversial methodology. However, in a field such as global history, micro history