Given that most of you have already written blog posts on your end of year projects already, I thought I would share a little bit about how mine is progressing so far. For those of you who do not know
A different kind of network
I have been merrily researching the Spanish flu for several weeks now. My flatmates have been regaled with interesting facts about cytokines and death tolls. While discussing politics with my visiting family over spring break, I informed everyone at the
The Historian and the ANT: a cautionary tale
‘The move of African workers from a British colony to a German colony,’ Ulrike Lindner argues, ‘entailed a clash of different colonial cultures, which can thus be analysed in a new light.’[1] This is not an unusual statement. It is
Weak Links, Strong Ties and Transnational Actors
This week’s reading has opened up a number of questions regarding the way in which knowledge is transferred, and the actors and networks that are established to communicate this information. Lux has highlighted the importance of ‘weak links’ and
So far so bad
After having just completed another article relating to the development of scientific communication networks, I feel like I have expanded my understanding of the inherent communicative powers of information/knowledge. Unfortunately, I am still faced with the unwavering issue of how
Having just written my short essay on Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and given that in our next class we will be discussing actors and networks, I thought it would be useful for us all if I wrote guide on some
Some Thoughts on National Culture
Wow I haven’t written in a while now. It’s been a hectic few weeks with the end to this half of the semester, but I wanted to get a post in before Spring Break just to keep things ticking over.
My (Very) Unsuccessful Attempt at QGIS
Class on Tuesday reminded me that I had a blogpost to write for this week, but inspiration did not hit till Wednesday. I have to admit, working on QGIS yesterday proved more challenging than I thought it would be, coming
Weak = Strong & Strong = Weak
It should be noted that this blog post will not discuss the meaning of this title statement (or distinction); but rather its usages ….for me lol. When I first approached the topic of control over information networks, I encountered a
Europe’s Place in Transnational History
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