MO3351 Doing and Practicing Transnational and Global History

This past weekend the class spend time together working in collaborative pairs to help each other practice writing and in doing so also help one another work out some of the continuing challenges and ideas surrounding our projects. Below were just some of the nearly two pages worth of writing that I with the aid of my fellow colleges was able to think of and hopefully address in the future with more research.

When looking at a mass historical period such as the First World War in relation to a specific people and how they are treated one may have issue getting lost in the historiography of the time period. This is one of the challenges I believe I will be facing when approaching this project as one of the main points of this project will be to try and connect the history which I will be researching to the transnational movement of the Gypsies of Europe specifically in France, Italy, Germany and Poland. These countries will be focused on mainly because they are the countries where the largest population of the Romani were and still are found outside of Romania and that also see the most mistreatment from the local people of that country.  But this all leads to my main argument centers around the idea that the treatment of these people before the war is what places them at the margins of the society and this is what leads them to be seen as less than human by the Nazi regime which leads to the Gypsies being placement in concentration camps. And this arguement is my fear as it is so complex and focuses so highly on the movement which leads to the mistreatment of these people before and during the war that I am fearful I will get lost in the history of the movement and treatment rather than connecting these things across time, space, and boarders to make an argument about these people’s history in relation to transnational history.

This all leads to my next obstacle which is trying to link these different countries together by way of the mistreatment of these people. When facing this dilemma my thought is to approach it by stating first and foremost that these people were not confined to one or another country and in fact often many of them moved from two to even three countries through a few years. The next way in which they I will try and approach this is by comparing the treatment of these people both before, during and especially after the war which despite the Romani being in vastly different countries often is very similar as can be seen in film, photography, literature and art. This leads to the obstacle of comparing the treatment of the Jewish people to that of the Romani as unlike the Jews after the war ended the Gypsies treatment did not really improve. The obstacle with this is to not try and compare to much but also to little with the Jews as the paper could be weighed down in such a complex argument but rather to use the comparison as a way in which to highlight the case of the Romani people.

All of this ultimately brings me to the obstacles I will be facing with sources. The good thing to note about sources is how many are available not just with historical articles but also in many different media, photography, film, literature but also across different areas of study such as sociology, anthropology, and even archeology and many of these are not just secondary sources but primary sources as well. However a good majority of these sources are not in English or french the two main languages which I speak. The most obvious obstacle is many of the primary sources for the Romani people is in their language or dialogue, if they’re thoughts are even written down as much of their cultural history is oral.

These are the main obstacles which I believe I will be facing as I continue to research and begin to compile that research into a possible paper.

The unconference on Saturday was a very thought-provoking and enjoyable experience. The opportunity to get feedback from my classmates while I was writing certainly helped to bring up some questions that I would not have considered otherwise. From here, it is clear that I need to properly decide on the direction that my project will take. In speaking with Konrad after my proposal presentation (in which I expressed a fear of the daunting scope of Pan-Africanism) he suggested that I consider the relationship between the Pan-African and the national in Africa and how national liberation leaders dealt with this tension. This is a very interesting idea and certainly one I would like to explore as I think it could help me bring in the cultural aspect that I have been looking for since one of the elements of this could be the ways in which national identity was expressed and whether Pan-Africanism had to compete in the same spheres. However, during the unconference, I realised that I am still also interested in the process of migration and its effects on this ideology. At this point, I think I could use my first proposal as a small part of the new direction of my project, yet I am still somewhat unsure as to how to go about exploring this. Therefore, at the unconference I tried to explore some contextual points that may be useful for either direction.

During the morning session, the first point I wanted to address was Pan-Africanism and its relation to other ideological concepts. Confronting Pan-Africanism will be an important aspect of whichever direction my project will take as its influence upon African independence movements and their leaders has been widely recognised. One of the questions that I think it would be interesting to address is how Pan-Africanism differed in its manifestations in each country. Pan-Africanism began as diasporic ideology in the nineteenth century in America and the Caribbean. In the twentieth century, it came into contact with communism, which would play an important role in its development. During the unconference, I wrote about the anti-communist direction of Pan-Africanism in America during the mid-twentieth century, resulting in the publication of key Pan-African thinker George Padmore’s monograph Pan-Africanism or Communism?  I suggested that a key difference between Pan-Africanism in America and Pan-Africanism in Africa is that imperialism was more of a concrete threat to Africa than communism was to America, meaning that Pan-Africanism was a practical alternative. This would mean that it was adapted in order to suit the needs of African national liberation. However, since the unconference I have briefly delved deeper into the relationship between Pan-Africanism and communism and the ways in which this may have impacted upon national liberation, and I have found that the situation was much more complex than I first thought as many Pan-Africanists identified as communists and the comintern had a specific interest in Africa and African liberation. Therefore, it is clear that more research needs to be done into this area as it would be a huge oversight to misrepresent its complexities.

The other point I focused on, during the afternoon session, was how migration affects the perception of national identity in the leaders that I have chosen to look at. Clearly, this point would be more relevant for my original proposal, however I think it could also have some significance for the other idea is it illustrates that perhaps there was no clear distinction between the Pan-African and the national as even the advocates of Pan-Africanism retained close ties with their national identities. For this segment I looked at Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta and his writing on the Kikuyu people to whom he belonged. I argued that he displays close personal ties to his homeland and Kikuyu identity. It seems significant that this is the focus of his writing during his time abroad, and I suggested that it was partly the experience of travelling during the colonial period that caused him to reflect upon his national identity. The problem that I have come up against with this is how to define what is national? The diversity of ethnic groups across African nations makes me very wary of applying a national identity upon those who identify as belonging to groups such as the Kikuyu. In the most technical sense they are national as they reside within the boundaries of a nation yet this is at risk of being an oversimplification. If I am to explore the tensions between the Pan-African and the national, I will definitely need to give more thought to where these identities fit in.

Briefly, another question I have to answer is how I chose the figures I am looking at. I have been focusing on Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah at the moment. I chose them because their experiences abroad are very similar, they both become the first presidents of their countries, and their countries represent different parts of Africa as Kenya is in the east, and Ghana in the west. However, I am aware that any conclusions I draw from two countries are not very strong as this is not a big selection. Adding more figures from more countries would be valuable, and there are others to choose from; however, this also makes the project much bigger and I am conscious of the scale.

This time last week when I presented my project proposal to the rest of you I was certain that this is what I would hand in on Friday, and what I would be working from on my actual project. But as I gave my presentation I realised that the scope of my project proposal was just far too big to cover in 5000 words. I knew I had had to go back and readjust everything. So I went back through all the little details and kept checking Konrad’s advice so I could try and produce a manageable proposal. After hours of reshaping I finally managed to submit something that seemed more realistic than my original idea.
However, it’s inevitable that I will have to reshape this idea again at some point. The research I have carried out until now has allowed me to formulate initial ideas for my project, but the more research I do the more I will probably have to have a rethink about the direction of my project. Whereas before this is a thought that absolutely terrified me, now I’m actually feeling a lot less daunted by it. Having already reshuffled my ideas in order to make my project work, I’m now a lot more confident about this happening again in the future. In fact, knowing that the outcome of my project is still not set in stone is actually starting to be quite exciting.

The Unconference on Saturday allowed me to put thoughts on paper – as I ended up doing Pair Writing in both sessions, I chose to write on two aspects of my project. First, trying to come up with part of an argument I want to make in the project. Second, what I perceive to be the main obstacle to my research, why it’s worthwhile to overcome it, how I may go about doing so…etc. For the first part of this, the analytic angle provided by Konrad in his previous post about ‘ideas to sources VS sources to ideas’ is useful. Here is what I wrote during the Unconference (with some bits omitted):

The primary motivation for Afro-Asian radicals when they approached Maoist thought was to respond to the social problems that they faced in their own environments, which meant that capturing the totality of Maoist thought or respecting its integrity is only a secondary concern. The idea that Maoist thought can be ‘exported’ by means of publishing the Little Red Book (or Quotations of Chairman Mao), which was the aim of the Chinese government to propagandise Maoist ideas, and perhaps even replace the Soviet Union as the ‘revolutionary centre of socialism,’ was overly optimistic. […] Certain aspects of Maoism were given emphasis in the context of American leftists, such as Mao’s call for solidarity between ‘all the oppressed people of the world’ which formed an impetus behind Afro-Asian solidarity. I would argue that this was taken up by leftist activists in America because of expedient reasons more than because they thought they were obediently responding to the call of Mao. The most pronounced aspect of Maoism that was appropriated in America was Mao’s call for ‘direct actions’ and ‘actively participating in the revolution’ and so many activists sprang up to serve the needs of the community by providing healthcare, for instance. The backdrop in America of the time, when radical students were in search of an ideology to channel their energies into, and to do their part in the wider scale civil rights movement that Mao’s clarity and imperative language was latched onto. Perhaps under the influence of Mao’s rhetoric, but also Brezhnev’s denunciation of Stalin in the Soviet Union, leftists were disillusioned with the perceived relapse of capitalism and the seeming halting of the socialist revolution. So Mao’s posture as the ‘true heir’ of the socialist revolution, his attempt to create a cult of personality among the socialists in the world, could act as explanations for the enthusiasm with which Maoist thoughts were taken up in the American context.

When I approached this exercise, I wanted to make it a clearly argumentative one. That means that based on my own readings on the topic, and my instincts on how ideas interact with different cultural contexts, I tried to put forth a most plausible argument. On the latter point, Marx famously said:

It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness.

My research explores the more nuanced, perhaps even mutually influential relationship between ‘ideas’ and their surroundings. The impression that I am receiving a stronger impetus from my instincts will change when I have a better grasp of the political and cultural context in America, as well as careful reading of primary sources by the very agents who were responsible for translating Maoist thoughts into their own languages and actions. My project will also benefit from better understanding of what ‘Maoist thought’ consists of, how it developed from the tradition established by Marx and Lenin. An interesting linkage between the two is, what are the particular aspects/tenets of Maoism that, more than other ideologies, invite and attract adaptation and translation by other cultures or political groups?

As a final point, one of my intentions of the project is to map the spread of Maoist thought in some shape or form across the globe in 1960s and 70s. The first instance when I was introduced to the idea of a ‘global Maoism’ took me by surprise, because a study of the Cultural Revolution in the national context of China can easily lead to an impression that, to put it crudely, the event was the result of a deranged and megalomaniac man’s desperate cling on to power, made possible by a population that fantastically believed in a linear progress to a socialist utopia, ready to wreck any invaluable cultural artifacts and moral codes that ‘stood in their way’. Yet, a project such as mine can show the attractiveness of Maoist thought to other cultural contexts, making the point that it was not only the Chinese at the time who were swept up in a frenzy. But, if my findings also show that professed Maoists in a non-Chinese context actually shed certain tenets of Maoism in order to be effective, or that those who remained faithful to Maoism ultimately failed to attract much support, then it will raise interesting questions about what made the Chinese context particularly conducive to the happening of one of the most destructive movements in 20th century history.

By Susannah (SMcClanahan) and Eilidh (Yushi)

Where do we start?

Beginning a project can be daunting; this one has already given us some massive headaches, especially because of how unclear ‘transnational history’ is. Is there even a precise definition? Regardless, integrating that concept into our projects presents a few minor challenges.

Susannah: For my project, the clearly transnational phenomenon is the practitioners of Regla de Ocha (RDO); they are trafficked West Africans who lived under Spanish imperial rule alongside native Caribbean peoples. As a consequence, their religious and social traditions necessarily borrow from all of these cultural influences. That transnational result is the basis for my study, but I am more focused on the development of the socio-cultural practices surrounding the practice of RDO, which are more contained within the Americas. So, I don’t know how often I need to reiterate that these people are transnational. I don’t know if there’s a clear answer for me yet, but I’m pleased that I can continue asking the question of my MO3351 friends.

Eilidh: The movement of these people and the knowledge that went with them, is the transnational perspective. It is only from this movement that the religion developed and it was unique from others. For me, and my project, world maps are global simply in the fact that they showcase the world. But does that really make them transnational? They cross national boundaries which is one of the aspects of transnational history that was discussed our first week on the job. I want to compare colonial maps and look at the power that they held in influencing the socio-cultural and political attitudes within the countries. By focusing on various countries and having a comparative perspective, can we showcase the transnational by focusing on the differences in the countries?

Susannah: Eilidh, your project is transnational in its perspective and scope; you are using the global representations of individual nations to understand the power and influence of those nations. It’s a very ‘from above’ view, yeah? Like you’re on the International Space Station. But your idea about focusing on differences between countries makes a lot of sense as well; I think there are several ways in which you can approach this, and you’ve got a really great idea going. I can’t wait to see where you are in a couple weeks!

With all of that muddy confusion in mind, we are focusing on giving ourselves a rough guide as to how to proceed. Knowing where to begin in all of this has been one of the most difficult aspects for us; when you see ‘5000 words’ on a page, it seems incredibly daunting. We think there are several ways to begin your project; none of them are inherently better than the others, but each is suited to a different approach.

1. Find up to 5 key sources (don’t quote us on this number but don’t try and read everything!) that really speak to the heart of your argument, or even completely contradict what you are thinking but something that you can argue against. Use these as a starting point for formulating your perspective on your topic, and let them inspire you to find others to support your thesis.
2. In secondary literature, find an argument or a particular historian that appeals to your analysis, and then see where you differ in your approach or understanding. Especially if you are dealing with a topic that has a long tradition of study, there’s probably someone out there who has spotted something similar to you; use their conclusions to examine your own ideas. Also, don’t neglect anthropologists, sociologists, or any other -ologists who might be studying your topic, albeit from a different angle of analysis.
3. If you already know your thesis and have a VERY clear idea of what you intend to argue, then crafting a rough idea of how to format your information might help to break the project into more manageable chunks.
4. Or if you have a broad theme or argument already in your head, to pick a time period/event/group etc. that from initial reading has sparked inspiration, something that seems to need investigation.

So where to go from there? The library? Seeker? The pub? Perhaps the most meaningful next step is to continue to engage in a dialogue with people outside of your project. They can provide much needed perspective (and commiseration) while we work. Whether historians themselves or someone who has completely no idea what you are talking about, they can often see the gaps that you don’t pick up on. Especially since we tend to get tunnel vision when working on a project for a long time, outside opinions (even criticism) can help us stay on track or make us rethink everything (but in a good way). That, we think, is one of the coolest aspects of this module and this project. In any other module, we wouldn’t have access to this level of collaboration or support, and we have to take advantage of that. Collaboration, from speaking to people or pair writing, is one of the aspects of transnational history that makes it a unique perspective compared to a traditional national study focus. This kind of analysis necessitates communication and cooperation, since it is inherently interdisciplinary, at least in some regards.
With our sources in our brain, discussion held over a couple pints, the best thing (we feel) is to just start writing. Get thoughts onto paper, even if they are completely flawed, and often from there, inspiration will come. The snack writing idea seems perfect for this; a dedicated hour of pouring thoughts onto paper (word vomiting, if you will) will almost certainly leave a few gems from which to can continue to build your argument and polish your final product. From here, you can go back into your sources, get another thousand books from the library, talk to another professor. But at least you’ve begun. That can be the hardest thing to do, so we might as well take that plunge. Headfirst, of course!

Effectively using visual and material sources in presentations is important; Certain topics indeed require the use of such material, but all presentations can benefit from the lessons involved in their use. There is nothing more engaging than using multiple senses to take in information, but when poorly handled this can turn into distraction or marginalia. The following are some thoughts and caveats on this topic:

Images cannot speak for themselves. They cannot necessarily make a point for your argument on their own – make clear the point you are trying to make.People always infer subjective things from pictures. It has to be related to the argument and also very involved in the argument. Always engage and discuss historiography and methdology.

Choose wisely which visual aids will be useful. Are they digital or tactile real-life visuals? (eg. a Ryan Reynolds character board v. a slideshow JPEG)

Effectively cropping: you may only need a portion of a larger work to demonstrate your point – however, while you know your own material in full, your audience doesn’t, and may want to see the larger work in full before or after the crop.

CITE ALL YOUR SOURCES! You never know who might be interested and you WILL forget, and visuals and objects deserve the same rigour as textual evidence.

How to make a point drawn from dozens of images in the net, or how to demonstrate a point for which images may be entirely lacking; not clear?

You might encounter problem of knowing how to hand out your props without making them a distraction to both audience and speaker. Think constructively about it and always do trial runs to see how people react best to interacting with visuals.

Trial runs – ask other people about the relevance of your images or which details they pick out as most prominent so you know how your audience might react and be prepared for your ‘most frequently asked questions’, or head them off.

Timing: take the time for how long you spend on showing your visual aids. Make it sharp and do not waste time. If you want your presentation to be short and sharp you may have to cut out visual demonstrations rather than speaking twice as fast.

Knock down people’s preconceptions about your subject if you have to: e.g sailors clothing being pictured as what Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbeans – popular romanticised ideals versus reality which might be different.

Take note of limitations in scale and volume of physical evidence; it is easier to bring a visual aid in the form of a hat, as compared to a full scale iron stove. However, there may be options to bring in a small scale model of said stove, or a real life poster which might still be interactive and tactile ways of demonstrating your points.

Ask interactive questions if you feel like this will add to your presentation, but be aware that this will take up more time. It will involve the audience more actively but might also be disruptive. Make wise decisions and maybe do trial runs with friends.

A visual digital image might be ‘enough’ to illustrate your points, but real life visuals might add that little extra to give the impression that you have really made an effort with your project and are trying your hardest to involve the audience. It emotionally engages the spectators which is crucial in any effective presentation (arguably, depending on the subject of the presentation the way that you emotionally engage differs, but some things like eye-contact is always important).

Danger of getting lost in the details and failing to make wider historical connections. Answering the “so what?” question both in big and small historical terms, constantly.

Be enthusiastic – enjoy what you are doing and the audience will enjoy it too! 😀

Essentially, if you don’t use images or props your presentation will probably be more boring, and if you use them well it will certainly be more engaging, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think very carefully about how you use them, why, and.how they fit into your larger argument.

People throughout history have always been on the move. But what happens to a persons identity and treatment by others when this movement is their way of life? Nomads, a person without a set piece of land or country to call home, a person from nowhere but equally a person from everywhere does not and I believe should not be grouped as a migrant. But then how do we and how do they define themselves? How do a people who don’t associate themselves with any set nation state or nationality identify themselves? And does this definition which we come up with effect how we view and treat these outliers? In this research project I argue that it is the gypsies way of life that places them at the margins of society and in doing so causes them to be treated poorly by people of a set nation. It is through the history of World War II that I propose to understand this treatment of these people.

It is hard not to know about the cruelty dealt to the Jewish people during World War II between the end of the 1930s and the middle of the 1940s but what many people are not aware of is that this horrendous injustice towards a people was not simply limited to the Jewish community. Nearly one million Gypsies would be placed into concentration camps, marked as unworthy of society, and viewed by the Nazi regime as just as unworthy a people as the Jews. What is however left out, if intentional or not, of the vasty majority of histories covering the treatment of the Gypsies during World War II is not just their mis-treatment during the war but also before and after. Even more than this many historians leave out how these people were treated by other nationalities besides the Germans. The crude treatment of the gypsies often physical as well as verbal was not just inflicted upon them during the war but also long before and long after it had ended. This treatment of these people I believe came from the lack of understanding and acceptance of countryman who saw the Romani as ‘others’, a people who choice to be part of the margins of society which frightened and angered nation-state citizens.

This research project proposes to focus on the movement – both forced and voluntary – of the Gypsies, before, during, and after the Second World War. I will focus on there lifestyle as nomads through movement in connection to their identity as viewed by themselves and nation-state countrymen to show how their marginalization in society ultimately leads to their mistreatment and displacement during before, during, and after the War. The desire of this project is to both understand how war, which already causes people to move, might effect those people whose lives are shaped by migration and also to look at how the treatment of these people, who most likely do not identify with any nation state, might be caused by their way of life. Though I am aware that many sources will be unavailable to myself as I only speak English and French the mass amount of resources in these languages and media format will allow I believe enough information to provide a solid bases for such a study. Through looking at an abundance of sources both secondary and primary not just historical writings but also in sociology, anthropology, archeology, art, literature, photography and film the hope is to trace the transnational history of the Romani in Central Europe specifically Germany, France and Italy to better understand a people’s history with no borders.

Quotations of Chairman Mao, or rather affectionately known as the Little Red Book, is the embodiment of the Chinese Communist Party’s rather successful foray into ‘creating a global language of Maoist revolution’. A government institution, the International Bookstore, distributed more than 800,000 copies of the Little Red Book in 14 languages to 117 countries during the first year of the Cultural Revolution; and between 1966 to 1971, it was printed just over one billion times. The canonical revised edition first appeared in 1965, and contains over 400 quotes arranged into 33 thematic chapters, presenting extracts from Mao Zedong’s writings and speeches from 1929-64. The global influence of Maoist thought is not only testified by the sheer number of the Little Red Book in circulation, but also how it inspired actions and influenced thoughts among leftist groups around the world.

The background to this is the rising status of China as the ‘leading non-white revolutionary country in the world’ following the Sino-Soviet split, and Mao’s scathing anti-revisionist stance against the Soviet Union at the time. This sense of China as the rightful, dutiful successor to lead the socialist revolution in the world was accentuated by well-publicised visits of famous activists such as W. E. B. du Bois, Elaine Brown and Huey Newton, the latter two being leaders of the Black Panther Party (BPP) in the United States. The starting point of my research seeks to understand how their particular experience in China impacted on how they conceive of their own activism and what it should try to achieve. Memoirs and published accounts of their experience in China will be consulted. A focus on the movement of these activists will constitute part of the transnational approach of this project.

Developing this further, my research will look into how Maoist thought is adapted by the American New Left in the 60s and 70s, looking at the specifically community-oriented activism it has engendered and its effect of encouraging an Afro-Asian solidarity. I am particularly interested in specific instances where the ‘travelling theory’ comes into play, that is the ‘dislocation and creative appropriation that attended the translation of Maoist thought into different cultural contexts.’ Existing research on the global reach of Maoist thought has suggested, among many things, the way the Little Red Book ‘provided a textual basis for Third World solidarity in the heart of the First World’ in the case of America and the non-Chinese activists’ selective appropriation of Maoist thought for developing strategies of direct actions. My work will contribute to an understanding of which particular aspects of Maoist thought appealed most strongly to Afro-Asian radicals and the reasons for it, while pointing to the ruptures between the totality of Maoist thought and its appropriated form in another political context. The scope is limited to the inter-relations between Maoist thought, its appropriation by Afro-Asian American radicals, and its wider interactions with New Left activism in general.

My research aims to enrich historiography of the American New Left by honing in on specific tenets or concepts of Maoist thought that were taken up by Afro-Asian activists which can be shown to influence their programs and activities. An important contribution by Mao is that his insistent support for black liberation struggle had the effect of encouraging Asian Americans to unite with their African American counterparts. Organisations such as I Wor Kuen and the Third Arm are modeled after not only the Little Red Book, but the BPP and other Maoist-inspired political groups as well. I’d argue that the inspiration for these Maoist organisations is never straightforward, but multifarious and complex, as well as contextualised by local conditions. By looking into how these organisations came into being, their professed ideologies, the people behind them and uncovering their inter-relations, I hope to be able to project a network of activism that admits of transnational influence.

Many community-oriented organisations sprang up in the period from 1967 to 1971, formed by radical students and working-class youths. This included social services such as childcare programs and health clinics, as well as ideologically-based bookstore, low-cost hotel and even paramilitary-style organisation. These organisations often have concrete goals that serve very much ‘local’ needs. This particularly localised style of activism is inspired by Mao’s ‘Serve the People Edict,’ and his view that one must take part in the revolution to learn the ‘theory and methods of revolution.’ Yet, this also brings about the problem of prioritising ‘the local’ at the expense of the ideological and the international. For instance, the BPP has been criticised for its ‘short-sighted application’ of Maoist thought and overlooking the ‘questions of revolutionary philosophy and ideology.’ This is another aspect of this project’s discussion on the ‘dislocation’ of Maoist thought in another cultural context. Thus, we can see the limits of ‘exporting revolution’ and the importance of unique cultural contexts to the transpiration of political ideologies.

Maps demonstrate the connection between countries. They are also highly subjective and allow for distortion. To simply scale down the 3D globe to a 2D projection involves alterations as the map-maker must choose what scale, orientation, key etc. These choices are often linked to the purpose of the map and the intended users. Behind the map-maker, and these decisions, often lies a set of power relations, as deliberate distortions are commonly for advancing agendas.

Brian Harley, who introduced the idea of maps as a language, argues; whether a map is produced for cartographic science or propaganda, it will always be involved in power relations. But how much influence do maps hold, and to what extent do they reflect the societal attitudes of the time? In regards to colonial mapping, how much influence did the map have on the socio-cultural-political perspectives of the reader?

There is a link between maps made during periods of Colonial dominance and the agenda of a country. Specifically, these maps were used to emphasise the power of the Europeans and the differences between them and the various peoples they subordinated. World maps, from 1569, which used the mathematically defined Mercator projection, set the European metropolis in relation to it’s overseas Empire. This was because the scale used increases from the equator to the poles so that the size and shape of continents are skewed. This therefore emphasises the size of those countries further away from the equator. Initially developed for nautical purposes, it emphasised the power of a country by increasing its size. Greenland, for example, is therefore shown to be of a similar size to Africa, and to be larger than Australia, when Africa is fourteen times and Australia three times greater than Greenland.

While using the map to showcase British trade routes, the Imperial Federation Map, 1886, also projected glory within Britain and emphasised to others the global power held by the country. With the British territories in a pink-red colour, this map implied British power over places and the peoples within. Through this map, Edward Said’s idea of Orientalism and the ‘Imperial Self’ evolved, forging national identities which were constructed in opposition to outside groups, or the Other. But how much did the map reflect the British opinion of superiority or did it instil this idea within society?

The style of the map is particularly telling with Britain at the centre and the rest of the world surrounding, connected by trade routes. This is almost as symbolic as the image of Britannia draped over the globe, cradled by Atlas at the bottom of the map. Both the map itself and the images around it makes a great piece of cartographic art as well as emphasising how a map, through visual imagery and implied messages, can play a major role in political propaganda. From this map, the British ideology of bringing knowledge to the rest of the world is reflected.

During this age, colonial power and trade went hand in hand. To trade successfully across the world, it was necessary to develop ways of knowing these places, navigating between them, and controlling the populations. This was only successful through cartography, as emphasised by the Dutch East India Company, who gained a monopoly advantage in the trade of spices in the seventeenth century. For them, maps played a key role in the combination of capitalism and imperial might that the company projected, with maps showcasing the navigational dominance they held and their ability to exploit areas for commerce.

 Both the British Empire and the Dutch East India Company used maps to enhance their agendas but for different political purposes. Maps can be manipulated to illustrate the agenda of those in power. It is important to understand whether these maps influenced societal thinking about the ideals promoted by a country through the maps they commissioned.

The map is a powerful yet problematic tool as subjectivity is central to their production and understanding. Through a comparative approach, my proposal will explore the extent colonial maps were reflecting the socio-cultural and political climate or whether they influenced the reader? Colonial maps of the British empire promoted a way of life as opposed to the Dutch who viewed themselves as a trading company but do these maps send a political message or simply mirror the views of the time? Colonial maps will always promote the agenda of the country in which they were created so by comparing different colonial maps, I want to understand what influence they had on the attitudes of society. My proposal aims to explore how the colonial map acted as political propaganda to manipulate the attitudes of society to promote the philosophies of the particular country.

As one of one of America’s most iconic and national products, Budweiser beer might not initially seem like the most obvious object of focus for a transnational study. However this beer (or these beers) has a fascinating transnational journey that brings to life issues of conflicting German and Czech nationalism in the 18th and 19th centuries and how these issues connect to the large scale immigration to America of Germans and Czechs in the aftermath of the failed revolutions of 1848. This study will consider how far the issues of Czech-German rivalry survived the journey to America, and look at how in an increasingly globalised world multinational companies try to dominate a global market. By looking at the transnational history of Budweiser, and the rivalry between the original Czech Budweiser, and the American replica which has developed into one of the worlds largest beer brands today we can learn a great deal that would potentially remain inaccessible from a more national approach.

The many court cases between Anheuser-Busch (the owner of the American Budweiser) and the Budvar Budweiser originating in České Budėjovice have been bitter, continuous and increasingly global since the end of the 19th century. The reasons for this are undoubtedly partially rooted in the great successes that both companies have enjoyed in their respective home markets. However this project will try to establish whether there is a further contributor to this dispute in that the founder of the American Budweiser, Adolphus Busch was in fact German. Poor Czech-German relations were of significance in the brewing of beer in Budėjovice from long before the development of the beer in a form we would recognise today, and it seems conceivable that there is a lasting residue of resentment for a product being marketed as being of Czech quality (with Budweiser literally meaning ‘of Budweis’ in German) despite having been created by a German in St Louis, a city with a high proportion of German immigrants.

In terms of sources, this project will use a wide variety. Although some secondary material exists on the Czech brewery, I will be making use of how the beer has been advertised, the court records of the numerous disputes between the two companies and primary evidence from a trip to the brewery in České Budėjovice itself. This project has the potential to illuminate transnational connections across the world, and to highlight globalisation trends. The connections and clashes between Budvar and Budweiser have been made possible by immigration networks, developments in rail travel and the invention of pasteurisation, but have also themselves contributed to the development of new technologies. By following this transnational approach, we can approach issues of Czech and German identity from a new angle, less restricted by an area by area, national analysis of the borderlands between modern day Germany and the Czech Republic, and can achieve a greater understanding of the people who have lived in these areas.

My project will focus on three different aspects of the history of this beer. Firstly it will focus on a fairly microhistoric level upon issues specifically relating to the nationally divided city of České Budėjovice in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the setting up of a Czech brewery in opposition to the German Civic Brewery that already existed in the town, highlighting the complex nature of identities in Bohemia. It will then move on to focus on the beginnings of the American Budweiser, and in particular upon the agency of Adolphus Busch as a transnational actor who emigrated from Germany to America, after having visited České Budėjovice and its brewery. Finally I will look at the global struggle for the Budweiser name, and the many court cases between the two companies, and how these two brands maintain their identity in countries where they are not allowed to describe their beer as Budweiser. I believe that approaching the project on these scales will encourage a loyalty to transnational through moving from local to international to finally a global analysis. I have been inspired by Jan Rüger’s article to the OXO Cube and believe that although this is a project focussing on a fairly long period of time, a keen focus on the product at hand will allow for a close analysis of the transnational space in between several nations, thus illuminating the parallel histories of the nations involved.

Efficiency in the kitchen became increasingly topical in the first half of the twentieth century. The story of the AGA oven (named after the Swedish company Aktiebolaget Gas Accumulator) illustrates several concerns people had for the kitchen that are still relevant today, such as time and fuel effectiveness, spatial arrangement, heating, a safe kitchen environment for children and the ideal of the ‘heart of the home’. This project takes the premise that assessing the invention and marketing of the AGA will allow for wider examination and contrasting of ideals for efficiency in the kitchen and, to an extent, how traditional values prevail and synthesise with progress. Since women traditionally spent more time in the kitchen they were also the main group affected by these changes, thus marketing was primarily directed at their needs which will also be considered.

Originally the AGA was developed to solve part of the problem of kitchen time-management. It was produced in 1922 by a Swedish inventor called Gustav Dalen for his wife Elma. He noticed that she had trouble with their old iron stove which needed constant attention to keep it at a set temperature. He therefore developed an all-in-one cooker, water heater and laundry dryer based on the principles of radiation heat that would be more efficient and save her time and effort but maintained a rather traditional design. In 1929 the right to produce and sell AGAs was also made possible in Britain, and from there AGAs were soon exported to the rest of the world.

The AGA was marketed in Sweden, Britain, France, Spain, the Netherlands and other countries. Although adverts emphasised slightly different things about the AGA, many of them tried to sell the oven based on saving money and energy. However, above all its time efficiency and what this meant for women, the main target audience, was emphasised. This is also reflected in the British sales manual for AGAs written by David Ogilvy in 1935 which encourages the salesman to inform cooks of households that purchasing an AGA will give the cook an extra hour in bed and keep the kitchen “as clean as the drawing room.” Even children could be allowed to run freely in the kitchen, which would be an environment safe from burning and gas explosions with an AGA. In adverts, women were depicted as liberated from the drudgery of constantly tending to an old fashioned oven. Instead they could spend time with the children, or take walks or luxurious baths in hot water from their AGA. Moreover, when they are cooking at an AGA, it is portrayed as an easy and joyful activity.

At around the same time as the AGA was developed; there were also radically different ideas in circulation of how efficiency in the kitchen could be achieved. In Germany the Bauhaus school constructed several progressive housing estates based on modern design and functionality. An estate in Frankfurt opened in 1927 included kitchens designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, who made this room into an efficient ‘laboratory’ where shelves, drawers and worktops were conveniently placed, based on influence from literature by American housewife and author Christine Fredrick. This contrasts with the AGA, which also appealed to the emotions of the customers in the way it was marketed. This demonstrates that although efficiency was at the heart of what people wanted, it was approached in different ways. Contrasting these two cases I hope will illustrate how varying approaches to efficiency have led to very different living experiences which are both still popular today.

Efficiency is at the heart of modernity, and also at the heart of the modern kitchen. The kitchen and the way that food is prepared for the household demonstrates different ideals for approaching modern living as it emerged in the early twentieth century. The AGA is symbolic of a more emotional approach to the kitchen, instead of being classified as an efficient laboratory as propagated by the Shütte-Lihotzky kitchen. Thus this project will consider different approaches to efficiency in the kitchen and how these led to different living experiences.

European Identity and its potential and power have become extremely relevant for the contemporary issues facing the modern world. As the international community is becoming increasingly connected, is a realistic European identity prevalent if present at all in Europe? This essay looks to examine the formation and affect of a supranational identity by exploring the cultural identities of the European local sphere.

Individual European identities have been the strongest form of culture for the continent. Each level of local, regional, and national culture has a diverse and historical narrative that has shaped the nation into the entities we know today. These histories of nations have dominated historiography for the last century, as the nation-state became the center of European politics, culture and history. Europe as a whole is an impressive force, rich with a vibrant cultural past that is shared beyond these national boundaries. This commonality prompted the creation of the European Union, which has sought to strengthen its members’ efforts and abilities under a multinational banner. As the continent has become more connected in the political sphere, has its transnational connections similarly caused a larger shared cultural identity to emerge as well?

To determine this, I would like to look at the EU’s program, European Capitals of Culture. The program was initiated in 1985 and each year since a European city has been chosen as the European Capital of Culture. During a city’s celebrated year, it hosts various events emphasizing how their unique identity is a part of a larger European culture. As more than 60 cities have been involved over the past 30 years, I would like to explore how this program has encouraged and provided an environment for a European identity to form and compliment the resilient local, regional and national identities tied to these cites. I would like to narrow my analysis by taking a comparative approach. My project will focus on three cities, each belonging to a phase of the program; 1985-1995, 1995-2005, and 2005-2015. I hope to explore the shift between phases and determine whether a European identity has become increasingly present and improved through the studies of these individual cities. Thomas Risse believes the EU’s slogan of ‘Unity in Diversity’ shows that modern Europe is made of its individual narratives.[1] While the unique cultures of these cities are distinctive to them, it is possible their presence in the European sphere as capitals of European culture has contributed to a shared sense of identity that transcends national borders.

Fortunately, because this project deals with public initiatives on local and supranational levels, there are various primary sources available. While the extent of local documentation will affect the cities I chose to focus on, the EU has a large online database to provide me with my initial research. As I begin to map the different points of European cultural hubs, I would also like to utilize the GIS technology. The visual spread and connection of these culture capitals across Europe is crucial to demonstrating the findings of project.

This study seeks to go beyond the political identity the European Union has created. While European cities have strong multi-layered identities, a new identity has emerged and is connecting them transnationally. As Europe has historically been a continent with a shared past and varied commonalities, its people and future are intrinsically connected under a shared supranational European identity.

[1] Risse, Thomas, A Community of Europeans? Transnational Identities and Public Spheres (New York, 2010), pg. 7.

For my Transnational History project, I would like to focus on a specific aspect of the International Committee of the Red Cross’ activities during World War II – specifically, their interactions with prisoners of war and non-combatants in concentration camps across Europe and Asia. This will allow me to explore transnational elements in several ways. Firstly, this will give me an opportunity to examine international law in action – how well are belligerent nations allowing for ICRC inspections and visits and what this might reveal about adherence to international law – as well as a lens through which the actions of the ICRC in the war might be explored.

The ICRC had several responsibilities throughout World War II, as set out in the Geneva conventions – it was responsible for tracing refugees, assembling aid parcels to those in camps, and, crucially for this project, ensuring that belligerent parties were treating both captured soldiers and civilians in accordance with international law. Now, given what we know about the treatment of those held in internment camps during the war – the Japanese and Germans performed gruesome biological experiments on prisoners and civilians in territories it conquered, Soviet camps were had such poor conditions that fewer than 6000 German POWs were repatriated at the end of the war, and the devastating consequences of the German camp system are well known. How could such a sudden breakdown of the international system occur just twenty years after World War I, where international mechanisms were put in place to avoid a conflict on a global scale from erupting and to ensure the good treatment of captured soldiers and noncombatants. After decades of new international treaties, specifically the Geneva Conventions of 1929, which guaranteed both the authority of the ICRC as an agency able to inspect the conditions of prisoners of war and that POWs should be treated with respect? By examining the ICRC’s ability to inspect prisoner of war and concentration camps, I can examine both a difficult period in the history of a storied international organization, as well as examine adherence to international law and sovereignty. The history of international organizations such as the ICRC has the potential to include the interactions not just between state and non-state actors, such as the relationship between the ICRC and the Swiss government, as well as the relationship of national Red Cross societies with both their governments and the ICRC in how they chose to adhere to or ignore international law, but also to illuminate important transnational networks of individuals in charge of and making decisions on whether or not to intervene in these moments of international crisis.

I will look at the obstacles that the ICRC faced in accessing POW and concentration camps in Europe as well as Asia, and compare the approaches and challenges faced in both areas. While I would like to look at the larger battle theatre, I may be limited by the sources available, as my initial research has revealed more about ICRC actions in Europe. I may need to focus on either the European or of the Pacific theatre to maintain an appropriately narrow scope for a five thousand-word essay, though a comparative approach would be quite interesting. The bulk of my secondary reading will come from a report written by the ICRC in 1948 about its wartime actions. Many of the ICRC sources are written in French or English, which makes them accessible, and I will hopefully be able to access archival sources from the British Red Cross about the role it played during the war. Some secondary accounts, both in the form of scholarly articles and books about the ICRC have been published, and I may also need to extend the scope of my research to more general histories of World War II to obtain the breadth of secondary literature required for the project.