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Books > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history
An overview of the lost peoples and cultures who flourished and fought for survival alongside the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Who were the Philistines?
What was a Pyrrhic victory? Were the Vandals really vandals? Why should you speak to a Samaritan? Beyond the Greeks, Romans and Hebrews of the Classical and biblical eras, a rich diversity of peoples helped lay the foundations of the modern world. Philip Matyszak brings to life the cultures and individuals that made up the busy, brawling multicultural mass of humanity that emerged from the ancient Middle East and spread across the Mediterranean and Europe. He explores the origins of forty forgotten peoples, their great triumphs and defeats, and considers the legacy they have left to us today, whether it be in fine art or everyday language.
Revealing the lives of migrant couples and transnational
households, this book explores the dark side of the history of
migration in Argentina during the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. Using court records, censuses, personal correspondence
and a series of case studies, Maria Bjerg offers a portrayal of the
emotional dynamics of transnational marital bonds and intimate
relationships stretched across continents. Using microhistories and
case studies, this book shows how migration affected marital bonds
with loneliness, betrayal, fear and frustration. Focusing primarily
on the emotional lives of Italian and Spanish migrants, this book
explores bigamy, infidelity, adultery, domestic violence and murder
within official and unofficial unions. It reveals the complexities
of obligation, financial hardship, sacrifice and distance that came
with migration, and explores how shame, jealousy, vengeance and
disobedience led to the breaking of marital ties. Against a
backdrop of changing cultural contexts Bjerg examines the emotional
languages and practices used by adulterous women against their
offended husbands, to justify domestic violence and as a defence
against homicide. Demonstrating how migration was a powerful
catalyst of change in emotional lives and in evolving social
standards, Emotions and Migration in Early Twentieth-century
Argentina reveals intimate and disordered lives at a time when
female obedience and male honour were not only paramount, but
exacerbated by distance and displacement.
The birth of the world's great megacities is the surest and
starkest harbinger of the "urban age" inaugurated in the twentieth
century. As the world's urban population achieves majority for the
first time in recorded history, theories proliferate on the nature
of urban politics, including the shape and quality of urban
democracy, the role of urban social and political movements, and
the prospects for progressive and emancipatory change from the
corridors of powerful states to the routinized rhythms of everyday
life. At stake are both the ways in which the rapidly changing
urban world is understood and the urban futures being negotiated by
the governments and populations struggling to contend with these
changes and forge a place in contemporary cities. Transdisciplinary
by design, Monstrous Politics first moves historically through
Mexico City's turbulent twentieth century, driven centrally by the
contentious imbrication of the Institutional Revolutionary Party
(PRI) and its capital city. Participant observation, expert
interviews, and archival materials demonstrate the shifting
strategies and alliances of recent decades, provide the reader with
a sense of the texture of contemporary political life in the city
during a time of unprecedented change, and locate these dynamics
within the history and geography of twentieth-century urbanization
and political revolution. Substantive ethnographic chapters trace
the emergence and decline of the political language of "the right
to the city," the establishment and contestation of a
"postpolitical" governance regime, and the culmination of a century
of urban politics in the processes of "political reform" by which
Mexico City finally wrested back significant political autonomy and
local democracy from the federal state. A four-fold transection of
the revolutionary structure of feeling that pervades the city in
this historic moment illustrates the complex and contradictory
sentiments, appraisals, and motivations through which contemporary
politics are understood and enacted. Drawing on theories of social
revolution that embrace complexity, and espousing a methodology
that foregrounds the everyday nature of politics, Monstrous
Politics develops an understanding of revolutionary urban politics
at once contextually nuanced and conceptually expansive, and thus
better able to address the realities of politics in the "urban age"
even beyond Mexico City.
Founded in 1961, Studia Hibernica is devoted to the study of the
Irish language and its literature, Irish history and archaeology,
Irish folklore and place names, and related subjects. Its aim is to
present the research of scholars in these fields of Irish studies
and so to bring them within easy reach of each other and the wider
public. It endeavours to provide in each issue a proportion of
articles, such as surveys of periods or theme in history or
literature, which will be of general interest. A long review
section is a special feature of the journal and all new
publications within its scope are there reviewed by competent
authorities.
Napoleon's biographers often note his fondness for theatre, but as
we approach the bicentenary of the Emperor's death, little remains
known about the nature of theatre at the time. This is particularly
the case for tragedy, the genre in which France considered itself
to surpass its neighbours. Based on extensive archival research,
this first sustained study of tragedy under Napoleon examines how a
variety of agents used tragedy and its rewriting of history to make
an impact on French politics, culture and society, and to help
reconstruct the French nation after the Revolution. This volume
covers not just Napoleon's efforts, but also those of other
individuals in government, the theatrical world, and the wider
population. Similarly, it uncovers a public demand for tragedy, be
it the return of Corneille, Racine, and Voltaire to the
Comedie-Francaise, or new hits like Les Templiers (1805) and Hector
(1809). This research also sheds new light on Napoleonic propaganda
and censorship, exposing their incoherencies and illustrating how
audiences reacted to these processes. In short, Tragedy and Nation
in the Age of Napoleon argues that Napoleonic tragedy was not
simply tired and derivative; it engaged its audiences, by chomping
at the poetic bit, allowing for a retrial of the Revolution, and
offering a vision of the new French nation.
This book examines the role of artists in Egypt during the 2011
revolution, when street art from graffiti to political murals
became ubiquitous facets of revolutionary spaces. Through
interviews, personal testimonies, and accounts of the lived
experience of 25 street artists, the book explores the meaning of
art in revolutionary political contexts, specifically by focusing
on artistic production during 'liminal' moments as the events of
the Egyptian revolution unfolded. The author privileges the
perspective of the actors themselves to examine the ways that
artists reacted to events and conceived of their art as means to
further the goals of the revolution. Based on fieldwork conducted
in the years since 2011, the book provides a narrative of Egyptian
artists' participation in and representations of the revolution,
from hopeful beginnings to the subsequent crackdown and election of
al-Sisi.
A brilliantly original exploration of our obsession with the end of the world, from Mary Shelley’s The Last Man to the Manic Street Preachers’ Everything Must Go.
For two millennia, Christians have anticipated the end of the world, haunted by the apocalyptic visions of the Book of Revelation. But over the past two centuries, these dark fantasies have given way to secular stories of how the world, our planet, or our species (or all of the above) might be annihilated.
In Everything Must Go – a cultural history of the modern world that weaves together politics, history, science, high and popular culture – Dorian Lynskey explores the endings that we have read, listened to, or watched, while perched on the edge of our seats with eyes wide, (mostly) loving every moment.
Whether with visions of destruction by nuclear holocaust or a mighty collision with a meteor, a devastating epidemic or a violent takeover by robots, why do we like to scare ourselves, and why do we keep coming back for more?
Deeply illuminating about our past, our present and – given the revelation that the end of the world has seemingly always been nigh – hopeful about our future, Everything Must Go will grip you from beginning to, well, end.
While contemporary Chinese art has arrived as a critical subject in
art history and found market success, current art criticism has yet
to fully engage with art made by Chinese women, especially from the
perspective of gender politics. In "(En)gendering: Chinese Women's
Art in the Making," contributors-including artists, art historians,
critics, and curators-consider how the work of contemporary women
artists has generated new approaches to and perspectives on the
Chinese art canon. The issue begins by laying a historical
framework for the potentials and problems regarding the
interpretation of Chinese women's art, tracing its evolution
throughout a century of Chinese history. Next, the issue considers
the spatial notion of boundary crossing, addressing how travel
across national and theoretical boundaries affects the perception
of artworks, and explores the misgivings of Chinese women artists
about participating in a global exhibition system in which their
artwork stands for "China" and "Women." The issue concludes by
looking at the idea of (en)gendering as a revision of women's art
prompting artists and the viewers of women's artworks to challenge
the conventional gaze that has dominated our ways of seeing. The
issue considers the work of Chinese artists such as Lin Tianmiao,
Lei Yan, Yin Xiuzhen, Cui Xiuwen, Yu Hong, and Liu Manwen.
Contributors. Julia F. Andrews, Lara C. W. Blanchard, Meiling
Cheng, Shuqin Cui, Elise David, Linda Chui-han Lai, Tao Yongbai,
Peggy Wang, Sasha Su-Ling Welland
The essays in this issue offer diagnosis, critique, and radical
visions for the future from some of the leading thinkers and
experts on the tactics of the settler capitalist state, and on the
exercises of Indigenous jurisdiction that counter them. It provides
readers with the developments on the ground that are continually
moving the gauge towards Indigenous self-determination even in the
face of ramped up nationalist rhetoric fueled by a divisive
politics of extraction. The issue also includes a section on the
rise of precarious workers, especially relevant for our current
moment. Contributors. Yaseen Aslam, Kylie Benton-Connell, Callum
Cant, Irina Ceric, D. T. Cochrane, Deborah Cowen, Deborah Curran,
Eugene Kung, Winona LaDuke, Biju Mathew, Clara Mogno, Shiri
Pasternak, Sherry Pictou, Dayna Nadine Scott, Gagvi Marilyn Slett,
Todd Wolfson, Jamie Woodcock
In a modernist interpretation of migration controls, nation states
play a major role. This book challenges this interpretation by
showing that comprehensive migration checks and permanent border
controls appeared much earlier, in early modern dynastic states and
empires, and predated nation states by centuries. The 11
contributions in this volume explore the role of early modern and
modern dynastic kingdoms and empires in Europe, the Middle East and
Eurasia and the evolution of border controls from the 16th to the
20th century. They analyse how these states interacted with other
polities, such as emerging nations states in Europe, North America
and Australia, and what this means for a broader
reconceptualization of mobility in Europe and beyond in the longue
duree. Contributors are: Tobias Brinkmann, Vincent Denis, Sinan
Dincer, Josef Ehmer, Irial A. Glynn, Sabine Jesner, Olga
Katsiardi-Hering, Leo Lucassen, Ikaros Mantouvalos, Leslie Page
Moch, Jovan Pesalj, Lewis H. Siegelbaum, Annemarie Steidl, and
Megan Williams.
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