World History Bulletin

Fall 2008 Vol. XXIV No. 2

H. Micheal Tarver Editor [email protected]

In This Issue

Editor’s Note Inside Front Cover

Letter From the President 1

Minutes of the WHA Business Meeting, June 28, 2008 3

Minutes of the WHA Executive Council Meeting, June 26, 2008 3

WHB Focus Issue & Teaching Forum, Guest Editor - Paul Buckingham, Morrisville State College 8

Silk Production as Women’s Work in the World History Classroom: Pearl S. Buck’s The Living Reed 9 by Robert Shaffer, Shippensburg University Nature, Biology, Culture and the Origins of Technology in the Plio-Pleistocene 15 by John Mears, Southern Methodist University Teaching Science and Technology in World History: Notes from the Field 16 by Elizabeth Green Musselman, Southwestern University From Global to Local: Technological Development and Evolution of the Ice Market 19 by Alberto Grandi, Università degli Studi di Parma Engineering in the Modern World 22 by David P. Billington, Jr. Spreading the Scientific Word: Missionaries as Global Naturalists on 19th Century Madagascar 25 by Thomas Anderson, Binghampton University

The Logical Fallacies of Nationalism: Critical Thinking in the World History Classroom * AWARD WINNING LESSON * 31 by Sharlene Sayegh, California State University, Long Beach

Teaching World History at Chinese Universities: Past and Present 34 by Xia Jiguo, Capital Normal University Prospects and Pitfalls of a Global History Approach to the Early-Modern European Witch Hunt 37 by Sun Yue, Capital Normal University Progress(ivism) and Its Discontents: The Limits of Hope and Optimism in Modern America 43 by Tanfer Emin Tunc, Hacettepe University

Book Reviews, Book Review Coordinator - Peter Dykema, Arkansas Tech University 47

History Wars and School Curricula: The New History Curriculum in Australia 53 by Binoy Kampmark

Call For Papers: 18th Annual World History Association Conference, June 25-28, 2009, Salem, Massachusetts, USA 54 November 2008 Dear WHA Members: In lieu of my normal Editor’s Note, Iwould like to pass on the following report from the WHA International Headquarters concerning the 2008 London Conference:

AMeeting of Cities and the Sea at this Past Summer’s WHA’s Conference in London

This past June, the World History Association held its seventeenth annual conference at the Mile End campus of Queen Mary,University of London. Morethan 300 people attended, including participants from Australia, China, Japan, Note Finland, Sweden, Germany,France, Italy,Morocco, South Africa, the U.S., and the U.K. Despite the pull of London’s storied attractions, conference-goers first and foremost came for the pleasureofprofessional interaction and shared

’s scholarship, and the program morethan fulfilled these expectations. Over the course of three and ahalf days, participants weretreated to achoice of nearly 70 panels, plus an afternoon Advanced Placement World History Workshop. Topics ranged from pedagogical concerns, like the use of digital and audio technologies in the classroom, to resource- ful and provocative explorations of urban crossroads, maritime networks, global families, local medicine, commodities, criminality,and much more. Conference highlights included keynote speeches by Prof. LeonardBlussé of Leiden University,who spoke engagingly of global cities, and Prof. Felipe Fernández-Armesto of Queen Mary and Tufts, who charmed listeners with adiscussion of the role of the sea in world history.Inaddition to the panels and talks, conferees enjoyed an ample book exhibit featuring 22 publishers from the U.S. and the U.K. and convivial daytime tea and Editor biscuit breaks hosted by BedfordSt. Martin’sand Houghton Mifflin. Particularly popular werethe evening wine receptions in the stately and gorgeous Octagon building, made possible by the generosity of ABC-Clio, Pearson, and the College Board. Alocal WHA member,Dr. John W. Marriott, also gave ahistorical walking tour of the East End, which was enthusiastically received by his large crowd of followers. Despite the high price of aLondon holiday,conference costs werekept within reach thanks to the option of QMUL’s on-campus accommodations, located along the serene banks of the Regents Canal. Amajority of participants took advantage of the World History Bulletin on-campus housing this year,making for aparticularly festive and fertile opportunity for social ISSN: 0886-117X and scholarly exchange. The WHA wishes to extend its warm thanks to the many people who made the conference asuccess: the unflaggingly attentive staff in the QMUL Conferences office, particularly Sue Mussett Editor and Katy Baron; the sponsors and publishers who underwrote the generous breaks, receptions, H. Micheal Tarver and—in the case of Cengage, the conference bags; the WHA Program Committee, chaired by Carolyn Neel, which brilliantly assembled the many panels and papers; and the WHA Conferences Committee, particularly Chair Alfred Andrea, who Assistant Editor worked for years to bring the WHA to London and Alexander Mirkovic should be well pleased with the result. Most of all, thanks to all of you who traveled near and far to partic- Book Review Coordinator ipate. We hope very much to see you at next year’s con- Peter Dykema ference at Salem State College in historic Salem, Massachusetts. Information about the 2009 conference Copy Editor and the call for papers, currently the WHA website, is available elsewhereinthis issue of the Bulletin. Carlos E. Marquez

Editorial Assistant Ihope that you all enjoy this issue of the Bulletin, Scott Tomlin and Ithank Paul Buckingham for serving as guest editor of the science and technology section. The Spring 2009 issue will focus on Asia in World Social Sciences and Philosophy Eleanor Congdon (Youngstown State Arkansas Tech University History,under the guest editorship of Dorothea University) with Felipe Fernández- Witherspoon 255 Martin. Armesto (Queen Mary and Tufts). Russellville, Arkansas USA -- Micheal Photo courtesy of Eleanor Congdon. LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

18 November 2008

Dear Friends,

From convening in London to address “Global Cities” and “The Sea: Highway of Change,” we areoff to the great port city of Salem, Massachusetts, for our next gathering and our next theme: “Merchants and Missionaries: Trade and Religion in World History.” Ihope all of us will find our way to this “farthest port of the rich East,” June 25-28, 2009, for the 18th World History Association Conference. For those of you who did not make it to merry old England this past June, you missed out on aremarkable meeting. Thanks to our gracious host, Queen Mary College, University of London, the local and international participants, the book exhibits and exhibitors, we had one of the best WHA meetings Ihave ever attended. An added bonus was the number of colleagues Imet from London and elsewhereinEurope that Ihad not encountered before. Our international meetings also have away of attracting first-timers from North America, which is always good to see as well. Thereweremany highlights at our London gathering, including excellent keynote addresses by Leonard Blusse of Leiden University and Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, of Queen Mary and Tufts University,and excellent panels at every time slot every day.Myfavorite panels—that is, the ones Iattended—ranged from many fine sessions that werevariations on the theme of seas and global cities to panels on such aspects of world history as the teaching of world history in China, medical history,and marginal groups of one sort or another.Asalways, our deliberations showcased faculty from adiversity of institutions, not only geographically but also education- ally,fromK-12 schools to PhD producing universities. Without this rich mix of historians and scholars from other disciplines, our meetings would not be so stimulating and worthwhile. Thanks to all of you who helped to make our 17th Annual World History Association Conference in London ahuge success, especially Al Andrea, who chaired the WHA Conferences Committee; Carolyn Neel, who chaired the WHA Program Committee; and Sue Mussett and her super staff from Queen Mary that made surewewere treated like royalty. Finally,some good and bad news: Congratulations to Kieko Matteson for completing her History PhD and securing ajob—a tenurestream position at the University of Hawaii. Unfortunately,for us, this means that she is moving on, after having served us with great aplomb and effectiveness. Fortunately,she will remain part of the WHA in her new capacity.Wehope to complete the search for anew ED soon. Iamlooking forwardtocel- ebrating the New Year with all of you at the AHA meeting in New York City beginning January 2, 2009.

Anand

1 2 Affairs of the Organization

and noted that people could suggest potential Minutes of the World History Association candidates for the three Executive Council Minutes of the World History Association Business Meeting positions to the members of the Nominating Executive Council Meeting Mile End Campus, Queen Mary College, Committee present: Kerry Ward and Adam Mile End Campus, Queen Mary College, McKeown, or herself. The Chair of the University of London University of London Nominating Committee is Pamela McVay. Thursday,June 26, 2008 Saturday,June 28, 2008 6. The WHA is solo-sponsoring three world history related panels and co-sponsoring three I. Meeting was convened at 3:00 pm. I. Introductions and Summary of Business. others at the upcoming meeting of the Executive Council Members Present: Anand The Business Meeting began at 1:30 p.m.., with American Historical Association in New York Yang, President; Alfred Andrea, Vice President; approximately 50 people in attendance. More City,January 2-5, 2009. The theme of the Carolyn Neel, Treasurer; Ane Lintvedt, Secretary; people trickled in over the course of the meeting. AHA’s Annual meeting is “Globalizing Executive Director Kieko Matteson; Members The Meeting was presided over by Anand Yang, Historiography.” Adam McKeown, Laura Mitchell, Jonathan President, and Kieko Matteson, Executive 7. Kieko announced that she would be stepping Reynolds,Heather Streets, Laura Wangerin, Director.They presented asummary of the down from the Executive Directorship as of Kerry Ward; Jerry Bentley,Editor of JWH (ex- Executive Council’smeetings and reports, and January 2009, in order to accept atenure-track officio). Others in attendance: David Christian, then asked for other business from the floor. position in the University of Hawai`i History Chair of the Affiliates Committee. Executive Department. The search for anew Executive Council members absent: Craig Lockard, Jen II. Other Business. Director will begin in the fall, chaired by Laden, Bill Zeigler. 1. Linda Black presented the WHA Teaching Anand Yang. She thanked the WHA for the Prize to Sharlene Sayegh from the University opportunity to serve as Executive Director not II. Discussions of Reports,which were circulat- of California, Long Beach for her lesson enti- once, but twice. ed in advance of the meeting to the members of tled “The Logical Fallacies of Nationalism: 8. Kieko read the motions passed at the Executive the Executive Council. Critical Thinking in the World History Council’smeeting: Classroom.” (i) Be it moved that the WHA express its deep 1. Affiliates Committee. David Christian, 2. Anand Yang announced that this year’s WHA gratitude to Sue Mussett and the rest of the Chair,will attend ameeting in Dresden after Book Prize had been awarded to Stuart Banner, staffand faculty of the Mile End Campus of the WHA meeting in order to set up an interna- for his Possessing the Pacific: Land, Settlers, Queen Mary,University of London, for their tional network of organizations of World and Indigenous People from Australia to assistance in so many ways in making the Historians. There are at least three organiza- Alaska,published by Harvard University press. 2008 conference asuccessful and enjoyable tions interested in doing this, with the hopes 3. Kieko Matteson noted that the Phi Alpha endeavor. that the WHA can then apply for membership Theta-WHA Student Paper Prizes deadline was (ii) Be it moved that the WHA express its to the International Congress of Historical coming up in the next couple of days, on June appreciation for the inspiration and support Sciences, even though it is probably too late to 30. Laura Wangerin, amember of the Student provided by Professor Felipe Fernández- have aformal place in the 2010 conference in Paper Prize Committee, spoke briefly about the Armesto in bringing the WHA to Queen Amsterdam. prize and current number of submissions. She Mary,University of London. 2. Conferences. Al Andrea, Chair.Any com- encouraged people to publicizethe award, (iii) Be it moved that the WHA express its ments or questions about the London confer- whichhas both undergraduate and graduate appreciation to all the exhibitors and patrons ence should be sent to Al Andrea. The 2009 categories, as widely as possible. of its seventeenth annual conference. Their conference will be in Salem, Massachusetts, 4. DavidChristian summarized his Affiliates continuing support of the WHA is asignifi- 25-28 June, with the dual theme, “Merchants Report,and called upon people in attendance cant service to the profession and teaching and Missionaries: Trade and Religion in World to announce their regional conferences. The of world history. History,” in honor of Salem’sspecial place in WHA of Texas (WHAT) will meet at St. (iv) Be it moved that the WHA express its world history.Anumber of cultural, historical, Edward’sUniversity at Austin in February appreciation to the Program Committee, and and civic organizations have joined forces with 2009; the Northwest WHA will meet in especially Carolyn Neel, its chair,for ajob the local arrangements committee to make this Vancouver Canada; the California WHA will well done under especially difficult circum- an event that highlights the special cultural, meet in November at San Francisco State stances. University; the Mid-Atlantic WHA (MAWHA) historical, and tourist qualities of Salem, Essex County,and the North Shore of Massachusetts. will meet at Harford County Community col- The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 p.m. lege (Maryland) in mid-October; the Northeast Favorable accommodation rates have been Regional WHA (NERWHA) announced that it secured at two area hotels, and Al is hoping to arrange aprivate tour of the USS Constitution. has been revitalized and will meet in conjunc- Respectfully submitted, tion with the New England Historical Al Andrea proposed amotion to hold the 2010 conference in San Diego CA, June 24-27. The Association’sFall Conference at Endicott Ane Lintvedt, Secretary College, Endicott, MA, 25 October; and the local arrangement committee would be Ross Southeast WHA (SEWHA) will meet in Dunn and Ed Beasley from CSUSD and Laura Roanoke, VA in 2009 and Kennesaw State Ryan from Southwest College. The venue will University (Georgia) in 2010. be the Handlery Hotel and Resort in Mission 5. Kieko commented on the current status of Valley.Jonathan Reynolds seconded the nominations for the WHA Executive Council, motion, and it was passed unanimously.

3 The 20th Annual WHA conference will the Endowment has not suffered the same imum lag time in publication of back issues. be held in Beijing China in 2011. Al Andrea extremes of market volatility seen in many 8. Membership, Laura Mitchell and Nancy offered thanks to Jerry Bentley for the invita- other investment arenas this year.The results Jorczak (in absentia),Co-Chairs. Presented tion from the Global History Center at Beijing of the fund-raising initiative will be tallied in by Laura Mitchell. Kieko reported that current University.Arrangements are being made to August. The bright spot in fund-raising has membership is around 1155, not including sev- have pre- and post-conference tours, and a been the monies generated by the Amazon.com eral dozen new and renewing members that post-Executive Council banquet. link on the WHA website. Please encourage Kristy will input in the lull following the con- Discussions are underway for 2012 and people to shop through the WHA Amazon.com ference. Laura Mitchell reported that the AP 2013 venues, but nothing is certain at this date. link, which is directly accessible through the reading represented the single biggest recruit- Al Andrea proposed the following motions, all WHA homepage! ing venue for the WHA in the past year,but in of with were passed unanimously: 5. Fund Raising Report, Al Andrea, Chair. The lesser numbers than the previous years. She (i) Be it moved that the WHA same anonymous donor as last year contributed speculated that perhaps because the AP reading expressed its deep gratitude to Sue Mussett and $2000 to provide asingle World Scholar Travel is getting so big (700+), WHA members the rest of the staffand faculty of Queen Mary, Grant. Kieko Matteson noted there were many weren’table to recruit in person as much as Mile End Campus, for their assistance in so requests by scholars to be funded, and she they used to. Kerry Ward suggested that there many ways in helping to make this 2008 con- would like to have aprocess in place for choos- be amembership-based raffle: for every 100 ference asuccessful and enjoyable endeavor. ing recipients. Al noted that aprocess was new members signed up at the AP reading, one (ii) Be it moved that the WHA express- voted on and accepted by the Executive of those names would be drawn for afree es its appreciation for the inspiration and sup- Council at its January meeting and will be fol- membership and/or acertificate from apub- port provided by Professor Felipe Fernández- lowed for all future conferences. Other than lisher. Armesto in bringing the WHA to Queen Mary. this, there have been no successes in fundrais- Ane Lintvedt noted that lots of Texas (iii) Be it moved that the WHA expressing to report. Al contacted the George Lucas WHA teacher members would be at the NCSS es its appreciation to all the exhibitors and Foundation, and was told they support projects annual meeting in Houston in November 2008, patrons of its Seventeenth Annual conference. related to media, which Al commented might and we could get them to recruit or hand out Their continuing support of the WHA is asig- be afruitful place for the Research Committee membership information at their panels and nificant service to the profession and teaching and the Teaching Committee to begin. meetings. Laura also asked how to get in con- of world history. 6. H-World Report, David Kalivas and Eric tact with community college faculty.Anumber (iv) Be it moved that the WHA express- Martin, Chairs (in absentia). Following up on of suggestions were proposed, including con- es its appreciation to the Program Committee, the Executive Council’sdiscussion in January tacting Laura Ryan at Southwest College and and especially Carolyn Neel, its chair,for ajob of arequest for financial support, Al Andrea Kevin Reilly for names and associations, and well done under especially difficult circum- noted that he had explained to David Kalivas trying to work through the Community College stances. and Eric Martin that, although the WHA had Humanities Association, and Jerry Bentley rec- 3. Program Committee, Carolyn Neel, Chair. entertained requests to help fund the editors’ ommended David Berry as acontact for ajoint Carolyn complimented Kieko for adding aline travel to WHA meetings, our taut finances do venture, perhaps reciprocating table space at to the paper and panel submission form asking not allow us to fund such requests at this time. each other’s conferences, or invite or co-spon- whether the applicant would be willing to chair Al Andrea put forward amotion to designate sor panels at each other’s conferences. Kieko apanel. It made Carolyn’sjob much easier.She H-World as “an official WHA electronic and Laura noted that the WHA had already also thanked the members of her committee forum”. Carolyn Neel seconded. After consid- been in touch with David Berry of the CCHA (Rob Willingham, Maryanne Rhett, and erable discussion, the motion was tabled. and had sent materials for their most recent William Zeigler). About two-thirds of propos- Council members all recognized and saluted conference in San Antonio. als came in as individual papers. Al Andrea the role of H-World and the work of its editors, Jonathan Reynolds and Micheal Tarver praised the Program Committee for the work but worried that there would be conflict also recruited for WHA at the Phi Alpha Theta they did piecing together disparate papers into between H-Net’sconstitution and the WHA’s Biennial National Convention in Albuquerque coherent panels. Jerry Bentley wondered if the interests in being able, for example, to have a in January. WHA could do what the AHA does, and only small banner at the bottom of H-World mes- David Christian suggested working accept full-panel submissions, but Carolyn said sages proclaiming the affiliation. Other mem- through the regional WHA conferences, which she didn’tthink the WHA was in aposition to berswondered if “affiliation” entailed any bring in lots of community college faculty.He do that yet, and she prefers to give opportuni- legal or financial obligations or liabilities. also suggested that the regional conferences be ties to the isolated scholar.Kieko Matteson and Anand Yang commented that we are all sup- moreprominently advertised on the WHA Kerry Ward commented that they thought portive of the work being done by Kalivas and websiteunder condition that there be alittle accepting single papers increased the spectrum Martin, but as the Executive Council, we need recruiting allowed at the conference. Carolyn of participants in the conference, and that this to understand the ramifications. Jerry Bentley, Neel and Kieko said they would work on an was one of the inherent strengths of our organ- Jonathan Reynolds, Kieko Matteson, and advertising flier and membership handouts. ization. Laura Mitchell suggested that there Laura Mitchell volunteered to look into these Al Andrea proposed that the term also be anote or apolicy that preference for matters with the chairs/editors. “independent scholar” be dropped as acatego- acceptance to the program would be given to 7. Journal of World History,Jerry Bentley, ry from membership and dues, and that the full panels first, and then to single papers or Editor. Jerry Bentley reports that the arrange- WHA have four levels of membership: Regular partial panels. Jonathan Reynolds compli- ment with History Cooperative has not worked membership, Student membership, New mented the themes of the conference [“Global out as well as had been hoped, in that the Professional membership, and Unemployed Cities” and “The Sea: Highway for Change”] History Cooperative had not ever followed membership. In the new wording on the mem- as particularly conducive to an interesting through with its promises to institute pass- bership form, “independent scholar” will be array of papers and panels. word-protected access to the JWH. For this and included as part of the regular membership cat- 4. Endowment Committee, Carter Findley, related interface /formatting reasons, JWH egory.The Council agreed to this as an admin- Chair, in absentia.Presented by Kieko will drop its membership in History istrative initiative. Matteson. Due to Carter’s wise fund selections, Cooperative as of January 2009. It will be 9. Research Committee, Pat Manning, Chair picked up by JSTOR sometime soon, with min- (in absentia). Report presented by Adam 4 McKeown. The committee has been fairly Executive Council should play in the appoint- z;benefits, etc., of funding the WHC or H- inactive this year.AlAndrea suggested that the ment of the editor of WHC, and more broadly, World. next research symposium be in conjunction what it means to have an “official” designation, There will be aformal report of the with the WHA conference at Salem, or with be it an electronic journal like WHC, aprinted half-year finances in acouple of months. At another WHA meeting. Anand noted that Pat’s journal like the JWH or the Bulletin,orthe H- the present (June 25), we are running adeficit home institution, the University of Pittsburgh, World electronic discussion group. For World again. Carolyn sees adisturbing trend of might have requirements that such asympo- History Connected,the issues that need resolu- “depending on the kindness of strangers,” i.e., sium be held there. tion include: clarification of what it means to alucky or unforeseen gift, grant, or one-time 10. Phi Alpha Theta-WHA Student Paper be “official”; looking at aprocess of discussion benefit to keep our books within bounds of Prizes, Joel Tishken, Chair (in absentia) and consultation (or recruitment and/or search) even modest deficits. Speaking on behalf of the Student Paper Prize about appointing editors and where institution- 16. Nominating Committee, Pamela McVay, Committee, Laura Wangerin noted that with a al support comes from; issues of academic Chair, (in absentia). Adam McKeown and change in the due date to the end of June, oversight and legal connections; the profes- Kerry Ward, speaking on behalf of the papers are trickling in now.Kieko appealed for sional structure, including the role of editors Nominating Committee, noted that the professors to talk up the prize, since even the and the board of trustees or directors; advertis- Committee needs to select six candidates to head of Phi Alpha Theta at Univ.ofHawaii ing responsibilities on the part of the publica- stand for this year’s election for the Executive hadn’teven known the prize existed before she tion; financial responsibilities on the part of the Council. Several current Council members forwarded him the information! Al Andrea WHA. Adam McKeown noted that perhaps it observed that potential nominees must be suggested contacting Jack Tunstall, the head of would be reasonable to view both H-World and advised during the initial discussion of their Phi Alpha Theta, to ask him to promote the WHC as independent operators with whom we nomination that Executive Council meeting prize more prominently.Kieko suggested had aside deal or individual arrangement. attendance is absolutely vital during the three advertising on the H-World and AP listservs as Jerry Bentley,Kieko Matteson, Anand Yang, years that they are on the council, i.e., at the well. Al noted that periodic announcements of and Carolyn Neel agreed to look into these January meeting of the AHA and our annual the competition had been sent to H-World each issues as they relate to WHC. Ane Lintvedt will meeting in June. and every year,but more does need to be done send them copies of the original agreement Jonathan Reynolds commented that he to advertise the paper prize. [Postscript: 21 arranged by the WHA and the editors of WHC. thought we needed to produce aWelcome papers were received this year.] 14. WHA Book Prize Report, Anand Yang, Package for new Executive Council members. 11.Teaching Prize Committee, Jen Laden, Chair. The committee received 23 submissions He volunteered to begin that process, noting Chair (in absentia). Speaking on behalf of the for this year’s Book Prize. Anand noted that that it could be put on asecure (password pro- Teaching Prize Committee, Jonathan Reynolds the commercial presses were more responsive tected) place on the WHA website. Ane noted that there had been strong submissions than the academic presses. The University of Lintvedt also volunteered to help. this year.The winner was Sharlene Sayegh California Press, for example, has an extensive Kieko noted that the nominations from the University of California, Long Beach world history list but failed to submit any titles process is running abit behind this year,due to for her lesson entitled “The Logical Fallacies for the Committee’sconsideration this year. alate start in facilitating the transfer of chair- of Nationalism: Critical Thinking in the World This is something the committee will attempt manship from the able hands of former History Classroom.” to remedy.This year’s winner is Stuart Banner, Nominations Committee chair, Ralph Croizier, 12. The Very Good Looking Website for his Possessing the Pacific: Land, Settlers, to the new Chair,Pamela McVay.The election Committee Report, Jonathan Reynolds, and Indigenous People from Australia to period will have to be compressed, particularly Chair.The website committee has been rela- Alaska,published by Harvard University Press. in order to notify winners in time to make tively quiet this year since its improvements to 15. Treasurer’s Report, Carolyn Neel, flight and hotel reservations for the January the website over the last couple of years have Treasurer. The bottom line from the 2007 fis- 2009 Executive Council meeting at the AHA in been great. cal year is that the WHA ran adeficit of $3000, New York. However,online voting will hope- Kieko noted that there had been consid- which would have been much bigger but for fully facilitate afaster turnaround time this erable difficulties with online conference regis- the generosity of our 2007 conference host, the year. tration this spring due to restrictions imposed University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, particu- 17. The Bulletin,Micheal Tarver,Editor. No by our online payment retailer,2checkout.com. larly Merry Wiesner-Hanks, who underwrote report was received at the meeting, however, Access to online payment was cut offatthe and waived many on-site expenses. Carolyn Kieko spoke briefly regarding Bulletin related very moment when conference registrations stressed four points: (1) there should be no costs. Kieko noted that mailing expenses are were at their peak, based on the clause that we additional expenditures until we are in the going up, and with it the costs to the WHA. were not allowed to sell overnight accommo- black; (2) the Treasurer and Executive Director One Council member suggested that we put a dations –aclause unknown to Kieko, since she need to start issuing Quarterly Reports, which check-box on the membership/subscription hadn’tbeen involved in the original arrange- will be easier to do with the services of our notices which asked people to indicate if they ments with this company.Kieko and the excellent new bookkeeper,Jaydene Viernes, would receive their Bulletin via email, thus WHA’s webmaster,Christian Wagenbreth, will who started in the spring; (3) the WHA needs saving paperand mailing expenses. Kieko look for another online payment processor to do an audit for many reasons, but Carolyn notedthat back issues of the Bulletin are after the conference. The Executive Council recommends not doing an audit until after already available (most of them, anyway) as passed aunanimous motion of thanks to 2008, when firm figures for afull year will be pdfs on the WHA website. Christian for his outstanding service and dili- available (the accounting for 2006 and 2007, 18. Executive Director’s Report, Kieko gence. while fully legitimate, reflects the vagaries of Matteson, Executive Director. Kieko remind- Al Andrea asked to have the WHA three consecutive Executive Directorships in ed Executive Council members that the email addresses for Executive Council mem- two year’s time, and is therefore not as detailed January 2009 meeting of the American bers reinstated. Jonathan said he would as the current accounting arrangement per- Historical Association will meet this year from arrange that. mits); (4) the Executive Council and the Friday January 2through Monday January 5, 13. World History Connected Report, Ane Executive Director should begin to offer metic- instead of the usual Wednesday through Lintvedt presented. There was awide-rang- ulous reports on spending proposals –for Sunday format. The meeting will be in New ing discussion about the role that the WHA example, how much it would cost to do x, y, or York, meaning that hotel reservations will also 5 be limited and sell out quickly.Kieko has She apologized for this, and noted that this Jonathan Reynolds asked about putting the WHA asked the AHA to schedule our usual WHA should be acaution for subsequent internation- minutes and committee reports into asearchable Executive Council meeting for Friday January al meetings. database and making them accessible on the 2nd and the Business Meeting and Reception Kieko announced that she has accepted WHA website. Al Andrea would like to see these for Saturday January 3. She will let us know as atenure-track position in the History documents put into aprofessional archive, but soon as she hears from the AHA about the Department of the University of Hawai’i, and doesn’tknow where that might be. Kieko noted scheduling. will be leaving the position of Executive that the WHA archive, such as it is, is currently In terms of the current London confer- Director of the WHA effective in January housed in the WHA office in Hawai’i. ence, Kieko noted that the lack of aLocal 2009. This will necessitate the advertisement Arrangements Committee had meant that she and search for anew Executive Director. The meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m. and her assistant, Kristy Ringor,spent nearly Anand Yang said he would head up that search, 100 percent of their time since January prepar- and would assemble asearch committee whose Respectfully submitted, ing for the meeting, with aresulting lack of members would have to be able to travel to time for nearly any other WHA-related affairs. Hawaii at their own expense. Ane Lintvedt, Secretary

Above and Right: John Marriott leading atour of London’sEast End. Photos Courtesy of Marc Gilbert at Captain Cook’shome. Photo Laura Mitchell. Courtesy of Laura Mitchell. 6 WHA Conferences, 2009-2011 Mark Your Calendars A.J. Andrea, Conferences Committee Chair

The success of the 17th Annual WHA Conference, held this past June at Queen Mary, University of London, owesmuch to the over 300 reg- istered conferees who attended. The WHA is nowfocusing on the next three yearsand has been enthusiastically planning our future conferences.

2009 Salem The 18th Annual Conference will be held in Salem, Massachusetts, June 25-28, 2009. Planning forthe conference has been underway forsome time, and it promises to be an extraordinaryevent. Salem StateCollege has agreed to serve as primaryhost forthe conference; additionally awide variety of other academic, historical, cultural, and community organizations have pledged their supporttogiveconferees afull EssexCounty/North Shore experience. To honor Salem’s role in the global affairsofthe late18th and early 19th centuries, the conference theme is “Merchants and Missionaries: Trade and Religion in World History.”Todayasmall city notedfor its NewEngland charm and coastal beauty,Salem wastruly aglobal city between 1787 and 1812. Located on Massachusetts’ North Shore, Salem wasby1790 the sixth-largest city in the United States, and its merchants were major players in world commerce. Salem’s leading role in maritime commerce went hand in hand with its mission- aryinfluence. It wasthe city that ordained the United States’ firstProtestant missionaries to Asia in 1812. Prior to that, Salem gain notoriety forspiritual excess in its infamous witch trials in 1692. Among plans forthe 2009 conference are several receptions at local venues of historical significance (Possible sites include The House of the SevenGables; The Friendship of Salem,afull-sized replica of a1797Salem East Indies merchant ship; the Custom House; and the Athenaeum.) and aprivatetour of the USS Constitution (“Old Ironsides”) at the CharlestownNavyYardonThursday, June 25th,which will be led by the USS Constitution’s historian and visit areas normally closed to visitors. Several sessions mayalso be held at the Peabody Essex Museum. Founded in 1799, it is the oldest and largest museum in the U.S. dedicated to global maritime history. One of its chief attractions is the Yin Yu Tang House, an 18th-centurymerchant home from southeastern China. There will be several accommodations options forconference attendees in Salem, including special room rates at the Hawthorne Hotel, the Peabody Marriott, and dormitoryhousing in the newstudent suites on the Salem Statecampus. Salem Statewill provide bus service between campus and downtownfor those who choose to stayinahotel rather than on campus. The Hawthorne, ahistoric, romantic hotel, is located on Salem’s Common in the heartofthe city and is only ashortwalk away from all of its historical and cultural attractions. The Peabody Marriott, located less than three miles from Salem, is an ideal location forconferees who are bringing their families. Salem StateCollege wasfounded in 1854 as Salem Normal School. It waslater renamed Salem TeachersCollege in 1932 and finally became Salem StateCollege in 1959. Comprised of five campuses on over 108acres, the campus overlooks Salem Harbor and is home to over 10,000 students. Dane Morrison, the Local Arrangements Committee chair and Chris Mauriello, chair of Salem StateCollege’s History Department, have been most enthusiastic in their support. It is because of their effortsthat manylocal cultural, historical, and civic organizations have agreed to playarole in the conference. With reasonable rates and attractiveaccommodations, the proximity of manyhistorical, cultural, and scenic sites, and fast and conven- ient access to nearbyBoston via ferry, train, and auto, the WHA Conference is shaping up to be both astimulating academic experience and awonderful holidayopportunity forconferees farand wide.

San Diego, 2010 Through the effortsofLaura Ryan, Ross Dunn, and Ed Beasley, Southwestern College and San Diego StateUniversity have joined to invite the WHA to San Diego forits 19th Annual Conference, which will be held at the HandleryHotel in Mission Valley, California, June 24-27, 2010. The hotelwill provide discounted room rates and meeting space. Accommodations will also be available on the San Diego Statecampus. The conference’s themes are still under consideration. Details regarding the 2010 conference will be posted on the WHA websiteduring the Summer of 2009.

Beijing, 2011 Capital Normal University’s Global HistoryCenter will host the 20th Annual Conference on its Beijing campus, July 7-11, 2011.The conference will be held in the state-of-the-artInternational Cultural Plaza. The main theme will be “China in World History,”and asecond theme is currently under discussion. The conference’s accommodations and sessions will also takeplace in the Plaza or the adjoining conference building. Details regarding the 2011 conference will be posted on the WHA websiteduring the Summer of 2010.

Beyond 2011 Scene from Capital Normal University. The WHA Conferences Committee is already discussing potential sites formeetings beyond 2011 and will announce them as plans become clearer.

7 FOCUS ISSUE and TEACHING FORUM Science and Technology in the Context of World History

Paul Buckingham Morrisville State College Guest Editor

The introduction of aglobal perspective has lems in their environment, then all cultures not ful. Aglobal perspective in the history of technol- been aboon to the study of the history of science only develop and use technology,but, chances ogy allows for areflection on the meaning of and technology.Likewise, the perspectives of the are, if we arediscussing them at all, weresuc- technology and indeed allows for morereflection discipline of the history of science and technolo- cessful users of technology to solve the problems on the relative levels of technology found in any gy have great potential to further the aim of the presented by their environment. From this per- given society at any given time. study of world history.This issue of the World spective, the history of technology is auseful The history of technology is useful in helping History Bulletin is designed to give some exam- point of view in world history.Itoffers achance us think about why thereare differences between ples of how the history of science and technology to discuss broad questions about how various human societies and to see similarities in how can help us better understand the human experi- cultures address challenges in their environment humans tackle problems through technology.Itis ence from aglobal point of view.This introduc- through technology.Italso allows us to challenge avery accessible set of examples that provide the tion will put the study of the field in the context of our assumptions of what “advanced” technology comparative perspective sought in world history. world history and suggest some of the ways stud- and relative levels of technology among cultures The history of science can on the other hand pres- ies of science and technology can be useful in a might really mean. ent problems, especially for non-specialists and comparative field like world history.Inorder to The story of the defeat of the Aztecs Empire students. Abrief review of two standard do this, it is first important to differentiate by the Spanish under Cortes is an example of how approaches to the history of science might help between the study of the history of science and a Iuse the perspective of the history of technology see how this part of the field can be used in the study of the history of technology.Each field in my world history courses. The Spanish had context of world history. presents different challenges for those seeking to superior technology in the form of guns and steel. Thereare two basic approaches to the histo- incorporate them into the wider study of world Yet, in this story or in discussing European con- ry of science. The first is to study science as a history or into the teaching of world history. flicts with any Native Americans, it is clear that development of ideas that lead to our modern Of the two halves of the field, the history of superior technology was not so superior.Guns understanding of the world. So, the history of technology is the most accessible. As with sci- gave an advantage in some cases, but the often chemistry would tell us about the development of ence, aglobal view of the history of technology slow firing, inaccurate guns werenot necessary this scientific discipline over time. Thereare two has, and indeed should, challenge traditional superior to morerapid firing and moreaccurate difficulties with this approach for world history. narratives in history.The traditional view is one bows. Thereisanassumption that moreadvanced First, this approach tends to be abit inaccessible of technology becoming moreand morecomplex technology means asuperior,stronger,more to the non-specialist and may requireabit of and morepervasive in human society.This tradi- advanced society.Inthe case of the Aztecs, they training in the appropriate scientific field. It also tional story traces technology back to the indus- weredefeated by their own religious beliefs and tends to be ahistory focusing mostly on Western trial era in Western Europe and explains all the the fact that their local enemies joined with the European development of aparticular scientific great inventions that have shaped the lives of six hundred or so Spaniards to conquer them. field tracing it back afew centuries to wherethe those in Western society and in the last few Without the aforementioned advantages, the little scientific method was first applied and the mod- decades, the rest of the world. Occasionally, group of Spaniards would have been, and nearly ern thought in the given field began. something like gunpowder or stirrups or earlier were, overwhelmed by the Aztecs. Ialso point out Occasionally,itmight touch upon earlier times to inventions arementioned to show technology how the Aztecs lacked pack animals, the wheel, show how wrong others wereabout the natureof from outside of Europe, but ultimately even these etc. The assumption would be that they could not the world, but this is not of much help in world arenoted within the context of how Europeans possibly build any thing with such primitive tech- history.So, ahistory of chemistry goes back to mastered these inventions. This limited perspec- nology.Yet, the Spaniards wereastounded by the the founding ideas developed in the late 18th cen- tive, while common from the point of view of stud- engineering wonder that was Tenochtitlan, the tury Western Europe. Astudy of Medieval alche- ies in Western civilization, is of limited use for city built on alake. Inote for my students, how- my or the five elements theory of ancient China world history.Indeed, from aworld history per- ever,that the Aztecs did lack the technology to be would be seen as being of little use. Science in spective, such astory would be difficult to sus- successful if they wereinEurope whereastate this approach reflects the progressive develop- tain. The past decades of research in the field of needed gunpowder,steel, etc to survive. The ment of the current thought in the field. This is an the history of technology has indeed challenged Aztecs weremarvelously successful as an empire essential goal in the history of science, but in these old assertions. If we think of the history of in the Americas wheretheir organization and terms of creating viable comparisons with other technology as ahistory of people solving prob- technology was sufficient for them to be success- cultures, as is the goal of world history,itisnot

8 so useful. and Technology in World History: Notes from the allows students It is the second major approach in the histo- Field,” we see adiscussion of the challenge of to appreciate the ry of science that is moreuseful for the study of teaching global science and technology to sci- technological world history and which is moreaccessible to ence and non-science students. “Silk Production genius behind non-specialists and useful in aworld history as Women’sWork in the World History silk production, course. This second approach is the study of sci- Classroom: Pearl S. Buck’s The Living Reed”by and to highlight ence in the context of the surrounding society. Robert Shaffer gives us adiscussion of the silk the role of The development of this externalist approach has industry in China and how it forms the backdrop women in the gone hand in hand with changes in the field of for discussions in the classroom about the broad production of a history itself. Scholarship in the field of history themes that arethe hallmark of world history. commodity that itself has now morefully explored the history of David P. Billington, Jr.also addresses issues of has been so non-western societies and recognizes the impor- teaching technology in the classroom. In these important in tance of looking at the world through the point of case, he explores questions of how to make the world history. view of other societies. The scholarship in the his- history of engineering accessible in the world his- Both aspects tory of science has in the last few decades been tory classroom. contribute to coming to grips with science as ahuman enter- John Mears’ “Nature, Biology,Culture, and more general prise and the fact that science in some ways exist- the Origins of Technology in the Plio- themesthat I ed separate from the western scientific method. It Pleistocene” presents adiscussion of technology believe are cen- is not something limited to modern western cul- as acommon human enterprise and searches for tral to the world history classroom: the develop- tureortoaspecific set of Greek and Modern its origins in long ago pre-history.Alberto ment of technology,and women’srole in soci- Europeans, but part of the human experience of Grandi’s“From Global to Local: Technological eties. While Buck’sdiscussions of both produc- examining and understanding the environment. Development and Evolution of the Ice Market” is tion and women’sroles are undeniably idealized, This is the view of the history of science most use- areminder of how the history of technology can they do accord nicely,for the most part, with ful for world history,examining how each culture be used to tell the story of the effects of global recent scholarship of these issues. Moreover, understood the world around it. Thereare some changes. Finally,Thomas Anderson’s“Spreading even where The Living Reed is overly simplistic, caveats to this as much of the world view of the Scientific Word:Missionaries as Global it can become the subject of critical class discus- ancient human cultures is tied up in supernatural Naturalists on 19th Century Madagascar” tells sion. and religious explanations for why things hap- the story of the globalization of modern science Silk and the silk trade play an outsized role pen. This is not science, but natural explanations and how increasingly in the 19th Centur,y modern in the world history curriculum, which correctly for phenomenon, even explanations rejected by science, though aWestern phenomenon, was highlights the spread of commodities from one modern science and disproven by the scientific investigating and cataloguing natureonaglobal region to another,and which locates the origin of method, arestill aform of science and viewed this scale. many luxury goods in Asia and other non- way,itisquite possible and enlightening to “Western” areas. The Silk Road (or,“silk roads,” explorecomparative science as one would com- in most recent textbooks) as an analytical con- parative religions. This approach would ask what struct demonstrates for many of our students the werethe natural explanations developed by vari- Silk Production as Women’sWork existence of Eurasia as aregion, rather than as ous cultures to explain the world without refer- two artificially divided continents, and it incorpo- ence to the supernatural. in the World History Classroom: rates into world history not only the well-known The examples in the history of science in the Pearl S. Buck’s The Living Reed “civilizations” of China, ancient Rome, and the above approach show anatural human curiosity Byzantine Empire, but also the intermediaries in about the world and acommon attempt in many Robert Shaffer central and western Asia which facilitated –and cultures to explain the world with natural expla- ShippensburgUniversity profited from –the transfer of silk and other com- nations. Akey example is found in the history of modities along these extended and shifting medicine. Atrend in Greek medicine to explain routes. In short, aworld history class that spans disease, not as acurse by the gods (though this is Pearl S. Buck, the first American woman to the last two millennia without aconsideration of also prevalent in Greek culture), but as anatural receive the Nobel Prize for literature, is best the production and exchange of silk would be vir- result of an imbalance of fluids in the body is remembered for The Good Earth (1931), anovel tually inconceivable.2 comparable to the view of disease as an imbal- which immortalized the gritty struggles for sur- But too few textbooks explain in any detail ance in the three elements in Ayurvedic medicine vival of arural Chinese family.But Buck’sfic- the mechanics of silk production. As aresult, stu- in India or in the five elements in Chinese medi- tion and essays spanned many topics and contin- dents need help to appreciate just how ingenious cine. All arenatural explanations about disease ued for another four decades, and some of her this invention really is, and how it demonstrates that different cultures developed and although other works may be even more important in illu- the capacity for mastery over the natural world by rejected by modern medicine, these explanations minating Asian cultures and in trying to shape a human beings thousands of years ago. While the areakind of science. From this perspective, his- more positive American view toward Asian peo- origins of the manipulation of wool from asheep tory of science becomes not the history of how ples. Ihave used in my World History Iclasses or cotton from aplant into thread, yarn, cloth, and modern science developed, but astudy of how for the past ten years abrief excerpt on the pro- clothing can be intuitively grasped by most stu- human beings in various cultures developed nat- duction of silk from The Living Reed,Buck’s dents, it is far more difficult to comprehend how ural explanations about the cosmos. It then well-regarded 1963 epic novel about Korean his- people first learned to use the secretions of a becomes not ahistory of Western concepts of sci- tory from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s.1 This worm as the basis for thread and cloth. As Francis ence, but acomparative history of human thought excerpt not only describes in meticulous detail Bacon, the English scientist –or“natural philoso- about the natural world. This then is the aspect of the process of silk production, from caring for the pher,” in the parlance of the day –wrote in 1620: the history of science useful in the context of silkworm eggs to feeding the silkworms to teas- …if before the discovery of silk, any one world history. ing out the threads of silk from the cocoons, but had said that there was akind of thread dis- Many of these ideas and thoughts areechoed also the particular role of women in household covered for the purposes of dress and furni- in moredetail in the articles that follow.In production. Consideration of this excerpt in class ture, which far surpassed the thread of linen Elizabeth Green Musselman’s“Teaching Science 9 or of wool in fineness and at the same time edge of and materials for sericulture, thus break- technological innovations which China con- in strength, and also in beauty and softness; ing the Chinese monopoly and changing the tributed to the world, Strayer does not explain men would have begun immediately to think dynamics of both local production and long-dis- how silk is made, and he certainly does not make of some silky kind of vegetable, or of the tance trade. Bentley and Ziegler explain how any connection between silk-making and finer hair of some animal, or of the feathers important silk production became to the women’slabor.9 and down of birds; but of aweb woven by a Byzantine economy,and they reprint agraphic of Craig Lockard’snewer Societies, Networks, tiny worm…, they would assuredly never Byzantine women weaving cloth, with acaption and Transitions devotes enormous attention to have thought. Nay,ifany one had said any- on the prominence of women as textile workers silk production and the silk trade –heeven calls thing about aworm, he would no doubt have there. But the cloth is not identified as silk, and the Silk Roads an early example of “globaliza- been laughed at as dreaming of anew kind there is no mention in this volume of the text- tion” –but fails to explicitly point out women’s of cobwebs.3 book, covering the pre-modern era, of women’s role in silk production. Indeed, one early descrip- Indeed, characters in Pearl Buck’sfictional role in the production of silk thread itself. tion of the care and feeding of trays of hundreds treatment of silk production regard the silkworms Bentley and Ziegler do note, however,the gen- of thousands of silkworms in China appears in a as “creatures of magic,” even as they carefully dered implications of silk consumption, as they paragraph about male labor during the Han observe and nurture these creatures, and harvest report on Roman fears that the “revealing silk Dynasty.Lockard explains how Song Dynasty their creation. The very difficulty of breaking garments” which wealthy women wore led to engineers mechanized the process of spinning down the various steps involved in the production both moral decay and an unfavorable balance of and reeling silk, using what he calls the first of silk from the secretions of the silkworm helped trade.5 industrial machinery; although he does not iden- maintain for many centuries the Chinese monop- To their credit, however,Bentley and Ziegler tify these engineers as male, most readers will oly over this commodity,which itself insured the include two paintings in the second volume of assume that they were men. In aparagraph on continuing importance of the long-distance silk Traditions and Encounters which illustrate the “social life and gender relations” under the Song, trade. importance of women in silk production. The the author notes the decline in women’sstatus, Moreover,inmyexperience teaching at both first is aseventeenth century portrait of “women with the spread of footbinding and the system of the high school and college levels, Ihave found unwinding filaments from silk cocoons,” which concubinage, but he notes also women’semploy- that students are predisposed to believe that can serve as avisual aid accompanying Pearl ment in commerce, as household servants, and in women’swork before the modern period, regard- Buck’sdescription in The Living Reed.The only field labor.However,Lockard offers readers less of region or civilization, consisted of an problem here from my point of view in teaching nothing on silkworm breeding or silk spinning undifferentiated notion of “housework,” which in about silk production is that Iteach this issue in and weaving. Similarly,when noting later that students’ minds generally means cooking, clean- World History I, but this textbook corresponds to Japan became the largest producer of silk by ing, and childcare. For too many students, it has World History II. The second painting shows a 1900, Lockard does not see fit to mention only been in some “modern” societies that late-nineteenth century Japanese silk factory, women’srole as factory labor.10 Lockard has two women have begun to be able to make important with male managers and female operatives, with less-than-satisfactory references to women’srole contributions in the economic arena or other acaption emphasizing this gendered division of in textile production in China, both separate from “public” realms of society.Thus, broadening stu- labor in early industrialization of textile produc- any discussion of silk. In the course of adiscus- dents’ understanding of women’swork to include tion around the world.6 sion of women’slabor during the Han Dynasty, participation in what we would call “production” Traditions and Encounters typifies the the author notes their work in the fields and mar- is very useful in breaking down stereotypes about importance that textbooks place on silk produc- ketplaces, and adds that “they also formed groups both women’srole in world history and about the tion and the silk roads, and is actually better than to spin or weave together” –but with no connec- trajectory of history itself. The fact that women most in its attention to women’srole in production to his previous comments on the importance have historically played amajor role in the pro- tion. The Earth and Its Peoples,byRichard of silk production and trade to Han social and duction of silk, acommodity which has been such Bulliet et al, has brief –and not really adequate – economic life. Puzzlingly,Lockard’smost explic- adistinctive feature of east Asian economic life, descriptions of silk production, but sustained cov- it comment about women’stextile labor in China and which contributed for centuries to China’s erage of the importance of silk roads in creating –though still not mentioning silk –isinapassage economic importance in Eurasia, becomes, there- long-distance networks of exchange of both lamenting its passing. Explaining China’seco- fore, an opportunity to demonstrate to students goods and ideas. But there is no discussion of nomic decline by 1900, he states that “imported women’sbroader role in production and in eco- who actually produced the silk threads or cloth, British textiles frequently displaced Chinese nomic life long before “Rosie the Riveter.” An and the only mention of gender concerns coerced women from textile production, which peasant emphasis on women’srole in silk production also male labor in road-building during the Han women had done for centuries to supplement helps bridge the gap that still too often exists, as Dynasty,which appears below amap of the early family incomes,” with spinning eliminated and Merry Weisner-Hanks has recently reminded us, Silk Road.7 An older textbook by William Duiker weaving earning lower income.11 Only the most between world history and women’shistory.4 and Jackson Spielvogel, World History, includes careful textbook reader would make the connec- Surprisingly,only afew world history sur- brief descriptions of breeding silkworms and silk tion between women and silk production from vey textbooks or primary source readers point out production, and devotes alot of space to the sig- these passages. the gendered component of silk production, even nificance of the silk trade in global economic Peter Stearns and his co-authors, in World as most assign major importance to silk and the development. But it does not mention women’s Civilizations, say less about silk production and silk trade. Jerry Bentley and Herb Ziegler,inthe role in silk production, although it emphasizes, as the silk trade than do most authors. The only first volume of Traditions and Encounters, did Bentley and Ziegler,the complaints of Roman explicit connection between women and silk include aconcise but clear description of early menthat the consumption of silk and other comes in areference to footbinding, in which the Chinese sericulture, and an explanation of why “baubles”byRoman women were leading to a authors explain that silk cloth was often used in Chinese silk was superior to that produced by trade deficit with Asia.8 Robert Strayer,inthe the bindings. Thus, many students might infer wild silkworms elsewhere. Bentley and Ziegler’s new,brief textbook, Ways of the World,devotes that silk contributed only to the oppression of textbook has an entire chapter on “Cross-Cultural eight pages to the silk road trade, emphasizing the women. When noting the rise in silk production Exchanges on the Silk Roads,” and they intro- consumption of silk and the spread, in general in Japan in the early 1900s, Stearns et al make no duce their chapter on the Byzantine Empire with terms, of silk-making technology.While includ- reference to female labor in these factories, but do adetailed account of how it acquired the knowl- ing “silk-handling machinery” in along list of note the low wages earned. Nevertheless, World 10 Civilizations does include avery nice graphic of raise silkworms and to spin silk yarn.” They also worm house to the last moment when the silk lay Chinese women and girls working on embroi- note later that people could pay taxes in silk in the in rich folds over her arms.”17 Buck notes that the dered cloth in the pre-modern era, with acaption Ming dynasty,and that wealthy women tended to actual weaving “was done in the country,” but that reads: “Textile weaving, sewing, and finish- wear silk while their less fortunate counterparts Sunia keeps aloom in her home for ceremonial ing was often done in the household in family wore hemp clothing, thus further cementing the purposes, just as the Queen herself “at this season workshops. In this way,women and young girls connection between women, economic life, and must cultivate silkworms and do her share of were income-earning members of the family.” social status in China.15 The second edition of spinning, while the King must till arice paddy.” Professors might point out to students that the Worlds Together,Worlds Apart,published in Sunia’sfirst task, which is the first indication of graphic (identified only at the back of the text- 2008, includes avolume on earlier world history, the skilled labor involved, is to taste the mulber- book) dates from twelfth-century China, and was but this volume does not discuss women’srole in ry leaves, to determine whether they are at the called “Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven silk production. It does include, however,area- precise “ripeness” for the silkworms to eat. Silk.” Just abit more work by these authors or sonable description of the process of breeding Deciding that they are, she has her female ser- their publisher could have highlighted the con- silkworms, and mentions that silk had uses vants take out the silkworm eggs from where they nection between women and silk production.12 beyond clothing: for fishing line and as asubsti- had been cooling all winter,and prepare them to Kevin Reilly’s Worlds of History, acompilation tute for paper,for example. While noting that in be warmed up so they will hatch and eat. Feeding of primary and secondary sources, in its coverage Han China silk was worn by men and women of the silkworms was labor-intensive, and not a of women in classical civilizations, devotes more all classes (a detail worth noting compared to process that could just be squeezed in to one’s attention to ideology than to production and what the authors had said in 2002 regarding Ming spare time: “For three days and three nights the labor,and does not mention silk at all. But in a China), Tignor et al also cite, along the lines of women fed the small creatures every three hours, selection on patriarchy in prehistory which Reilly some other textbooks, the complaint of Pliny the and in the night again and again Sunia arose from includes, author Natalie Angier notes the impor- Elder about the demand for this complicated and her wide bed…to see how her silkworms did.” tance of women as weavers of cloth derived from expensive import from China “so that Roman The silkworms then shed their skins, which have plant materials.13 women can appear in public in transparent cloth- become too small from all this eating, and the The relatively brief, thematically-oriented ing.”16 process is repeated four times. As if to emphasize Experiencing World History, So how does Pearl the knowledge that has been developed about which emphasizes social histo- Buck’sdescription how to care for the growing silkworms, Buck as ry,has only ahandful of refer- of silk-making in narrator adds: “Meanwhile, no man or woman ences to either silk production The Living Reed was allowed to smoke apipe of tobacco near the or the silk trade, but does note add to these text- silkworm house, for such smoke kills the the importance of women as book accounts of worms.” When the silkworms changed color to spinners and weavers in Han this process? The “a silvery white,” the women provided “twirls of China, and suggests “that novel focuses on the straw rice,” so that the worms could spin their weaving brought in almost as lives of Sunia and cocoons. much income as farming.” Il-han, an upper- Just before the chrysalids turned into moths, Commenting on the spread of class Korean couple most of the cocoons would be dropped into boil- silk production in Chinese in the late 1800s ing water,“so that the gum which held the fila- peasant communities in the and into the 1900s. ments together could be melted and the filaments post-Han era, the authors note Il-han, the husband, reeled offand spun into thread.” Sunia, as the the growing proliferation of is an advisor to the skilled overseer,had to determine the best mulberry trees, whose leaves royal family,ata moment to do this: too soon, and the optimal fed the silkworms, but inadver- 17th-Century Chinese Illustration Showing time when China, amount of silk would not be gathered; too late, tently belittle the skill, hard Women Working with Silkworm Cocoons. Japan, Russia, and and the moth would break the cocoon and hence work, and long hours involved Image provided by author. the United States all the threads. But the skilled labor did not stop in silk production when they desired greater con- there. Sunia also had to choose “the best and write: “Silk thread and cloth trol or involvement biggest of cocoons to make next year’s seed,” and were produced by peasants in their idle hours, by in Korean affairs; the tension in the novel is the these were allowed to become moths, break their women, or,especially,byold or young or dis- Korean struggle to maintain its independence in cocoons, and lay their eggs on paper cards before abled persons. In short, their production fit into the age of colonialism and then in the period of dying. While the filaments from these broken agricultural space and into work routines conve- the two world wars. Sunia, while educated like cocoons could not be reeled into thread, they niently.”14 her husband, devotes her attention to running the could be salvaged by boiling and then drying for In their ambitious recent entry into the world extensive household, overseeing children, ser- use as matted linings of “winter garments.” It was history textbook field, Robert Tignor and his col- vants, and many types of production on an estate Sunia’sson who comes to see the silkworms as leagues, in Worlds Together,Worlds Apart,do that was moderately self-sufficient. In the section “creatures of magic,” while her husband, though more than most in tying silk production explicit- that Iassign to my students, Sunia has just had a he knew that “silkworms are women’sbusiness ly to women’slabor,even as they emphasize con- baby,but nevertheless oversees the silk-making and…pretended no interest in them,” clearly sistently the considerable importance of silk pro- process and the work of her female servants. admired both his wife’sskill in overseeing the duction and trade in Chinese and global society. Buck didactically,but to my mind divertingly,has process and the symbolic equation of silkworms In the one-volume edition, published in 2002 and her explain for the reader the steps involved, in and silk-making with “the life process.” Buck covering world history from 1300 to the present, the guise of explaining the process to her older concludes that “[i]n such ways Sunia tended her Tignor et al explain early on, in their survey of child, who is perhaps six or seven years old. household and faithfully she kept the old cus- Chinese society circa 1300, that “[p]easant Sunia, “ever since she was achild and in the toms,” while the author adds that these old ways, women contributed not only to labor in the field, care of her old nurse,…had loved the art of mak- which she has portrayed in quite idyllic terms, but they also engaged in commerce through the ing silk, from the moment when the web of tiny were even then under attack by outside events. silk industry.The growth of trade and the urban eggs, no bigger than the dots of apointed brush On the sheet that Idistribute to my students demand for silk cloth enabled many women to on apaper card, were hatched in the warm silk- along with the excerpt from Buck’snovel, Ipose

11 three questions, which become the basis for class bands, fathers, or mothers-in-law,and they note of the fact that sericultural work in China and discussion: that women had to know alot more about the nat- elsewhere was always performed by women.”21 What parts of the process of making silk ural world to accomplish their tasks than they had Kuhn goes beyond Buck in his discussion of should be considered “skilled labor”? previously thought –exactly Buck’spurposes in women’srole in silk reeling and spinning. Noting What implications does this selection writing in this fashion.19 that spinning of silk filaments had to be done about women’sresponsibility for the silk- Inote to students that it is somewhat right after the harvesting of the cocoons, Kuhn making process have on our view of women’s anachronistic to present afictional portrait of states at the very outset of his book: “Throughout role in history? nineteenth-century Korea, written by atwentieth- Chinese history,spinning bast fibres and reeling What feelings about “traditional” century American woman, as astand-in for silk- silk were considered to be household tasks for Korean, or East Asian, technology does the making in Han China, which is the point in the women, and so were mostly executed by the author hope to impress upon the reader? curriculum at which Idiscuss this material. female members of the peasant class.” Moreover, Obviously,from my summary of the excerpt Regardless of the reference to tobacco smoke, for he says that while the production of yarn was “a above, it is clear that Iperceive several aspects of example, this is acalculated risk Iamwilling to sideline in the family budget,” it was so important the silk-making process to be skilled labor,and take. Indeed, the specialized literature on silk- that “the socio-economic history of the yarn pro- my students can usually readily identify these. making and women’srole in China tends to but- ducing peasant households is the history of the The second question often leads to adiscussion of tress Pearl Buck’sportrait, although with some peasants of pre-modern China,” thus reinforcing other examples of household production in pre- added dimensions that Iwill use to make my own the economic significance of women’slabor in industrial societies, which Iusually reiterate later presentation of the issues more complex in the Chinese history.22 Kuhn also concludes, based in the semester to counter notions that pre-mod- future. on his study of “Han and pre-Han sources,” that ern women engaged “only” in cooking, cleaning, Joseph Needham’smulti-volume Science women were instrumental in improving the spin- and childcare. While my goal in presenting this and Civilization of China includes one 500-page dle wheel, the treadle-operated loom, and the excerpt is certainly not to minimize the oppres- book devoted solely to technologies of spinning silk-reeling frame, “for they alone would have sion that women have suffered historically or and reeling thread in China, with about half of had both the working experience and technical today,Idotry to have students see that they have that devoted to silk production. (The weaving of skill required to see which alterations were neces- been active historical subjects, not merely objects silk and other types of cloth is only covered tan- sary and practicable.”23 Kuhn’scontribution to manipulated by men. The third question general- gentially in this volume.) In its detailed focus on Needham’scompendium of work on Chinese sci- ly elicits comments about the favorable depiction spindle-wheels, silk-reeling frames, and the like, ence and technology both underscores the essen- of Korean society that Buck conveys, and leads to this volume, written by Dieter Kuhn, and based tial accuracy of Buck’saccount of women and adiscussion of why she would do that for an on exhaustive translations from Chinese written silk production, and provides professors with American audience in the 1960s, and whether it is sources throughout the ages, did not set out to additional background knowledge and some visu- too rosy apicture. Itry to get students to see both focus on the gendered nature of such labor or al and written materials that can be used to sup- the positive aspects of labor,asBuck does here, technology.Nevertheless, the association of plement but also the drudgery and exploitation that can be women with silk production and reeling is present The involved,byhighlighting the round-the-clock throughout, and very much corroborates Buck’s Living nature of this work andthe importance of silk to portrayal. Kuhn’sfifteen-page description of the Reed. East Asian governments as an export item and as care and feeding of silkworms follows the stages Two ameans by which to pay taxes. Iencourage stu- that Buck’sexcerpt laid out, especially regarding histories dents to think about the ways in which govern- the importance of keeping the silkworm eggs at of women ments would be served by idealized stories of all the right temperatures, feeding the mulberry and gen- women –from the queen to the poorest rural wife leaves to the worms at just the right times, and the der in –working, seemingly in concert, on silk produc- intensive, round-the-clock care that the silk- China, tion. worms need during the crucial weeks.20 Kuhn both pub- Women’shistory has maintained adelicate adds, citing romantic poems of the Zhou era, that lished in balance between portraying women as victims, picking mulberry leaves was often the “job of the 1990s, on the one hand, or as victors and agents, on the girls”; one reads in part: “the girls take their beau- also other,between emphasizing the lack of power tiful baskets, they go along those small paths; empha- that women have, and the ways in which, despite they seek the soft mulberry leaves…she gave me size the obstacles, they exercise power in the family and atime (to meet her) in the mulberry grounds.” He intercon- society.Women’shistorians also go back and includes apainting, from 1313 C.E., of women nections forth between emphasizing the common factors steaming silkworm cocoons, and another from between which unite women’sexperiences across societies 1710 C.E. of women “at work in asilkworm women Ming-Era Illustrations of Silk- and emphasizing differences among women breeding room.” (Both of these would be appro- and silk based on race, class, political status, culture, and Reeling Frames. Image provided by priate for classroom use to illustrate Buck’s produc- author. time period.18 Buck in this excerpt obviously account of silk production.) But other paintings tion, and emphasizes the contributions that women make to and photographs show men as well as women spinning East Asian economic and family life, as well as working with silkworms and cocoons, which and weaving more generally,but both approach the commonalities among women, as they oper- shows that, especially in more recent times, silk- the subject with more critical perspectives. ate in agendered division of labor that neverthe- work was not always exclusively in women’s Patricia Buckley Ebrey devotes an entire chapter less does not signify only oppression. Most stu- sphere. Nevertheless, as Kuhn elaborates the of her book to “Women’sWork Making Cloth,” dents recognize that this idealized view of women development of the Chinese legends of the “silk- and delineates for modern readers unfamiliar with cheerfully engaging in silk production may not be worm goddess” and the “first sericulturist,” he such production the various steps involved: grow- true to life with regard to how many women concludes: “In the Northern Chou [Zhou] dynasty ing or producing the fibers, spinning the thread, experienced such labor.But they also comment [557 C.E. to 581 C.E.] the final rationalization of and weaving and dying the cloth. Iappreciate that it showed them that women in pre-industrial the legend appears, crediting awoman with hav- these clear explanations and distinctions, as I Asian societies did more than just serve their hus- ing been the First Sericulturist, probably because have long tried to make clear to my students that

12 making clothing generally involves arange of production:27 methods that could not be accomplished within discrete steps, especially spinning, weaving, and Wu people arepressed for time in the third rural households, and the spread of cotton culti- sewing. (Making clothing from furs has different month of spring. vation led to aregional division of labor.Bray steps, of course.) In her four-page description of The silkworms have finished their third also corroborates, in asense, Buck’sdecision to sericulture, Ebrey seems to echo Pearl Buck’s sleep and arefamished. focus on silk production rather than weaving silk account, from the “science” of getting the mul- The family is poor,without cash to buy cloth, as the former notes that the two processes berry leaves just right to the care of silkworm mulberry leaves to feed to them. increasingly became separate, although Buck eggs, from the seemingly continual feeding of What can they do? Hungry silkworms do states that weaving was done “in the country” in silkworms to the reeling of silk thread from the not produce silk. Korea while Bray points to larger urban work- cocoons placed in steaming water.Incontrast to The daughter-in-law and the daughter shops as the production sites. Indeed, Bray con- mundane work with hemp or cotton thread, says talk to each other as they carry the bas- cludes, “The main rural contribution, still pre- Ebrey,“[m]uch more romantic and miraculous kets. dominantly female, to fancy silks between the was work with silkworms,” which, “if treated just Who knows the pain they feel in their Song and the late Ming was the breeding of silk- right, would spin extremely fine but strong fibers hearts? worms and reeling of raw silk” –exactly the hundreds of meters long.”24 The daughter is twenty but does not have processes that Buck described in The Living While Ebrey agrees that in theory there was wedding clothes. Reed. Bray also points to a1956 Chinese short astrong division of labor in China between male Those the government sends to collect story which described women’sinvolvement in work in grain production and female work in taxes roar like tigers. the care for silkworms in very maternal terms, not making cloth –both of which were important for If they have no clothes to dress their unlike those that Buck employs in her novel.28 the state, as both were required to be paid as tax daughter,they can still put the [wed- Aside from the wealth of detail, Bray adds goods –she argues that the spheres blurred as ding] off. two main conceptual strands to the discussion, commercialization extended in the Sung dynasty. If they have no silk to turn over to the gov- one of which challenges Buck’sanalysis and one Specialized weaving tasks were most likely to be ernment, they will go bankrupt. of which supports it. Bray observes that Qing taken over by men after this point, according to The family next door went bankrupt and is empresses resurrected the sericultural rituals at a Ebrey,although some women learned and per- already scattered. time when “the popular industry they were formed these skilled jobs. While “women seem Abroken-down wall, an abandoned well – intended to promote had changed almost beyond to have special charge of the silkworms,” men the sadness of out-migration. recognition.” The invocation of the “old cus- were likely to care for the mulberry trees, and as The poem, by Wen-hsiang, also illustrates the toms,” as Buck had phrased it, was therefore not some households began to specialize in silk pro- long tradition of protest against state policies, and so much about actual silk production, but about duction “both men and women undoubtedly on behalf of the common people, by some reinscribing gender norms as ameans of solidify- shared in the tasks.” Ebrey discusses atwelfth- Chinese intellectuals, which is itself avaluable ing imperial power,despite the erosion in fact of century painting which illustrates the numerous perspective for students. While the poem focuses both traditional gender roles and relations steps involved in silk-making, and which features on apoor family,rather than the elite family of between emperor and subject. On the other hand, forty-two women, twenty-four men, and several The Living Reed,Wen-hsiang makes visible, if Bray argues forcefully,asBuck does implicitly, children: thus, women predominate in this depic- one is willing to extrapolate just abit, the faceless that the women’ssphere of textile production in tion but do not monopolize the production servant women who labored under Sunia’sdirec- the “inner quarters” of the household in China, process.25 tion in Buck’saccount. Moreover,students might because of its importance to family income and Ebrey’scritical perspective emerges most recognize in this ironic account of asilk-worker imperial taxation, and because of its connection clearly as the author concludes that, despite who lacks wedding clothes similarities with pop- to young women’sdowries, does not correspond women’scritical contributions to the making of ular and literary accounts in other cultures of to the “domestic sphere” of Western households cloth, there is no evidence that it raised women’s shoemakers, for example, whose children are of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as it status or autonomy within the family or society. without shoes, or textile workers dressed in rags. was not strictly isolated from the public realm. In an analysis based largely on the commentary Francesca Bray,meanwhile, devotes three Thus, Bray offers an alternative to Ebrey’sview of Chinese intellectuals of the Sung period, Ebrey chapters to women’stextile work in her book, of the meaning of cloth production, in that the observes, “If the women who sold their textiles Technology and Gender: Fabrics of Power in former maintains that women did gain status in gained agreater sense of self-worth in the Late Imperial China.Bray follows Kuhn and the family from their labor and from their direct process, no literatus seems to have noticed.” Ebrey in emphasizing women’scontribution to contribution to tax payments. Women’sparticipa- Moreover,Ebrey notes that women often per- the Chinese imperial state up to the Sung Dynasty tion in textile production in China could, there- formed “the most tedious tasks” involved in mak- through their production of cloth that was subject fore, press against the boundaries of Confucian ing cloth, especially splicing fibers and spinning to taxation. She expands on Kuhn’sdiscussion of ideology and strengthen women’sidentification thread. Indeed, she reprints anumber of poignant the skill required by these female spinners and with each other; it also shows that the household poems, written by men, which depict women weavers, observing, for example, that “technical could be asite of production rather than (as in cloth-producers, in general, and in some cases knowledge as well as the responsibility for pro- Western “separate spheres”) simply reproduction. silk-workers in particular,asoppressed by their duction were controlled and managed by Bray concludes that modern feminist conceptual- hard labor and especially by the system of taxa- women.” Bray cites an eleventh-century male izations of Chinese women as simply oppressed – tion which requires the delivery of cloth to the writer,who, in describing innovations in silk pro- by their bound feet, seclusion in the home, and state.26 duction, credited his wife, who had learned silk- subjection to fathers and husbands –represent While Ihave only recently encountered making as agirl, for this new knowledge. Bray “our own historical experience of industrializa- Ebrey’swork, Iplan to use the following thir- also explains at length, building on Ebrey’s tion,” which relegated women’sroles primarily to teenth-century Chinese poem she includes as a analysis, the gradual erosion of the clear division reproduction and domesticity,rather than atrue counter-balance to the rosy account in The Living of labor between men and women in cloth pro- engagement with Chinese women’sexperiences. Reed, in order to encourage my students to think duction, beginning in the late Sung era and accel- Nevertheless, Bray ends by emphasizing the loss about the exploitative as well as liberatory erating during the Ming Dynasty,as–togive just of Chinese women’sstatus with the relative aspects of labor,and the subordinate role that two of the many factors that Bray explores –new decline of their special role in cloth production by women could occupy in asystem of household fashions demanded more elaborate production the Qing dynasty.29 13 Bray’swork is too complex and detailed to 1963), 55-58; areprint edition was issued in 1990 by Moyer History of the World,vol. I, 2nd Edition (New York: W.W. assign to afirst-year world history class, and even Bell Ltd. of Mount Kisco, N.Y.For acontemporary favorable Norton, 2008), 266-267, 290. review of this novel in the leading scholarly journal on Asia, see 17 Ebrey’schapter is most useful as background Buck, The Living Reed,55. All quotations in this para- Kyung Cho Chung, review, Journal of Asian Studies 23 (May graph and the next are from The Living Reed,55-58. information for ateacher and for the primary 1964): 481-482. 18 See, for just one example, the introductory sections enti- 2 sources that it includes. But avery readable dis- For asuggestive essay on the significance of the transmis- tled “Searching for Victors as Well as Victims,” and tillation of the two perspectives, along with some sion of clothing styles across regions, which mentions but does “Differences Among Women,” in Hughes and Hughes, Women not emphasize silk clothing, see Kenneth Pomeranz, “Social in World History,vol. I, 5-6. of their main pieces of evidence, now appears in History and World History: From Daily Life to Patterns of 19 Robert Shaffer,“Pearl S. Buck and the American athree-page section on “Textile Production” in Change,” Journal of World History18 (March 2007): 69-98, Internationalist Tradition,” Ph.D. diss., Rutgers University, esp. 76-78. Tang and Sung China in Envisioning Women in 2003,esp. chap. 1. 3 Francis Bacon, “New Organon,” excerpted in Alfred World History,volume I, by Catherine Clay, 20 Dieter Kuhn, Textile Technology: Spinning and Reeling, Andrea and James Overfield, eds., The Human Record: Sources Chandrika Paul, and Christine Senecal, abook vol. 5, part IX, in Science and Civilization in China,Joseph of Global History,vol. II, 3rd Edition (Boston: Houghton Needham, ed. (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, which should be easily accessible for teachers Mifflin, 1998), 152-53. Unfortunately,the editors have chosen 1988), 301-314. Surprisingly,Robert Temple, The Genius of and professors, and which may profitably be not to include this selection, which was very useful in teaching China: 3000 Years of Science, Discovery,and Invention (New 30 not only about silk but about magnetism, gunpowder and other assigned to students. Iwill continue to assign York: Simon &Schuster,1986), the “popular” condensation of technological developments, in more recent editions of this pri- Needham’sextensive work, has no mention of silk production, the excerpt from The Living Reed,nevertheless, mary sourcebook; see the 5th Edition, 2005. perhaps because it was published before Kuhn’svolume. because its fictional narrative, didactic though it 4 Merry Wiesner-Hanks, “World History and the History of 21 Kuhn, Textile Technology,291-292, 339, 315, 341, 344, might be, has shown that it attracts student inter- Women, Gender,and Sexuality,” Journal of World History 18 248-259, quotations at 291 and 254. est. And while Ihave not assigned other sections (March 2007): 53-67. 22 Kuhn, Textile Technology,2.“Bast fibres” are fibers 5 Jerry Bentley and Herb Ziegler, Traditions and of this novel to my classes, Idousually try to derived from the stems of plants, such as hemp and ramie. Encounters: AGlobal Perspective on the Past,vol. I, 3rd Edition mention to my students afew of the other respect- 23 (New York: McGraw Hill, 2006), 198, 287-312 (esp. 294-295), Kuhn, Textile Technology,204, and 211-213 for graphics ful ethnographic characterizations that Buck 317, 326-327. of women operating spindle-wheels. These improvements were for both cotton and silk production. includes in this epic. She describes, for example, 6 Jerry Bentley and Herb Ziegler, Traditions and 24 the workings of the ondul floor,aheated flooring Encounters: AGlobal Perspective on the Past, vol. II, 2nd Patricia Buckley Ebrey, The Inner Quarters: Marriage Edition (New York: McGraw Hill, 2003), 735, 866. and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period (Berkeley: system invented during Korea’sYiDynasty,and University of California Press, 1993), 131-151, esp. 138-142. 7 Richard Bulliet et al, The Earth and Its Peoples: AGlobal the recipes for kimchee, the national dish based For an account of silk production in twentieth-century village History,vol. I, 2nd edition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001), Japan, that should be available in most school and university on cabbage and spices, and the Korean creation 58, 167, 164, 190-192, 201-207, 220, 280-281, 331, and esp. libraries, see Monica Sone, Nisei Daughter (Seattle: University myth which bears some relationship to 161. of Washington Press, 1979 [Boston: Little, Brown, 1953]), 99. 8 Christianity,asthe son of god is born on earth.31 William Duiker and Jackson Spielvogel, World History Sone, aJapanese American visiting her father’s ancestral home Amore ambitious use of the novel in World (Minneapolis: West Publishing, 1994), esp. 85, 338. in the 1930s, describes the entire family’sparticipation in the History II could involve discussions of Russian 9 Robert Strayer, Ways of the World: ABrief Global History, process, but emphasizes the reeling of the threads from the cocoons, which required long hours and patience, as women’s and Japanese imperialism in Korea, the connec- vol. I(Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009), 91, 213, 219-226. 10 Craig Lockard, Societies, Networks, and Transitions: A work. Weaving, Sone writes, was done by “local weavers,” tions between Korean and Chinese revolutionary Global History (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008). 84, 121, 129, whose gender she did not specify. movements from the 1910s to the 1940s, and the 132, 308, 693, 1001, and passim. Lockard’sindex includes ref- 25 Ebrey, The Inner Quarters,esp. 132-134, 137, 145, 147. disenchantment that many Koreans felt over the erences to twenty different pages on the Silk Roads, and the 26 Ebrey, The Inner Quarters,,134, 149-150. term appears in two subheadings, in chapters 5and 7. American failure to work for their independence 27 Ebrey, The Inner Quarters,150. 11 Lockard, Societies, Networks, and Transitions,131, 693. in 1910, 1919, and at other points. 28 Francesca Bray, Technology and Gender: Fabrics of 12 When, in 1998, Ifirst started using the Peter Stearns, Michael Adas, Stuart Schwartz, and Marc Power in Late Imperial China (Berkeley: University of Gilbert, World Civilizations: The Global Experience,3rd Edition California Press, 1997), 183-272, esp.186, 205, 208, 211, 214, excerpt from The Living Reed on silk production (New York: Longman, 2001), 96, 441, 914, and esp. 422 and C- 232-233, 235., 248. as asite of women’slabor and technological 3. 29 Bray, Technology and Gender,251-252, 263, 265, 270- sophistication, Iwas familiar in only the most 13 Kevin Reilly,ed., Worlds of History: AComparative 271. rd general terms with the scholarly literature on the Reader,vol. I, 3 Edition (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007), 30 Catherine Clay,Chandrika Paul, and Christine Senecal, esp. Natalie Angier,“Furs for Evening, but Cloth was the Stone EnvisioningWomen in World History,vol. I(New York: subject. My review of works by Kuhn, Ebrey,and Age Standby,” at 2-9. Asimilar analysis, from E.J.W.Barber’s Bray has confirmed my judgment that, despite its McGraw-Hill, 2009), 110-112. Prehistoric Textiles (1991), appears in one of the earliest efforts 31 elision of the issue of change over time, and its to survey women’shistory within aworld history framework, in Buck, The Living Reed,52, 61, 427. 32 transposition from the more familiar China to Sarah Shaver Hughes and Brady Hughes, Women in World For asimilar definition, see Bulliet et al, The Earth and History,vol. I(Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1995), 20-22, Its Peoples,xiii. Korea, Pearl Buck’shistorical novel is acredible which also has no substantive discussion of silk. Volume II of source for students on this issue. My investiga- Women in World History (1997), at 60-62, has a tion over the past ten years of what survey text- section on “Family Production of Cotton Cloth” in the chapter on women in the Mughal Empire, books in world history say (and do not say) about with two excerpts from secondary sources, and, at women’slabor in China and east Asia has also 79, there is abrief description of women’stasks reinforced my decision to use this supplementary in growing fibers, spinning thread, and weaving resource. Explaining clearly the process of silk cloth in sixteenth-century Europe. 14 production is of great importance for three rea- Paul Adams, Erick Langer,Lily Hwa, Peter Stearns, and Merry Wiesner-Hanks, Experiencing sons, in the end: it is such an important commod- World History (New York: New York University ity in world history as well as east Asian regional Press, 2000), 158, 198. history; it demonstrates the extraordinary knowl- 15 Robert Tignor,Jeremy Adelman, Stephen edge of the natural world that anon-Western, pre- Aron et al, Worlds Together,Worlds Apart: A History of the Modern World from the Mongol industrial society developed so long ago, which is Empiretothe Present (New York: W.W. Norton, agood definition of technology in the broadest 2002), 27, 30, 31, 82, 240, and passim. Tignor et sense;32 and it demonstrates the integral connec- al reprint, at 298, the same graphic of the late nineteenth-century Japanese silk factory that tions between women, labor,and economic appears in Traditions and Encounters,but do not achievement. note in their caption the gendered division of labor.Tignor and most of his co-authors are asso- When in Salem for the WHA, be sure to visit Ye Old NOTES ciated with Princeton University. 16 RobertTignor,Jeremy Adelman, Peter Pepper Companie, America’sOldest Candy Company. 1 Pearl S. Buck, The Living Reed (New York: John Day Co., Brown et al, Worlds Together,Worlds Apart: A 14 Nature, Biology,Culture and foods constituted the bulk of their diet, although As reasonably adept toolmakers, however, they seemed to have consumed meat on aregular habilines must have been self-consciously aware the Origins of Technology basis. Less adept at climbing than australop- of their actions. They had to possess an enlarged in the Plio-Pleistocene ithecines, they nonetheless scrambled into the capacity to recall past experiences and anticipate treetops to pick fruit, to sleep, or to elude preda- future possibilities. With mental images of the tors. They had an upright posture that seemed to desired objects already in mind, they needed to be John Mears indicate avirtual mastery of bipedalism. Given able to collect stones of appropriate kinds and Southern Methodist University such continuities, what distinctive traits can we sizes, imagine how those stones would fracture identify that would place habilines on aunique when struck in particular ways, repeatedly pro- adaptive pathway? What characteristics now con- duce devices with similar forms, and then pur- Our search for the origins of technology—by sidered typical of our lineage indisputably set posely retain them for use at other times and which Isimply mean any device or technique them apart from australopithecines? places. In the development of the Oldowan tool which extends human capacities—invariably Archeologists have found an answer in the industry, Homo habilis revealed adegree of cre- takes us far back into prehistory,back to atime earliest evidence for systematic tool manufactur- ativity that no australopithecine or other primate more than two million years ago when the earli- ing—a momentous accomplishment that gave could possibly have replicated. est forms of the genus Homo,collectively know birth to the development of culture as aprimary The invention of stone tools nonetheless as Homo habilis or “handy man,” were indis- adaptive mechanism for humankind. No later resulted in surprisingly few immediate behavioral putably present in East Africa. As historians, we than 2.4 million years ago, East African changes. Around 2million years ago, habilines find ourselves immediately frustrated by the dif- hominids, who may have been the immediate pre- occasionally made bone artifacts and were start- ficulties paleoanthropologists have experienced cursors of Homo habilis,rather suddenly started ing to refine their woodworking skills. Several in their efforts to describe the splitting of the to modify water-smoothed pebbles and rocks hundred thousand years later,they may have built genus Homo from the australopithecine branch of gathered in river beds, fashioning them into rudi- the oldest windbreaks and crudely enclosed shel- hominid evolution. The period from 3to2.5 mil- mentary stone artifacts suitably shaped to fit ters. From scattered archeological evidence, we lion years ago constitutes avirtual blank in the immediate needs. Soon after 1.9 million years can reasonably suppose that soon thereafter they fossil record. Furthermore, what we may be ago, habilines had at their disposal an array of traded for artifacts manufactured as much as ten inclined to lump together as habilines may actual- simple but clearly recognizable choppers, scrap- miles from their cache sites. Reasonably sharp, ly have been several closely related species. pers, burins, and hammerstones, all made in set intentionally designed Oldowan tools helped At aminimum, some experts insist on differ- patterns created by striking acore with asmaller them accomplish with greater efficiency such entiating Homo rudolfensis from Homo habilis,a stone to chip offafew sharp-edged flakes. already familiar tasks as cutting, chopping, scrap- distinction consistent with the impression that Known as the Oldowan industry,this basic ing, and digging, bringing about advantages species diversity characterized hominid evolution technique for producing crude but advantageous which allowed them to broaden their subsistence throughout its history.Others explain substantial devices eventually spread throughout much of strategies through increased dependence on meat. variations in terms of pronounced sexual dimor- Africa and Eurasia, continuing to be practiced in While the bulk of their diet still consisted of veg- phism. Although the branching offofhabilines isolated areas as recently as 200,000 years ago. In etable foods, habilines probably turned with must have involved the short run, growing frequency to opportunistic scavenging of mutations in the genetic As habilines moved into agathering and hunting context, the however,the predator kills and expert tracking of small game structure of existing aus- social organization of their small bands underwent commen- Oldowan tool animals. Although their hunting activities tralopithecines, we can- surate alterations. kit certainly remained limited and they may never have been not yet determine enhanced the able to prey upon large mammals, they were whether morphological alterations occurred in habilines’ chances of survival by allowing them obviously defining the basic contours of the gath- small increments or in dramatic spurts of 100,000 to exploit savanna environments more efficiently. ering and hunting adaptation in which our direct years or less. An abrupt species transition appar- With the climates of East and South Africa ancestors spent most of their history. ently did take place about 2.6 million years ago, becoming increasingly arid, they may have taken As habilines moved into agathering and and the brain size of habilines jumped apprecia- advantage of their stone tools to forage and hunt hunting context, the social organization of their bly around 600,000 years later.But beyond on amore regular basis in the expanding open small bands underwent commensurate alter- enlarged cranial capacity,which became roughly woodlands and savannas, especially in places ations. Hunting even on amodest scale surely half that of modern humans by 1.8 million years where greater meat consumption meant the dif- encouraged cooperation and food-sharing ago, Homo habilis remained remarkably ape-like. ference between life and death. between individuals well beyond what we find Habilines were small, lightly built creatures, three Habilines could not have been the first crea- among chimpanzees. Assuming that males or four feet in height, and sixty or seventy pounds tures to rely on tools. To alimited extent, aus- always did much of the hunting, habilines proba- in weight. Especially with their long arms, they tralopithecines surely used pieces of wood, bone bly established aclearer division of labor resembled australopithecines from the neck splinters, and unmodified stones as spears, dig- between the sexes, although males must have down. When considered in strictly biological ging sticks, clubs, and pounding devices; and continued to help females in their vital food-gath- terms, they did not represent amomentous evolu- their recourse to tools must have involved activi- ering chores, especially when hunting prospects tionary advance. ties abit more varied and central to their lives seemed unpromising, while the females partici- As with their physical features, so with their than anything primatologists have found in the pated in the butchering and transporting of scav- behavioral attributes, habilines continued many behavior of chimpanzees, the most sophisticated enged meat. The evolutionary enlargement of the earlier hominid patterns. Unprepared to handle tool users among the other primates. Besides brain that coincided with the extension of hunting cold weather,they may have reached the coast- pushing twigs into termite nests to extract the edi- activities may have retarded the physical matura- line of the Middle East in isolated bands, but most ble insects, chimpanzees sometimes brandish tion of newborn habilines, further intensifying of the time they must have remained south of the clubs and throw objects to protect themselves. group interaction by prolonging the parental care Sahara, confining themselves to small, incessant- Such accomplishments, requiring only amod- invested in youngsters. ly moving groups. They never established real icum of foresight and problem-solving ability, The demands placed on individuals by com- home bases, but probably relied on safe cache bring immediate rewards and involve minimal plicated social relationships may also have con- sites to which they returned time and again. Plant modification of objects whose natural shapes sug- tributed to the development of the brain, which gest their possible functions. accelerated with Homo habilis after several mil- 15 lion years of only modest change. Manual dexter- that could be learned readily by succeeding gen- standard World Civilizations survey.Since my ity,bipedalism, and tool use simultaneously erations. Compared to australopithecines, they primary field is the history of science, Idecided showed signs of improvement, all evolving were thus more dependent on information stored to call my course Science and Technology in together with enhanced mental capacity.Bythe in the cells of their brains rather than the mole- World History.Inthis article, Iwill share with time they were crafting Oldowan tools, habilines cules of their genes. Without intending to do so, you what Ihave learned in my four years of had brains roughly half the size of those pos- they had moved further away from purely instinc- teaching this course. Ihope that doing so will not sessed by modern humans. But size alone did not tual behavior and introduced the possibility of only encourage my fellow historians of science open up the cognitive gulf between habilines and cultural evolution into their lives. and technology to undertake asimilar course, but other primates. What made the human brain truly When superimposed on an evolutionary also provide other historians with some tools to distinctive was its division into two asymmetri- timescale, the development of early hominids incorporate more science and technology into callystructured hemispheres, each containing into habilines assumes the appearance of a their world history classes. identifiable areasdesigned to control particular breathtaking punctuation. In just 2million years Viewing science and technology through a mental and behavioral functions. Among other or so, our kind had become proficient bipeds, world-historical frame is no simple task, especial- consequences now vital to our existence, this lop- accomplished toolmakers, and adept socializers. ly when done at the introductory,undergraduate sided arrangement ultimately made about eighty They must have been emotionally responsive, level. For one thing, historians of science and percent of us right-handed, atendency that and already displayed an amazing propensity for technology have come quite late to the world-his- became evident for the first time in the tool mak- symbolism. In retrospect, we know that irregular torical perspective, and there are still precious ing abilities of Homo habilis.Stone artifacts asso- and unpredictable pathways lay between habi- few texts available that are accessible to lower- ciated with the Oldowan industry seem to have lines and anatomically modern humans. But level undergraduates. In fact, thinking about sci- been produced by right-handed creatures, alikely given how we view ourselves, we are understand- ence and technology in world-historical terms is symptom of significant modifications in the ably tempted to view the origins of the genus so new that there is no standard metanarrative for architecture of the cerebral cortex. Deliberately Homo,bringing with it the earliest manifestations the world history of science and technology as shaped stone tools were themselves indicative of of technology among other things, as acritical there is for other areas of history.Another chal- unprecedented conceptual ability,for even the milestone in the formation of intelligent life on lenge for this type of course is that the students most primitive craftsman had to envisage the planet Earth. And for world historians, the who most tend to gravitate to classes in the histo- desired object lying within an unchipped pebble accomplishments of Homo habilis dramatize the ry of science and technology –namely,science and devise manufacturing techniques appropriate relevance of what we once called prehistory for and engineering students –can be disproportion- for its production. an understanding not only of particular problems ately resistant to contemporary world historiogra- Like tool-making, articulate speech, often such as the beginnings of technological innova- phy.That is, the still pervasive belief that the regarded as humankind’ssupreme innovation, tion, but also of the long and complicated story of science and technology is aWhiggish was both an outgrowth of and stimulus for brain processes by which our kind became fully tale of progressive accomplishment, largely development. While paleoanthropologists have human. achieved in the West. This narrow view does not not been able to establish when our distant ances- sit well with the broader world-historical view tors began to speak, we can safely assume that the FURTHER READINGS: that the world’scultures deserve equal attention evolution of afull capacity for language was a and should not be evaluated according to slow process. Virtually every animal can commu- Ciochon, Russell L. and John G. Fleagle (eds.). The Eurocentric standards. However,Isee this nicate in some fashion, but vocal signals, facial Human Evolution Source Book.Englewood Cliffs, Whiggishness as part of the fun and challenge of New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1993. gestures, and body postures do not necessarily Gibson, Kathleen R. and TimIngold (eds.), Tools, teaching Science and Technology in World constitute atrue language, which involves an Language and Cognition in Human Evolution. History.Infact, at the end of my course, many of understanding of signs as asystem of symbols Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University my students report being astonished that they had imparting to particular things and events ahost of Press, 1994. once held onto this last, stubborn shard of ethno- meanings far beyond what can be acquired Klein, Richard G. The Human Career: Human centrism. through sensory awareness. Only human beings Biological and Cultural Origins.Chicago and The guiding assumption of my course is that have acapacity for symbolic communication that London: The University of Chicago Press, 1989. there are many ways of structuring our knowl- truly carries them into the realm of abstract ideas Lewin, Roger, Human Evolution.Fourth Edition; edge of nature, just as there are many ways to Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Science, Inc., 1999, and universal concepts. Habilines surely did not Renfrew,Colin. The Explanation of CultureChange: design tools to manipulate our environment. acquire aspoken language like those we know Models in Prehistory.Pittsburgh: University of What we now call science and technology does today.Yet they may have possessed afeature of Pittsburgh Press,1973. not exhaust the possibilities for understanding the cerebral cortex known as Broca’sarea, a and manipulating the natural world, but they have region connected with speech in modern humans. been particularly successful strategies for doing Despite their immature larynx, which would have so. My course seeks to explain how the set of limited the range of sounds they uttered, habilines practices that we call science and technology may have articulated acombination of vowels developed, why that set of practices has come to and consonants adequate for the exchange of be privileged over others, and how the broader some genuinely complicated ideas. Teaching Science and Technology story of world history can help us to answer those Once habilines, showing signs of heightened questions. We constantly ask how the natural and self-awareness, possessed the crude beginnings in World History: social environment of aparticular culture shaped of language and afew fabricated material objects Notes from the Field the way that its people understood and manipulat- in the form of Oldowan tools, they must have ed nature. What needs and desires did these peo- been better prepared for survival through adapta- Elizabeth Green Musselman ple have, and how did they answer those needs tions to the environment based on cultural as well Southwestern University and desires through the study of the natural world as biological factors. They presumably had suffi- and the construction of technologies? In short, I cient mental capacity to support amodest but Nearly adecade ago, my department started envision the course not only as an introduction to expanding constellation of shared ideas, values, offering thematically focused world history the history of science and technology,but also as beliefs, and behavioral norms that imparted courses in place of most of our sections of the atopic-specific lens into the broader scheme of greater predictability to group interactions, and world history. 16 We begin with prehistory,and discuss what strongly associated with modern Western culture, we train our historical gaze on which technolo- archeologists have revealed about the natural Idothink it is still useful to keep atight focus on gies get used rather than on the moment of their knowledge and technologies of humans before Europe and the U.S. Done properly,this focus invention, two important things happen. First, we the advent of writing. The work of archeoas- does not have to mean ethnocentrism. In my realize that the technologies that seem very tronomers like Anthony Aveni is especially useful course, we consider,for example, how the further important in the moment of their invention in this part of the course, for in that case, there are expansion of world trade and exploration helped (because they are large, expensive, different) do quite tangible, relatively clear signs that prehis- to cross-pollinate natural knowledge and techno- not always matter as much as old technologies toric cultures had asophisticated, intensive inter- logical traditions globally.Weexamine how (precisely because they are not large and expen- est in celestial patterns.1 Europeans began to use scientific and technolog- sive). Second, we realize that afocus on use leads We move on ical sophistication us to amore truly global history of technology. fairly quickly to the ...webegin to see how “modern science and technology” as prime markers of Almost to aperson, my students loved reading first settled societies, find their roots not only in European culture, but in Islamic, savagery and civi- and discussing this book. where we focus on a Chinese, Indian, and many other sources. lization.4 The assignments for the course are in many comparison between We explore in respects typical of an undergraduate world histo- classical Greece and Han China, supported by G. particular depth how empire shaped the world ry course. Students must complete atake-home E. R. Lloyd’sdifficult but fascinating book, The history of science and technology: to what extent midterm and final exam. They also write short, Ambitions of Curiosity: Understanding the World European science and technology was introduced periodic papers in which they respond to aspecif- in Ancient Greece and China.2 Lloyd explains elsewhere, how much it changed in particular ic question that Ihave posed for them to think how the very different political and social con- colonial environments, what modern science about as they read that day’sassignment. My texts in these two cultures led to equally diver- absorbed from nonwestern natural knowledge tra- class is relatively small (no more than 25 stu- gent metaphysical commitments and institutional ditions (and thus to what extent modern science is dents), so Ialso consider class participation an frameworks for scholars. In my lectures, Ialso really western), and how non-scientific traditions important component of the learning process and make sure to continue to inject information about have been preserved in the colonial and postcolo- their final grade. Ihave found that, given the contemporaneous cultures that were not settled or nial world. One of the more interesting discus- complexity of some of the readings and the large literate, so that we can continue to interrogate sions we have in this class is about the following, scale of the course’schronology,Ihave to lecture whether asociety must have asettled, agricultur- sticky dilemma faced by many postcolonial soci- for at least 20 minutes of each 75-minute class al lifestyle and written language in order to form eties: should those societies cultivate modern sci- meeting. However,Ialso select readings that pro- acomplex natural knowledge system. ence and technology as much as possible at the voke discussion, and, in multiple ways, Iencour- In the following unit on postclassical soci- risk of perpetuating western cultural imperialism, age students to see history as aconstructive eties, we continue to explore the standard world or should they cultivate “traditional” forms of process they can contribute to, rather than apas- history themes by asking what effect the intro- natural knowledge and technology at the risk of sive body of information that they need to mem- duction of world religions and more intensive falling behind economically? This was adebate orize. global trade had on natural knowledge and tech- that famously divided Mahatma Gandhi and As noted earlier,choosing readings for the nology.Here again, there is much more ample Jawaharlal Nehru, but there are many other course has proved adifficult challenge. In addi- material for literate cultures, particularly those of examples. The discussion of empire and science tion to the fact that the world-historical perspec- China, the Islamic world, and Europe. In fact, the also highlights how much colonial attitudes con- tive has only recently made much headway into 300-pound gorilla in the room during this period tinue to shape our understanding of the world his- the history-of-science, it is also the case that in the history of science is why Europe started out tory of science and technology.Students find it much history of science scholarship is written for the postclassical period as ascholarly and techno- painful but also provocative to consider how scholars rather than awider audience.7 This logical backwater,but finished the period with much their own initial assumptions about the resultsinfairly slim pickings for the instructor of the Scientific Revolution, typically seen as one of western and progressive nature of science drew acourse in science and technology in world his- the cornerstones of European dominance in world from deep, ethnocentric roots. tory,but Iwas still able to compile aviable read- history.Mycourse examines this question care- That said, Idonot mean for the class to be ing list, and the choices increase each year. fully.Welearn, for one thing, that the question yet another fruitless exercise in liberal guilt. Generally,Iopt for texts that are more difficult to contains some faulty assumptions, such as the Rather,Iencourage students in the future to read but that provide richer opportunities for dis- notion that every culture should have had the examine non-scientific natural knowledge tradi- cussion and are more up-to-date historiographi- Scientific Revolution, and, therefore, any culture tions in order to find novel ideas that could be cally speaking. For that reason, Ihave found that that did not must be examined for defects.3 explored for scientific benefits. Ialso show them two of the more obvious options for this course Throwing offthis assumption allows us to see in repeatedly that the sciences and technology can are actually not optimal; Iamspeaking of James awhole new light the effect of Christianity,Islam, be used as both tools of liberation and oppression, McClellan and Harold Dorn’s Science and Confucianism, and Taoism on the sciences. sometimes even simultaneously.For example, we Technology in World History and Toby Huff’s Instead of being barriers to modern science, these discuss Richard Grove’sfascinating thesis that Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China, and metaphysical frames are constitutive of natural the roots of modern environmentalism lie in the the West.8 To their credit, McClellan and Dorn do knowledge in its various iterations. In addition, scientific work done on island colonies in the offer an accessible and wide-ranging overview of we begin to see how “modern science and tech- eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.5 We also the world history of science and technology –the nology” find their roots not only in European cul- look at the modern field of ethnoscience as both first of its kind –and for this alone the authors ture, but in Islamic, Chinese, Indian, and many an attempt to revive prematurely dismissed, non- deserve appreciation. However,Ihave several other sources. western natural knowledge traditions, as well as a problems with this book. First, the material is The final two units of the course consider pretext for bioprospecting, which has sometimes divided by areas of the world –e.g., achapter on the early modern and modern periods, and focus been quite exploitative. China, then one on the Middle East, and so on. particularly on Europe and the United States’ Finally,weend the course by reading David This area-studies approach does not achieve the relationship with the rest of world. There is some Edgerton’sprovocative book, The Shock of the kind of integrative, world-historical approach that danger in this strategy of descending into an out- Old: Technology and Global History since 1900.6 concords with current historiography.Second, dated “West and the Rest” mentality.However,in Edgerton argues that the history of technology once the book reaches the early-modern period, it the case of science and technology,which are so should center more on use than on invention.If focuses almost entirely on Europe and the United

17 States. Finally,the text itself has an arid, textbook research/explore.html). quality that provides little opportunity for in-class * Andrew Fraknoi’sbibliography of works and discussion. Iprefer texts that introduce students web sites on the world history of astronomy to how we historians interpret and debate about (www.astrosociety.org/education/resources/mul- history. tiprint.html). Huff’sbook examines the question of why For writing lectures, Ihave also found indis- Europe had the enviable Scientific Revolution, pensable Helaine Selin’smultiple encyclopedias when in previous centuries it would seem that on science in world history.They are costly,but China and the Islamic world were more scientifi- definitely belong in the library of any institution cally and technologically sophisticated. Huff that offers this course.10 does afine job of introducing the uninitiated to Readers can view acomplete syllabus for the worlds of postclassical Europe, China, my course at the following web site: Arabia, and Persia. He also has awell-argued and https://segue.southwestern.edu/sites/greenmue. novel thesis about the legal underpinnings of the (Click on the “Science and Technology in World European Scientific Revolution. However,the History syllabus” link on the left sidebar.) Ialso book is seriously marred by its assumption that host amonthly podcast on the world history of scientific revolution is aseries of events that science, technology,and medicine, called The every world culture could and should have under- Missing Link, which can be found at http://miss- taken at some point in its history.Huffviews as inglinkpodcast.com. The podcast is aimed at a defects any cultural particularities in China and broad audience, and could be used in an under- the Islamic world that might have “hindered” graduate classroom. modern science. He construes the sciences’ uni- versality as inherent rather than historically con- ENDNOTES structed. That said, Istill use selected chapters 1 For example, see Anthony Aveni, Stairways to the Stars: WHA Reception in the Octogon during the from Huffinmyclass as afoil for the more fully Skywatching in Three Great Ancient Cultures (New York: John WHA London Conference. Photo Courtesy Wiley and Sons, 1999). researched and tightly argued points made by his- 2 G. E. R. Lloyd, The Ambitions of Curiosity: Understanding of Christine Holloway. torians like Nathan Sivin and George Saliba.9 the World in Ancient Greece and China (Cambridge: Cambridge Ihave found anumber of online resources University Press, 2002). 3 The classic demolition of this defective model appears in that provide valuable source materials for this Nathan Sivin, “Why the Scientific Revolution Did Not Take course. They include: Place in China –OrDidn’tIt?” in Science in Ancient China Science in Islam online exhibit (Aldershot, Hants: Variorum, 1995). * 4 The classic statement of the argument appears in Michael (www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/scienceislam/) at the Adas, Machines as the MeasureofMen: Science, Technology, Museum of the History of Science, Oxford and Ideologies of Western Dominance (Ithaca, NY:Cornell University Press, 1990). University.Also see their two online exhibits 5 Acompact statement of this argument appears in Richard about astrolabes in Africa www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/ H. Grove, “The Origins of Western Environmentalism,” africa/), India, the Middle East, and Europe Scientific American 267 (1992), 42-48. Also see his Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and (www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/astrolabe/). the Origins of Environmentalism, 1600-1860 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996). * Library of Congress online exhibits on 6 David Edgerton, The Shock of the Old: Technology and exploring the Americas (myloc.gov/exhibitions/ Global History since 1900 (New York: Oxford University Press, earlyamericas/Pages/default.aspx) and world 2006). 7 treasures (www.loc.gov/exhibits/world/) [the lat- Arousing call for more accessible work in the history of science appears in Steven Shapin, “Hyperprofessionalism and ter including dozens of images and captions the Crisis of Readership in the History of Science,” Isis 96 explaining how world cultures have ordered and (2005), 238-243. 8 JamesE.McClellan and Harold Dorn, Science and explained their universe]. Technology in World History: An Introduction,2nd ed. * Starry Messenger online exhibit (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006); Toby E. (www.hps.cam.ac.uk/starry/) on early world his- Huff, The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China, and the West,2nd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003). tory of astronomy and astrology at the Whipple 9 Sivin, “Why the Scientific Revolution Did Not Take Place Museum of the History of Science, Cambridge in China”; George Saliba, Islamic Science and the Making of University. the European Renaissance (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007). 10 Helaine Selin, ed., Encyclopaedia of the History of John VanSant and Emperor Trajan, during a * Center for History and New Media (George Science, Technology,and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, nd visit to the Roman London Wall while Mason University): wonderful, online guides to 2 ed. (New York: Springer,2008); idem., NatureAcross Cultures: Views of Natureand the Environment in Non-Western attending the WHA London Conference. analyzing primary sources, including acompari- Cultures (New York: Springer,2003); idem., Medicine Across Photo Courtesy of John VanSant. son of aSpanish map to an Aztec paintin Cultures: History and Practice of Medicine in Non-Western (chnm.gmu.edu/worldhistorysources/analyz- Cultures;idem., Astronomy Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy (New York: Springer,2001); idem., ing/mcimages/analyzingimgintro.html) and John Mathematics Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Ledyard’saccount of “natives” on the North Mathematics (New York: Springer,2000). American coast during Cook’sthird voyage (chnm.gmu.edu/worldhistorysources/analyzing/n arratives/analyzingnarrativesintro.html). * Victoria and Albert Museum collections online (www.vam.ac.uk/collections/index.html), Renew Your WHA which include hundreds of images of the world’s technologies. Membership WHAPanel Session at the 2008 London * Sujit Sivasundaram’sbibliography of works Conference. PhotoCourtesy of Linda Miller. on science and empire (www.hps.cam.ac.uk/ 18 itatively and technologically.First it looks at the only the wealthy could afford them. But soon growth in demand in the nineteenth and the first after 1850, small wooden ice boxes started to From Global to Local: half of the twentieth century.Itthen focuses on become popular,first in England and then in the Technological Development the gradual spread of artificial-ice production and rest of Europe. They fast became an essential ele- and Evolution of the Ice Market its effects on the whole industry. ment in middle-class kitchens all over the Continent.9 This innovation too came from the The Nineteenth Century Ice-Consumption U.S., where ice boxes had starter to spread before Alberto Grandi Boom and Birth of the World Market - Ice and 1850.10 At the end of the nineteenth century,in snow were two complementary products, but the Università degli Studi di Parma the U.S. and just before World WarOne in the constantly growing upward trend in demand U.K., domestic household demand accounted for made an increase in supply necessary as far back about half the ice market.11 as the first half of the nineteenth century.Areas This paper describes changes in the market for The overall fall in the prices of ice and snow that were already specializing intensified their refrigeration products following the invention completed the cycle of the spread of home ice production, and improvements in transport gave and spread of methods of artificial ice produc- rise to further and sometimes tion. The ice market was already global by the surprising growth. Ice from mid-19th Century,along time beforetechnology the Lessini Hills, in the for artificial production was widely used. province of Verona, travelled as far as the coasts of Dalmatia, travelling by river Demand for ice rose constantly from the and lake across to Venice. It beginning of the nineteenth Century,and particu- also travelled to Milan, on a larly sharply at mid-century.InWestern Europe, three-day,ormore precisely,a particularly England and France, local production 1 soon failed to keep pace with demand, and three-night journey. Ice from American and Scandinavian producers filled the the Upper Reno Valley cov- gap with regular commercial voyages. Ice was ered avast area which was harvested in winter in New England or Norway practically the whole of and there were almost daily deliveries to the main Central Italy from Rome to 2 ports in England and France. Bologna. Ice from Asiago in The consolidation of trans-Atlantic trade did Veneto went to the port of not however close traditional local and regional Trieste where it was shipped channels. In the second half of the nineteenth as far away as Alexandria in Century,the European “cold market” was struc- Egypt.3 There was asimilar Mr.Charles’ Ice-Stores, Lindsey House, Chelsea: Carting the Ice. Illus. tured in three concentric circles. There was an picture in France, where ice in The Illustrated London News,19January 1861. Source: U.S. Library of inner circle, aclose-range market for snow and a from the Alps went to Paris,4 Congress Reproduction Number LC-USZ62-44061 second circle consisting of aregional or national and in Spain, where ice from market. The outer circle was the world market Murcia was almost wholly sent to Madrid.5 boxes. Until the turn of the century,constant dominated by the U.S. and Norway.Ofcourse, As far back as the early nineteenth century, growth in demand was amply satisfied by the the three circles tended to overlap so that prices in countries like France and England, local pro- increase and rationalisation of supply,aswell as fell into line, although snow became more acces- duction no longer sufficed and ice was sent from by improved insulation techniques and transport. sible and cheaper than ice. Scandinavia on special ships using the most up- Thus, although cold storage was one of the costli- The market structure changed in the last to-date insulation systems available.6 But it was est ways of preserving food at the turn of the cen- decade of the nineteenth Century,when artificial- the U.S. which became the world’sice-trade tury,in1900, atonne (metric ton) of ice from ice production also started in Europe. But the leader.Ice from the Massachusetts lakes was Norway cost only about ten shillings (half a “war” between natural and artificial ice was reaching Martinique by 1806. In 1820, Havana Pound Sterling) in the Port of London.12 On top lengthy,and, in some cases, persisted even after was already adistribution centre for ice from of this, ice was the only truly domestic way of the First World War. The end result was anew re- North America, which was stored in extremely preserving food in that it was very versatile and localisation of markets. innovative ice storehouses and sold all over could be used from day to day.The cold allowed Ice factories could not rely on storage or Central and Latin America.7 the storage of different foods and drinks even for long-distance freight of their product. They main- Between the 1830s and 1840s, atrue craze afew days. Other techniques such as smoking, ly sold ice door-to-door and their range of opera- for ice took hold in Europe, especially England drying, or using brine and oil were suitable for tions was very close to home. Intermediate natu- and France. What had happened in the two previ- only one product at atime and for medium or ral-ice producers operating on aregional level ous decades in the U.S. now happened on the long-term preservation. were the first to feel the effects of competition other side of the Atlantic. At the same time As aresult during the course of the nine- from factories. Next were big international mer- American producers were able to exploit the tech- teenth century,ice lost its status as aluxury prod- chants and, lastly,the small local sellers of ice nological progress they had made in ice-cutting uct and became available to wide sectors of soci- and snow went to the wall. They resisted the new and storage. They invaded the thirsty European ety.This was true of England and, to aslightly competition for along time because of low run- market with their product which was one third lesser extent, of France. In countries like Italy and ning costs in less industrialized areas. cheaper than ice from Scandinavia even allowing Spain, where income growth and technological Technological development thus transformed the for transport costs.8 development was not as high as in England or sector from one of closely integrated markets There was another factor in the growth of even France, ice consumption rose and prices fell covering the world into one of numerous small domestic demand for ice. Until the end of the less markedly.Some of the same tendencies were non-integrated local markets. eighteenth century,brick icehouses were the pre- however seen; the ice market was, as we saw, This paper analyzes the transformation serve of the few; only large residences both in the closely integrated in the last half of the nineteenth chronologically and quantitatively,and also qual- town and in the country had enough space and century. 19 ice market was undisputed, The Spread of Artificial Methods - At first, ice Tudor’s compa- factories did not spread rapidly,and they only ny alone sold really took offinthe U.S. after 1890, and ten 146,000 tonnes years later in Europe, particularly Britain. The of ice per year in first artificial ice factory in the U.S. was opened Europe, Latin in California at the beginning of the 1860s.20 America, the French, German, English, and American inven- Caribbean, and tors all claim to have invented the machinery,but the British in reality there were several models working in colonies in Asia. similar ways, rather than exactly the same way, Asimilar quanti- patented in different countries almost at the same ty was used in time. This is yet another indication of how impor- local consump- tant ice was, and the effort that was made to tion, for beer increase and stabilize output. One of the main brewing, fish problems was in fact the fluctuation in output, processing, and caused by the climate, which affected the price. industrial American producers developed asystem of Figure1.Quantity of Ice imported into England from Norway and Wholesale slaughterhouses increasing the amount of ice produced naturally, Prices, 1830-1920. Source: R. David, “The Demise of the Anglo-Norwegian Ice Trade.” in nearby but supply was still insufficient when the climate Boston.17 was too warm or when demand was particularly Figure 1shows that there was acollapse in So awider circuit came into being high. In 1851, for example, there was an epidem- ice imports from Norway at the turn of the centu- around the two existing ones in the market. The ic of Yellow Fever in the United States and the ry at the same time as ice factories started to local snow and ice market was now inside the price of atonne of ice rose from the usual $20 - spread. Figure 2shows the export trend of natural wider regional or national circles and the new $30 to $75.21 ice from the U.S. In America volume started to outer circuit covered the world and was dominat- At first, the number of factories rose slowly fall somewhat earlier,towards the end of the ed by the Americans. The constantly rising on both sides of the Atlantic. Nearly twenty years 1870s. demand and the widening supply meant that the after the first factory,there were only 35 in the The boom in consumption of U.S. ice in constrictions and limits of the ice trade were whole U.S. in 1879.22 No figures are available for England and Europe occurred just after the mid- slowly removed. In Italy and France, the various Europe, which may mean they were nonexistent, nineteenth century.This was precisely the time licences and duties had already mostly disap- but the long “war” between natural and artificial when fierce competition started among American peared by the mid nineteenth century.18 This lib- ice had already started in both Europe and producers, based primarily on the quality and eralization, alongwith amazing technological America. especially the transparency of the ice. After the progress taking place in America and The two methods of production coexisted first voyages by Frederic Tudor,who became Scandinavia, rapidly brought down prices. In for along time. Natural-ice producers introduced 13 known as the “the Ice King” in the U.S., an incredible series of small innovations to other companiesfrom the Boston area bring down production costs, and success- attemptedtoaccess the rich English mar- fully met the challenge of the new industry ket. In the 1840s, Gage, Hittinger &C. for some time. Circular steam-powered started regular commercial sailings saws were used for cutting ice blocks, and between New England and London, but there was asystem of “sawdust cutting” the most highly prized ice among the which prevented blocks from sticking London élite quickly became that of the together and thus reduced losses. In Wenham Lake Ice Company,from Beverly America, conveyors were installed to carry in Massachusetts, which was particularly blocks from where they were extracted, to 14 transparent. Although there is no system- warehouses and railway wagons.23 These atic data to confirm this, it is likely that were just some of the innovations, but it there were different qualities of ice for dif- was the increasing upward trend in ferent purposes, sold at widely varying demand, especially in the U.S., which for prices.15 many years disguised the obsolescence of The fashion and demand for ice of natural-ice production. Its fate however course spread to the colonies of the vast Figure2.Export of Natural Ice from the United States, 1850- was sealed. British Empire, and incredibly enough this 1910 (in tonnes). Source: J. Utterback, Mastering the Dynamics of In 1872, David Boyle patented the Innovation, p. 187. too was met by American producers. In ammonia compressor,which was extreme- 1833, Frederic Tudor’s ship, the Tuscany, ly efficient in thermodynamics and could left the port of Charlestown (Massachusetts) for 1817, atonne cost $166 on the London market, also be used in very small inexpensive compres- Calcutta with 200 tonnes of ice on board. The and by 1834 it cost only $25.19 The fall in prices sors. It upset, once and for all, the equilibrium voyage, almost entirely in tropical waters, took naturally led to abig rise in consumption. between the two methods. In the 1880s and 180 days, and, by the time it reached Calcutta, These trends lasted until the early 1890s, 1890s, ice factories multiplied first in America there were still 100 tonnes of ice left to sell.16 when the natural-ice trade reached its maximum and, shortly afterwards, in Europe. In 1889, there This voyage made aloss, but, from that time on, levels. In the meantime, the first artificial-ice fac- were 222 ice factories in the U.S. and, in 1899, there were regular commercial sailings between tories, which were to turn the sector upside down there were 1000. On the eve of the First World the U.S. and India, and American ice travelled as almost immediately,were opening in the U.S. War, they numbered more than 3000.24 far as Madras, Bombay,and Hong Kong. In the Traditional activities, however,took longer to This trend took place at least ten years later 1850s, American leadership in the international disappear. in Europe.25 Countries like France and Italy saw 20 aboom between 1905 and 1920 which peaked conomic role almost everywhere in the developed geografia nelle scuole,IV(1959): 92-95. during the Warwhen food preservation became a world. The few surviving producers of natural ice 7Joseph C. Jones, America’sIce Men: An Illustrative pressing need.26 In 1920, there were 1100 ice fac- were plunged into crisis too. In brief, ice stopped History of the United States Natural Ice Industry,1665-1925 tories in Italy,which is ahigh number,especially being acommercial product after about one hun- (Humble, Jobeco, 1984), 20-21. compared to the five thousand or so operating in dred and fifty years of great importance in the 8James M. Utterback, Mastering the Dynamics of the U.S. the same year.Italian factories, of world economy,particularly in countries like the Innovation (Harvard, Harvard Business Press, 1996), 178-179. course, tended to be significantly smaller than U.S. and Norway. 9Robert David, “The Demise of the Anglo-Norwegian Ice their American counterparts. Trade”, Business History,v.37, n.3 (1995), 53. In the meantime, the fall in prices as well as Conclusions - The history of ice reflects avery 10 Henry Hall, The Ice Industry in the United States further innovations led to abig change in the specific relationship between technology and (Northampton, Mass. Early American Industries Association, structure of demand, as households accounted for market integration, which could be described as 1974), 3. an increasingly important share. As we have “from local to global and back again.” It was 11 Utterback, Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation,181- seem, growth in household demand and the progress in transportation, insulation and the 182. spread of ice boxes were decisive factors. spread of ice boxes that made the ice market 12 Ibid. global. This happened, of course, as incomes in 13 Gavin Weightman, The Frozen Water Trade (London, The Gradual Re-Localization of the Ice Trade - countries like the U.S., England, and France were Harper 2002), 149-168. When artificial ice came onto the market, the rising and empowering demand. Technological 14 John C. Phillips (ed.), Wenham Great Pound (Salem, price of ice had already been falling steeply and it progress in the first half of the nineteenth century Peabody Museum 1938), 36 continued to fall for fifteen or twenty years. From gave rise to the world ice market and also estab- 15 Utterback, Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation,180. this point of view,artificial-ice simply confirmed lished the international hierarchy within it. 16 Ibid., 176. an existing trend, but in time its main conse- But the radical innovation of ice-making 17 Hall, The Ice Industry in the United States,3. quence was to exclude natural-ice producers from machinery not only turned the world market 18 In fact the privative system lasted in Southern and Central the market. It is clear that natural ice, as amature upside down; the market was completely wiped Italy until the end of the century and ended only when the first product with costs that could be lowered only out, or rather converted back into an exclusively ice factories appeared. See Cinotti (ed.), L’acqua, il freddo, il very slightly,ifatall, would not have made for a local one, where there was no need for world- tempo,26-28. more “democratic” product. level companies. This re-localization caused in 19 Utterback, Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation,180. However,the spread of the artificial product the short term an increase in ice prices, which 20 Oscar E. Anderson, Refrigeration in America: AHistory also had some negative effects. Figure 1shows interrupted amore than acentury-long trend of of aNew Technology and Its Impact (Princeton, University that after the initial downward phase, the price price falls. As we saw,this price increase was not Press, 1953), 43. started to rise again in about 1910, and thus directly linked to technological factors; progress 21 Ibid., 45. before the Great War. This happened because the in artificial-ice production had in fact made run- 22 Ibid., 86-87. 23 Utterback, Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation,185- spread of ice factories actually “de-globalized” ning costs practically negligible. The price trend 186. the market. The factories were not equipped for was linked rather to low levels of competition and 24 Richard O. Cummings, The American Ice Harvests: A the long-distance freight of ice and tended to the increasing and inevitable tendency towards Historical Study in Technology,1800-1918 (Berkeley, form local cartels. Thus, by their very nature, local monopolies. University of California Press 1949). each factory had an extremely localized client The latter development, the invention of 25 This time lapse gave natural ice producers in America ten base.27 electrical refrigeration, meant that households more years of life thanks to exports, as the national market was In fact, once domestic ice boxes became could supply themselves with cold storage inde- dominatedbyartificial ice. See Utterback, Mastering the common in Europe and household demand was pendently,thus making ice factories obsolete. Dynamics of Innovation,p.187. very high and not compressible manufacturers From the 1950s onwards, the presence of ice factories in aregion or country could be considered 26 Ministero dell’interno, Notizie statistiche sulle fabbriche almost everywhere were quick to make agree- di ghiaccio, sui frigoriferi per la conservazione di derrate ali- afairly accurate indicator of its economic devel- ments to keep competition under control and mentari and sui frigoriferi annessi ad industrie alimentari varie opment and income levels. prices as high as possible. This was possible, of esistenti in Italia al 31 marzo 1920 (Roma, Ministero The history of the ice market shows, I course, because the trade was very localized; it dell’Interno, 1921), 4. believe, that there are no automatic or one-direc- would have been practically impossible for 27 David, “The Demise of the Anglo-Norwegian Ice Trade,” tional links between technological development American and Scandinavian producers, together 53. and market integration. Big innovations can have with the myriad national and local producers, to 28 Hall, The Ice Industry in the United States,Washington, far-reaching effects on amarket sector,and not form cartels on the world market. Now,onthe D.C., 1888, 3. necessarily favourable to consumers. other hand, the small number of manufacturers in 29 Utterback, Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation,181- Paradoxically,though only to acertain extent, the same towns or provinces found it easy to do 182. regions that are less technologically developed so. 30 Ministero dell’interno, Notizie statistiche sulle fabbriche and less integrated internationally may prove to This tendency led to arather paradoxical sit- di ghiaccio 11-12. be less affected by these changes. uation at the end of World WarIinless industri- 31 Ibid., 54. alized areas like the south of Italy,Spain, and parts of the South of France. In areas where there 1Bruno Avesani and Fernando Zanini, Quando il freddo era were no ice factories and snow and natural ice una risorsa (Cerro Veronese, Amministrazione Comunale. were used, prices were much lower than else- 1990), 22-24. where.28 However,this method of production 2Nicoletta Cinotti (ed.), L’acqua, il freddo, il tempo. La pro- Back issues of the was no longer intensive and existed only in cer- duzione del ghiaccio naturale nei sec. XVIII-XX nell’Alta Valle World History Bulletin tain areas, and the product was thus consumed del Reno (Firenze, Alinea 1987), 32-37. only locally. 3Ibid. can be found on the Only domestic refrigerators would be able to 4Ada Acovitsioti-Hameau, L’artisanat de la glace en destroy the local cartels. Further development of Mediterranée Occidentale (Mazaugues, Ivar,2001), 54-55. WHA website, technology after World WarIIwas able to wipe 5Hugo Capel Saez, “El comercio de la nieve ylos pozos de thewha.org out astrong industry with afundamental socioe- la Sierra Espuna,” Estudios geograficos,110, (1968): 170-174. 6Enrico Migliorini, “Il commercio di neve eghiaccio”, La 21 Engineering in the Modern World original thinking that went into conceiving them. load more safely but will cost more. This balance We consider radical the innovations of mal- is asocial determination. By seeing how engi- David P. Billington, Jr. leable iron, steel, metal arch and suspension cable neering problems embed social questions as well bridges, the steam engine, the steamboat, the rail- as physical ones, students learn that engineering road, and the telegraph and telephone. We add to is not just amatter of conforming to physical these electric power,the refining of gasoline, the necessity,but also of making choices. Technology is akey driver of the modern world. automobile, and the airplane. Finally,weinclude Lastly,engineering works can have larger It is also one of the least understood aspects of nuclear energy,the jet engine, the U.S. space pro- consequences besides safety and economy,such this world. My father and acolleague, Michael gram, modern highways and skyscrapers, and the as aesthetic impact, how they change the way Littman, teach aone-semester course at the engi- principal innovations in electron- people live, and their neering school at Princeton University, ics: the vacuum tube (for radio effect on the natural “Engineering in the Modern World,” in which I The coreofmodern technology is engineering. and television), the transistor,the environment. The third and others have worked as preceptors, microchip, the computer,and the Internet. We do perspective examines these larger consequences. researchers, or teaching assistants.1 The course not cover agriculture and public health but a Judgments with regard to them reflect the indi- enrolls about 200 liberal arts and engineering handful of breakthroughs in each field were also vidual vision of the designer as well as the needs students each fall and provides an overview of transformative.3 and wants of society.Radical innovations can technical breakthroughs from the eighteenth cen- The distinction between normal and radical also have effects that are not foreseen at the time tury to the present. The ideas and content of the innovation is not absolute. Both demand original and these also need to be examined. course provide engineering literacy in an acces- thinking. Radical prototypes also need improve- The above framework gives students a sible form that secondary students as well as ment by normal engineering before they are ready vocabulary and an approach for understanding undergraduates could find useful and engaging. for large-scale use, and the cumulative impact of the modern technical world. The ideas are derived Some of this material could be included in a normal improvements can be as dramatic as the from actual engineering and permit an accessible world history survey. original breakthroughs. But transformations and coherent description of technical events. The begin with radical insights that need to be recog- equations we use are at the level of first-year Modern Engineering -- To give students aframe- nized as such. algebra, but historians could use our framework work for understanding modern technology, “Engineering in the Modern World” groups without the equations and formulas. “Engineering in the Modern World” distinguishes innovation under four types: structure, machine, between (1) science and engineering, (2) normal network, and process. A structure is an object that Engineering and Modern History -- Students at and radical innovation, (3) structure, machine, works by standing still, while a machine is an both the secondary and tertiary levels learn the network, and process as the major kinds of engi- object that works by moving or having parts that history of modern technology in terms of certain neering works, and (4) physical principles, social move. A network transmits something from one events and consequences. In most surveys, the context, and individual vision as perspectives on point to another with aminimum of loss. A industrial revolution that began in Britain and innovation. process transmutes something at its beginning Europe in the eighteenth century was an econom- The core of modern technology is engineer- into something else at its end. Arch and cable ic and social transformation in which akey devel- ing. There is no general theory,method, or bridges are structures, while cars and planes are opment was atextile factory system based on a approach that is true of all engineering, but there machines. The telephone and the electric power handful of devices made mostly out of wood. is abasic difference between engineering and nat- grid are networks, and steel and oil-refining are The steam engine, iron and coal, crop rotation, ural science that is astarting point for understand- processes. and canal-building also occurred, along with a ing each. Science is the discovery of things that We limit our scope to large-scale structures, new spirit of mechanical thinking and improve- occur in nature. Engineering is the design of machines that are prime movers, networks that ment. Afew decades later,the railroad and the things that do not exist in nature by themselves.2 cross long distances, and processes that are large telegraph appeared and connected societies and An engineer cannot design without knowing the in scale. Afew innovations, such as the transistor the world together. laws of nature and the natural properties of and the microchip, are very small in actual size, Asecond industrial revolution came in the things, but science does not tell us how to design but we include them because their impact was late-nineteenth century,with what is sometimes arailroad, acar,anairplane, or acomputer. comparable to that of much larger things. The called “science-based” industry.The paradigm of Asecond distinction within engineering is four types of engineering works correspond to the this change was the chemical industry,and elec- between two kinds of innovation, normal and rad- four original branches of modern engineering: tric power distribution, electrical products, steel ical. Normal innovation occurs in technologies civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical. and oil, automobiles, and airplanes are thought to that have been established for some time. Its aim Engineering today consists of many more special- have resulted from agreater reliance on science. is to make incremental improvements to existing ties than these, but engineering works still consist The new technologies organized human activity things, or to make new things that use an already primarily of one of these four types, or of some on amuch larger scale and moved increasing established idea. Amore powerful auto engine combination of them. numbers of people into cities. Further into the and afaster microprocessor are incremental inno- Finally,weexamine each radical innovation twentieth century,government became asource vations. The first MP3 players were anew use of from three perspectives. In order to explain how of technical change, through nuclear energy and an existing innovation, the microchip. Normal each works, we give asimple equation and/or dia- space travel, and finally the world changed again innovation is rapid, ongoing, and often confused gram to represent the physical relationships with the information revolution. with all of innovation. involved. On asingle-arch bridge, for example, Historical content goes into more depth in Avery different activity is radical innova- the weight or load carried by the arch is resisted describing these events, but the ones above tend tion. Occurring rarely,itusually begins with the by ahorizontal force at each of the two side sup- to be the main points. Much of the picture they reflection and insight of one or two individuals. It ports. An equation for this force relates the load, convey is true, but much of it also contains mis- often deeply challenges conventional expert peer- the length of the roadway deck over the arch, and conceptions that reflect alack of engineering group thinking, and the innovations that result the vertical rise of the arch.4 knowledge. Historians may not be able to teach bring into existence, or make practical, funda- The design of abridge also depends, howev- all of the needed engineering, but before propos- mentally new technologies and new industries er,onhow much society wants to balance safety ing work-arounds at the secondary and tertiary that transform civilization. Our course focuses on against cost. Astronger arch may carry agiven levels, teachers of history need to see under the asmall number of radical innovations and on the two sub-headings below (and in the related end 22 notes) the engineering that is missing and why it phone, electric power,and electronics were more the growth of automobiles using internal combus- matters. complex technologies, but the idea basic to all of tion engines if William Burton had not found in them was some form of an electric circuit. 1912 aradical way to increase the gasoline yield The Industrial Revolution.Textiles and their from crude oil that conserved the supply of petro- manufacturing were important in the early-indus- Technology since the 1870s.The break- leum.10 trial era, as were improvements in agriculture. throughs that have shaped modern life since the The modern computer is also aresult of But four breakthroughs in structure, machine, late-nineteenth century have also belonged to the overcoming abarrier.The core of the computer network, and process were more relevant to mod- four categories of structure, machine, network, today is the integrated circuit or microchip, co- ern industrial development and should receive and process: reinforced concrete and skyscraper invented by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce in more emphasis. towers; automobiles, airplanes, jet engines, and 1958-59. The device was aresponse to an The first breakthrough was anew process, space travel; electric power,telephony,electron- approaching limit in the density of electronic cir- the smelting of inexpensive malleable iron. The ics for broadcasting (the vacuum tube) and elec- cuits. Instead of making circuit elements and con- principle of iron-smelting is best explained by a tronics for computing (the transistor and the necting wires smaller,Kilby and Noyce did away simplified chemical reaction that shows the microchip); and refined gasoline and nuclear with discrete parts and connections by printing change of iron ore into pure iron and waste gas by power.Inaddition to the four equations intro- circuits on asingle material, the silicon chip. adding carbon and air.5 The Bessemer and open- duced with the industrial revolution, students Normal engineering then gradually reduced these hearth processes for steel-making in the 1850s could learn two new equations from this later circuits to microscopic sizes.11 These will face a added astage to metallurgy that can be described phase, one for electric power and one consisting limit someday too. briefly without equations. Students should know of achemical reaction that can occur in gasoline- Although students do not need to know in that the Bessemer process produced rails mainly refining.9 detail how science and engineering relate to each to complete and make more durable the nine- The main reason for students to learn these other,teachers should be careful not to perpetuate teenth-century railway network. The open-hearth innovations is historical literacy.Just as students the misconception that modern technology owes process provided the better steel needed for the should understand key political, economic, its creativity to modern science. Advances in bridges and buildings of the twentieth century. social, and religious ideas, and the key principles technology have often required acloser study of The new iron enabled Thomas Telford to of modern science, so too should they learn the the natural phenomena involved and the chemical pioneer modern structural engineering in his 1814 key principles of modern engineering. What stu- industry has owed much to scientific research. arch bridge at Craigellachie in Scotland. and in dents have not had are explanations regarding the The work of research in other industries was to his 1826 suspension bridge across the Menai key engineering ideas that are technically mean- improve technologies that engineers had already Straits in Wales. Both bridges can be described by ingful, brief, and accessible. Our course and sup- brought into existence. In its discovery of radio the horizontal force mentioned above.6 The porting scholarship address this need. waves and nuclear fission, basic science stimulat- Severn Iron Bridge of 1779, often used to illus- Asecond reason for learning these ideas is to ed radical innovation. But basic science played trate the use of iron, was not amodern design, understand how technical change has occurred in no such role in the inception of modern iron and since the shape imitated aRoman stone bridge. the modern world. Historians have tried to steel, the steam engine, the railway,the automo- Telford’smore graceful arch and cable bridges in explain this change by attributing it to two very bile, or the airplane. Scientists discovered electro- Scotland and Wales took advantage of what iron broad notions. One is asociety that believes magnetism but outsiders invented the telegraph could do and are better examples of iron as a rational order and progressive change are possi- and the telephone; and in electric power distribu- modern structural material. The principles exem- ble in the world. The other is asociety in which tion, scientific arguments against it had to be set plified by his bridges are still basic to bridge such things as the rule of law,market freedom, aside. Modern gasoline-refining was ablack-box design today. and resource endowments are available. Beliefs problem solved by chemical engineering. Refined The 1765 steam engine of James Watt, and conditions such as these were necessary in silicon made possible the microchip but the inte- although an improvement of an earlier engine, most cases, but they were not sufficient. grated circuit was an engineering insight. was in fact aradically new kind of machine. The What prompted most radical innovations Radical innovators often had training in sci- Soho Foundry,where Watt and his partner were engineering barriers that directly stimulated ence and made use of scientific discoveries. But Matthew Boulton made engines, should be part of new ways of thinking about what was possible. these innovators did not simply apply what scien- any discussion of the factory system. But the James Watt saw that existing stationary steam tistsbelieved to be possible. The innovators steam engine’smeaning is missed without the engines could not be improved without abasic thoughtindependently and often had to prove simple formula for horsepower that Watt devised departure, the separate condenser.Although their ideas against accepted engineering wisdom to measure its efficiency.7 The same formula also Watt’sformula for horsepower endured, railway too. (The history of science is asimilar story of measured the efficiency of steamboat and railway innovators had to abandon Watt’sengine to create people with new ideas having to win acceptance engines in the nineteenth century,and continues mobile engines using high-pressure steam. from peer groups.) Science played avery impor- to be the standard for measuring internal combus- Alexander Graham Bell invented his 1876 tant role in the normal engineering that followed tion engines in automobiles today.Asingle idea telephone out of an effort to improve telegraphy, radical breakthroughs, and the line between what thus explains the key machines of the last three which in the early 1870s faced acrisis as the scientists and engineers do today has become less centuries. number of messages began to overwhelm the sharply drawn as members of one group now After taking steam power as far as the capacity of new lines to carry them. Thomas often find themselves employed in activities char- steamboat and the railroad, the early-industrial Edison’sinnovation of an electric power network acteristic of the other.But the activity of one revolution can be completed with the electric in 1878-82 overturned the view of many experts group is not derivative of the other.12 telegraph and the network to which it gave rise. that basic scientific laws made such athing The telegraph requires understanding the relation impossible. The Wright brothers recognized in How Much Engineering Can Historians of electricity and magnetism and how Ohm’sLaw 1899 that the key to heavier-than-air flight was Teach?The physical principles and mathematics relates voltage, current, and resistance.8 Students not to design an aircraft for passive equilibrium that we use to describe radical innovations are at should then learn briefly how the telegraph origi- against variable winds, acomplex problem that the level of what students in the United States nated and how it connected the world by land and misled other researchers at the time, but to design learn in grades eight, nine, and ten. However,his- sea. The telegraph was the first practical use of an an airplane to maneuver in response to such tory teachers at both the secondary and tertiary electric circuit. The later innovations of the tele- winds. Afuel supply crisis would have throttled levels could have difficulty presenting these 23 ideas, especially those that involve equations. material more deeply,undergraduate institutions horizontal force (H)inpounds at each side support. Avertical There are four ways to work around this difficul- could offer aseparate dedicated course on major force (V)inpounds also operates at each support and is described by the equation V = qL/2. For acable suspension ty. innovations, similar to ours, as away for students bridge, the same formulas for H and V apply but represent the First, at the secondary level, world history to fulfill ascience and technology requirement in forces at each tower top. On acable bridge, the variable d is the teachers could focus what they teach about the the core curriculum. In most institutions, the core cable sag or vertical distance from the midpoint of the cable to the elevation of the tower tops. industrial revolution more on iron-making, bridge represents only the humanities, the social sci- 5. For iron-smelting in ablast furnace, see David P. structures, the steam engine, the railway,and the ences, and the natural sciences. Our material inte- Billington, The Innovators,pp. 17-19. The chemical equation is telegraph. Teachers could present them without grates aspects of all three and could represent Fe2O3 +3CO 2Fe +3CO2, which states that one molecule of equations or detailed physical description. engineering in the core curriculum in an accessi- iron ore (Fe2O3)and three molecules of carbon monoxide (CO), However,students should learn that each of these 13 the latter produced by blasting hot air onto coke (prebaked ble way. In the summers of 2004 and 2005, coal), react to produce two molecules of iron (Fe) and three innovations was awork of modern engineering engineering and science faculty from twenty molecules of carbon dioxide (CO2). Limestone is also used in and was either astructure, machine, network, or institutions attended short workshops at Princeton the process but can be neglected here. process. Students should be able to describe the to learn how to teach our course.14 We hope to 6. See again note 4above. For Telford, see ibid., pp. 29-39. behavior that identifies each innovation as one of 7. For Watt and his horsepower formula, Hp = PLAN/33,000, continue this outreach and show interested engi- see ibid., pp. 23-29. In acylinder in which pressure pushes a these four types. Teachers may cover later break- neering and science faculty how acourse on his- piston, the letters PLAN represent the pressure (P)inpounds per throughs more selectively,but they should identi- toric engineering examples can fulfill acore square inch, stroke length (L)infeet, piston head area (A)in fy later innovations with the four types so that requirement. The author would like to help histo- square inches, and number of power strokes per minute (N). Watt estimated that ahorse could lift 330 pounds of water 100 students see the continuity as well as the change ry teachers at both the secondary and tertiary lev- feet high in one minute, and the product of 100 feet and 330 that each breakthrough embodied. els who would like to include some of our mate- pounds gives the denominator of his formula. For modern auto- Second, science teachers at the secondary rial in their teaching. mobiles, the formula measures what is called the indicated level could describe in more technical depth the horsepower of the engine. The formula can be used for multi- The world history survey has traditionally ple-cylinder engines with adjustments to N. thinking behind such innovations and how they covered modern technology as aseries of inven- 8. For the telegraph, see ibid., pp. 120-133. Ohm’sLaw, worked. The author plans to address science tions significant mainly for their consequences. V=IR,holds that voltage (V)equals current (I)times resistance teachers to explain how they might do this. The However,technology is abody of foundational (R). The telegraph overcame resistance in the lines and apparatus by having sufficient voltage to carry the current where need- major innovations and their equations exemplify ideas in engineering that are as important to know ed. The opening and closing of the circuit magnetically activat- ideas of force, motion, circuit, and chemical reac- as the foundational ideas of modern science. ed asounder. tion that in most countries can be found in man- With them, students can see the continuity as well 9. The two equations are Joule’sLaw for electric power and dated science and mathematics standards. achemical reaction that illustrates gasoline-refining. Joule’s as the changes that major innovations represent, Law, P = VI,states that power (P)equals voltage (V)times cur- Science teachers could reinforce these ideas by and at the tertiary level students can learn the cir- rent (I). Rewritten (from Ohm’sLaw) as P = I2R,the law makes teaching how historic engineering innovations cumstances that gave rise to these breakthroughs. clear that raising R reduces I and helps explain Edison’ssearch embodied them and how their innovators came to This knowledge can also help educators and pol- for ahigh-resistance light bulb. The chemical reaction, 2C14H30 the insights that led to these breakthroughs. icymakers better understand the sources of inno- C8H18 +C20H42,states that two molecules of akerosene Joint teaching in history and science may (C14H30)crack into one molecule of agasoline (C8H18)and one vation and the qualities of mind needed to molecule of afuel oil (C H ). The reaction illustrates how the also be possible in alimited way.Teachers could 20 42 encourage and sustain innovative capacities. 1912 breakthrough in oil-refining, the Burton process, turned give joint assignments on one or more innova- some of the denser fractions of crude oil into gasoline, saving tions after classes in history and science have David P. Billington, Jr.served as apreceptor in CEE 102, oil. Joule’sLaw applies to electricity as direct current. For tech- covered the necessary material. The history “Engineering in the Modern World,” at Princeton University in nologies since the 1870s, see Billington and Billington, Power Speed and Form.Those since 1939 will be included in the third teacher could grade for the larger context while the Fall semester 2007-08. He is now an independent scholar living in Santa Monica CA and can be reached at volume of our trilogy,which is forthcoming. the science teacher could grade for technical con- [email protected]. 10. For the barriers after 1870, see Billington and Billington, tent. Some students could also do longer papers Power Speed and Form,pp. 17-25, 40-45, 65-72, 108-110, 128. and projects that integrate history,math, and sci- For the scientific argument that Edison’ssystem was impossi- NOTES ble, and why this argument was wrong, see pp. 220-223. Edison ence through engineering examples. Integrating himself failed to perceive the advantage of using alternating these disciplines can give students the chance to 1. Anumber of faculty and staffhave served as preceptors current for long-distance transmission in place of his system make connections between subjects that are nor- (section teachers), and graduate civil engineering students have which used direct current. As aresult, George Westinghouse contributed research and served as teaching assistants. For pub- had the opportunity to build an alternating current system that is mally taught in isolation. Students may also see lished texts, see David P. Billington, The Innovators: The now the dominant form of electricity used today. more clearly the relevance of learning material Engineering Pioneers Who Made America Modern (New York: 11.For Kilby and Noyce, see T. R. Reid, The Chip: How that may be difficult for them. John Wiley and Sons, 1996); and David P. Billington and David TwoAmericans Invented the Microchip and Launched a P. Billington, Jr., Power Speed and Form: Engineers and the Many engineering breakthroughs were Revolution (New York: Simon and Schuster,1984). Making of the Twentieth Century (Princeton: Princeton 12. The Society for the History of Technology originally American, and, in the United States, the history University Press, 2006). Errata sheets for each book are not formed in part to address and correct mistaken notions of how side of this teaching might be shared with teach- included; please write the junior author.Athird volume carry- science related to engineering. See the symposium papers in ers of American history.Student papers and proj- ing the story from 1939 to the present is being researched and Technology and Culture,17:4 (October 1976). written. 13. “Engineering in the Modern World” gives technical ects could focus on significant works in the stu- 2. Modern engineering as aprofession includes engineers background for about thirty innovations but students only need dents’ own countries if the original innovations whose work involves management, operations, and inspection to learn about eighteen formulas. The number of innovations occurred somewhere else. and maintenance. But the principal function of engineering and formulas can vary slightly each year.Students take amid- schools is to educate students in engineering design, as design Third, at the university and college level, it term and afinal exam, each consisting of short identifications, is the core skill of engineers. calculation problems, and historical-essay questions. About half may be better if historians not try to teach the 3. Our choices subsume those in George Constable and Bob of the students take the course for laboratory-science credit, per- material collaboratively with scientists or engi- Somerville, ACentury of Innovation: Twenty Engineering form supervised model experiments, and solve problems with neers. However,the undergraduate world history Achievements ThatTransformed Our Lives (Washington DC: the models on which they write reports. The other half take the National Academies Press, 2003). For the distinction between course for history credit and write term papers on astructure, survey should describe the key technical events normal and radical design, we are indebted to Walter G. machine, network, or process of their choice, examining it as a of the modern world in terms of structure, Vincenti, What Engineers Know and How They Know It: physical idea (with numbers) and as ahistorical event. The machine, network, and process, and it should add Analytical Studies from Aeronautical History (Baltimore: Johns course can satisfy ascience/technology requirement without the Hopkins University Press, 1990), pp. 3-15. the distinction between normal and radical inno- models lab. 4. See David P. Billington, The Innovators,pp. 6-12. The 14. See The 2004 Symposium and Workshop at Princeton vations. Students should learn why and how inno- equation for horizontal force, H = qL2/8d,inanarch bridge University,August 8-13, 2004 (Princeton, 2004); and Second vators shifted from normal engineering to radical states that the weight (q)per foot of roadway deck length over Annual Summer Symposium and Workshop, August 7-10, 2005 rethinking and insight. the arch, multiplied by this length (L)infeet squared, divided (Princeton, 2005). Copies available from author upon request. by eight times the vertical rise of the arch (d)infeet, gives the Finally,inorder to explore the technical 24 Spreading the Scientific Word: schools to teach the Malagasy to read, and later explaining its [Madagascar’s]natural history,” Missionaries as Global Naturalists set up medical schools to train doctors, nurses, and of the tens of thousands of plants missionar- and midwives.3 Scripture, however,formed only ies had collected “not less than 1,000 were entire- th on 19 Century Madagascar part of the curriculum; the majority was devoted ly new.”8 to mathematics, grammar,aswell as various sci- Baron was not overstating his case. He had ences such as geography and chemistry.4 made aname for himself as an established natu- Thomas Anderson Education, politics, and proselytizing were ralist and had become one of the foremost experts Binghamton University typical missionary activities. While missionaries on the geology and botany of the island, giving attempted to convert souls to Christianity,the lectures when he was in London and producing Malagasy were as interested in technological edu- articles for prestigious scientific journals such as By the nineteenth century,the development of cation and Nature, the science was aglobal affair.Itnot only drew upon access to [Missionaries] created ascientific magazine on the island that analyzed and Journal of the evidence from across the world, but also relied European explained the natural history of Madagascar using personal experience, the Linnean upon aglobal dialogue to craft and test theories. goods as they latest scientific theories, as well as information from contacts with other Society, and Scientific theories, however,had to apply to were any the- naturalists and missionaries from across the world. the Quarterly unusual places if they were to act as avalid expla- ological issue, Journal of the nation of the world. Yetthe diversity and remote- as they used missionaries for their own purpos- Geological Society.9 Born in Kendal, England, in ness of these locales meant that there were often es.5 The scholarly focus on evangelical and polit- 1847, Baron was an ordained minister and trav- few naturalists to record information and few ical pursuits, however,has tended to obscure eled to Madagascar in 1872, which would ways to verify their data. What was required was other roles of missionaries in Madagascar.While become his home until his death in 1907. Baron away to establish the authenticity of the informa- scholars have recently recognized that missionar- provided some of the first detailed analyses of tion gathered. Addressing this issue were global ies embraced science across the globe, this has Madagascar’s geological features, discovered naturalists, who were defined by acommitment not been investigated in Madagascar.For many over 1000 new flora species, and was made a to explaining how their local findings fit into a Protestant missionaries, nature revealed the glory Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1882. global context. By drawing upon asocial net- of God and helped them spread their message of Recognized by several scientific societies, work of knowledge and experience that spanned faith and civilization. Science played acentral Baron’sprominence even led to his inclusion in the world, as well as analyzing how the local was role in their mission. From providing medicine to various prestigious French scientific organiza- part of the global instead of distinct from it, glob- explaining the workings of the natural world, sci- tions after France claimed Madagascar as a al naturalists established their scientific authority. ence offered missionaries arational tool born of colony in 1895.10 In Madagascar,anisland with ahigh number European civilization to convince peoples across Madagascar’s high number of endemic of endemic species yet still barely explored by the the world of the superiority of the European way species had piqued the curiosity of the scientific nineteenth century,missionaries satisfied these of life.6 world, and there was agrowing demand for infor- needs and established themselves as the scientific But in Madagascar,missionaries played a mation during the latter half of the nineteenth authorities of the island. Missionaries were firm- pivotal role in the development of science; it was century.Many missionaries were known to be a ly committed to both their evangelical cause and not simply used as atool to win converts. source of information, having both the access and furthering the development of science. Indeed, Missionaries often envisioned their role as the expertise. Beyond their familiarity with the just as they attempted to convert the local peoples explorers and naturalists as much as men of faith, fauna and flora of the island, missionaries had the to Christianity,sotoo did missionaries use sci- and they collected natural history specimens, advantage of using their relationship with the ence to transform Madagascar into aknown land. took meteorological readings and measurements, Malagasy to find and collect fauna and flora. They created ascientific magazine on the island provided medical aid, and wrote works on the Many of the missionaries who enjoyed natural that analyzed and explained the natural history of fauna and flora of Madagascar.Their knowledge history also spoke Malagasy,allowing them to Madagascar using personal experience, the latest of the language and customs, political support, ask detailed questions about the local environ- scientific theories, as well as information from and extensive religious contacts, meant that mis- ment and request help in finding particular contacts with other naturalists and missionaries sionaries had greater access to the Malagasy and species. Indeed, the Malagasy not only helped from across the world. In this way,missionaries penetrated deeper into the countryside than other collect specimens, but they also identified them. envisioned themselves as part of aglobal endeav- Western travelers to the island. Their experience One missionary reported that after finding a“very or,anapproach that framed their questions and provided missionaries with amore nuanced and peculiar” bird, he showed it to his “chief native comprehension of Madagascar.Byblending their informed perspective on the natural history of collector,” who said he could not recall “having local knowledge with aglobal experience, mis- Madagascar. seen any thing like it.”11 In addition, missionaries sionaries deliberately operated as global natural- Many missionaries in Madagascar forged an were often brought samples, either as they trav- ists. identity as naturalists. The journal Nature praised eled or at their residence, once the Malagasy their efforts and dedication, noting that, even dur- understood their interest in natural history.12 As I. Missionaries as Naturalists-British mission- ing French and Merina hostilities in 1884, “the Richard Baron reported, missionaries could make aries from the London Missionary Society scientific activity of the missionaries of the enquiries that “a stranger could not,” aiding in the (L.M.S.) first arrived in Madagascar in 1818 and London Missionary Society has not abated.”7 discovery of new flora and fauna.13 made contact with the Merina Kingdom led by Indeed, missionaries carefully cultivated and pro- Requests for samples and specimens, as well Radama I. In exchange for technology and edu- moted their image as naturalists and the impor- as opinions on fauna and flora, came from across cation, missionaries were allowed to preach and tance of their scientific work on the island. In a the globe as the world wrestled with natural his- proselytize to the indigenous people, the lecture delivered at the Royal Botanical Gardens tory on aglobal scale. Centers such as the Royal Malagasy.Over the course of the century,the at Kew,missionary Richard Baron explained that Botanical Gardens at Kew relied heavily upon L.M.S. sent nearly ahundred missionaries to missionaries were civilizing Madagascar,an missionaries to obtain specimens from Madagascar,with many arriving in the 1870s and endeavor that involved not only Christianizing Madagascar.14 In order to obtain aspecimen of a 1 1880s. In addition to the L.M.S., Anglicans, Malagasy society,but also developing ascientif- lemur to carry out adetailed examination of its Norwegian Lutherans, and French Jesuits also ic comprehension of the island. In this pursuit, anatomy,William Turner wrote to Dr Andrew 2 arrived on the island. Missionaries opened up missionaries had “done avery great deal in Davidson, aL.M.S. physician in Madagascar, 25 who shipped back six preserved lemurs.15 sent 29 genera and 1163 new species of plants Missionaries took great care and precision in Missionaries even had to turn down requests for from Madagascar.23 The sheer numbers of novel recording their scientific readings as evident in specimens. In areply to the naturalist and direc- species testified to the remarkable features of their recordings of meteorology,which they tor of the British Singapore Botanical Gardens, Madagascar,while the source of so many speci- attempted to make in accordance to the specifica- Henry Ridley,Baron wrote that he could not ful- mens underscores the importance of missionaries tions of the Royal Meteorological Society of fill Ridley’srequest to furnish him with tropical to the pursuit of natural history. London.32 They set up stations in Antananarivo plants and seeds because he simply lacked the As part of their jobs, missionaries traveled and the port towns of Tamatave and, later, time. Although Baron explained that he would frequently and entered areas where few if any Majunga in order to record the weather using rain like to be able to assist Ridley,hecould not afford Westerners had yet explored. As they did so, gauges, barometers, thermometers, and other the money or time to travel to the coast to collect many collected fauna. One of the most diligent instruments.33 By establishing monthly reports the specimens, located as he was in and enthusiastic naturalists was William Deans on rainfall and temperature, beginning in Antananarivo,on the temperate central plateau Cowan, who scoured Madagascar for new Antananarivo, missionaries soon amassed enough region.16 Baron even turned down arequest for species.24Deans Cowan’srange was extensive. regular charts that covered an entire year to com- specimens from Kew Gardens, explaining that He collected mammals, reptiles, fish, and insects, pile five-year averages and establish aconcept of the plants they wanted lived in the “most out of of which he informed the British Museum he climatic zones on the island.34 They quickly the way places imaginable.”17 would send them 13,000-14,000 specimens as established that Madagascar fell just outside the Missionaries had to carefully balance their well as drawings.25 But instead of passively col- Indian Ocean cyclone route and that, while the job of spreading Christianity with their natural lecting everything, Deans Cowan understood coasts were inundated with rain and scorched by history pursuits. Collecting specimens required what species were known and which were new to tropical temperatures, the inland plateau had a time and money,both of which were at apremi- science. He expressed wonder at anew fish much more arid and moderate climate. Such um for missionaries, who had enormous congre- species, “I have never seen this one before,” iden- records led to debates when rainfall moved gations to preach to and even larger areas to pros- tifying its novelty and displaying his scientific beyond anormal range.35 elytize. knowledge by commenting on In geology,too, missionaries attempted to Sometimes selling Missionaries took great pride in being naturalists. how the dorsal fins were differ- provide athorough and precise scientific under- specimens to ent on the specimen he had just standing of the island. Geology had been a“terra museums and collectors offered missionaries a obtained.26 incognita”until missionaries helped begin a way to supplement their income. Such income Deans Cowan’sreputation as anaturalist study of the island, revealing its ancient past with was used to help fund mission schools, which was was so dominating that at times it obscured his its red clay and geological formations, as well as an appropriate use since the schoolchildren often status as amissionary.27 Afellow missionary, providing clues to its connection with Africa and collected specimens.18 But the funds were also Charles Price, extolled Deans Cowan’scommit- Asia.36 Beyond extensive reports on the geologi- used to garnish amissionary’ssalary,orassist in ment to and drive for natural history,seeing in it cal makeup of different areas of the island, mis- his natural history pursuits, such as the purchase an enthusiasm, dedication, and professionalism sionaries remarked on geological features, of anew microscope.19 However,money was not that few could match. Price wrote to his wife that including extinct volcanoes, evidence of past amotivating factor,merely areward, and some “Naturalists are born not made…But Cowan was earthquakes, and the existence of hot springs.37 missionaries were compensated by being both born and made one. He has always had an Indeed, missionaries began an investigation into informed of the scientific identification of a instinctive love of hunting out birds’ nests, watch- the hot springs, taking readings not only of the species, beingprovided with scientific literature, ing the habits of animals, seeking their lairs, and temperature of the water but also of its mineral or even having anew species named after them, making himself one with them, so that he would and chemical composition.38 Further missionar- such as the Chameleon Willsii or Cheirogaleus think nothing of carrying afew snakes in his ies dated geological ages and confirmed the sibreei- Sibree’sDwarf Lemur.20 pocket, adozen beetles or so in his hat, and afrog ancient quality of Madagascar,arguing that the Given the unusual flora and fauna of or lizard carefully tied up in his best handker- island had been isolated for millions of years, Madagascar,collecting new species was relative- chief.”28 thus explaining its natural history. ly common and missionaries sent back enormous As Price made clear,Deans Cowan’scom- Because missionaries were not isolated, but quantities of specimens. Twomissionary women mitment to natural history was not aliability,ora rather operated in acommunity that encouraged collected plants and flowers in the capital, burden to his missionary activities. Rather,itwas scientific enquiry,they maintained scientific stan- Antananarivo, and shipped to Kew over 200 an asset. In aplace where so much awaited dis- dards by reviewing and critiquing each other’s species, 25 percent of which proved to be “novel- covery,where the sheer novelty of the fauna and work. Scientific authority remained achallenge ties” to science.21 Missionary James Sibree flora was apparent to even new travelers, mis- during the nineteenth century,and while instru- explained that botany in Madagascar was com- sionaries were actively carving out aniche where ments and experimentation were used to maintain pletely different from that in Great Britain, warn- they were essential to the production of knowl- scientific integrity,often the difference between ing of the difficulties in weather,the need to pro- edge about the natural history of Madagascar. scientist and traveler remained his status and the tect samples, and the Malagasy themselves, who Missionaries took great pride in being natu- way he reported his findings.39 In this sense, mis- often collected the materials although they were ralists. Beyond keeping up to date with the latest sionaries consciously attempted to operate as sci- often “baffled” by the attempts to collect plants scientific theories by reading materials, ordering entific observers. Missionaries’ attempt to pro- that were inedible. Never-the-less, Sibree echoed textbooks, and studying while away from the cure and use scientific instruments reflected their afamiliar theme of why missionaries collected- island, missionaries maintained high standards in commitment to an increasing scientific ideal of their love of nature and thrill of discovery: “all their own fieldwork.29 They ordered scientific precision and accuracy.Although specimens the difficulties and discomforts are far more than instruments, from thermometers to microscopes, would usually end up back in Europe for analy- outweighed by the pleasure you gain in the exer- to better conduct scientific enquiries.30 One mis- ses, agreat deal of information was produced cise, apleasure which is enhanced by the con- sionary conducted astudy on wasp hives, com- solely on the island. Missionaries fixed the loca- sciousness that you are probably the first that has plete with precise drawings of awasps, where he tions of where they found aspecies and recorded ever plucked the flowers from Nature’sbosom in dissected one to reveal its contents, which he observations of fauna and flora specimens that that particular locality,and that alarge number of weighed.31 With these instruments, missionaries they were not able to capture. Still, one’sscientif- the specimens will probably prove to be new to diligently recorded measurements of fauna, flora, ic authority depended on reputation and on science.”22 Indeed, from 1875 to 1885, Baron and the weather. whether new information fit with one’sown 26 knowledge of Madagascar.Inthis sense, trust was ary societies as well as military officers, visiting ular place to find information. essential.40 In Madagascar,where strange and naturalists, and pertinent selections from promi- The Antananarivo Annual made an impor- unique species were common, missionaries nent scientists. The requirements for publication tant contribution to the scientific discovery of believed they had to be extremely careful in sep- were not ecclesiastical, encompassing anyone Madagascar.Itoperated as aforum for the most arating fact from fiction. who had something new and interesting to say important debates concerning Madagascar, Oftentimes, this took place as adebate with- about Madagascar,from its people to its natural including the origins of the Malagasy and in the pages of the Antananarivo Annual,amag- history.The intention of the Annual was to offer Madagascar’s unusual fauna and flora. It offered azine created by missionary James Sibree dedi- acomprehensive description and analyses of avoice to naturalists and those interested in cated to natural history.Upon coming across Madagascar,covering all aspects of natural histo- Madagascar and underscored the importance of large anthills, atraveler reported on aMalagasy ry as well as Malagasy culture and history,though science to understanding the island. The Annual belief that ants trapped snakes within the mounds it actually contained few articles directly relating also provided away for those in Europe to learn and kept them alive, feeding them until they were to missionary life or Christianity.The Annual about discoveries in Madagascar.Atthe heart of “fat enough” to devour.41 Such astory led to a operated not as amissionary mouthpiece, but this, was the unusual quality to Madagascar and call in the following edition of the Annual for “A rather as aforum that disseminated new informa- its environment. “Remarkable,” “peculiar,” and missionary to…test the reality of this reputed tion and findings about Madagascar. “unique” were adjectives frequently applied to fact.”42 This led to the dissection of anthills by The Antananarivo Annual was well respect- the environment. Many of the articles, from trav- several missionaries who marveled at the frenet- ed by the scientific community.For the English el descriptions to ones describing individual ic, yet ordered, life inside the nest, but were speaking world, it was the authority of the island species, captured asense of wonder and fascina- unable to confirm or deny the rumors.43 In this and one of the best ways to learn about the latest tion surrounding Madagascar stemming from the way,the Annual served as ascientific forum that discoveries. Areview in the London Times com- fact that it was unlike any other place on Earth. maintained the scientific credentials of naturalists mented on missionaries and “the scientific explo- And because these articles were reviewed and in Madagascar-itestablished trust. ration of their island... For several years they have reprinted, this same sense of wonderment at the The Annual accomplished this by maintain- issued the Antananarivo Annual,astorehouse of strangeness of Madagascar was disseminated to a ing standards of scientific integrity.Itbegan out fresh information on all aspects of the island and wider audience. The Annual then not only stim- 47 of an enthusiasm for the scientific potential of its life.” By referring to Madagascar as the mis- ulated interest in Madagascar,but it did so in Madagascar and was designed to not only record, sionaries’ island, the Times bestowed alegitima- away that piqued scientific curiosity as aresult of but also explain the wonders and mysteries of cy upon not only Christian missions, but also the island’sunique qualities. Madagascar’s natural history.44 The Annual ran upon missionaries’ scientific knowledge of the II. The Global Outlook of Missionaries - While from 1875-1900, with abrief two-year hiatus island and its manifestation in the Annual.The the complicated relationship between missionar- from 1879 to 1880 when Sibree was in India. Annual was “one of the most original and impor- ies and science has begun to be analyzed, it has Indeed, the information became popular enough tant of the extra-professional undertakings” of the 48 often been immersed in aview that frames mis- that earlier editions were reprinted.45 L.M.S., creating ahighly valuable resource. sionaries as imperial agents, working to promote Furthermore, the Annual represented agreat Sibree and Baron succeeded in making the national interests.53 Missionary involvement with source of firsthand data and observation of Annual amagazine of some prominence. For science has often been cast as apropaganda tool Madagascar’s unusual environment. those who did not receive acopy of the Annual, instead of as apursuit in its own right. However, Typically,the Annual consisted of around its articles were widely reviewed and reprinted in framing missionaries as tools of empire has 12-15 major articles ayear.Natural history arti- other scientific journals and magazines. For a obscured the fact that missionaries often operated cles represented the largest percentage of submis- journal with only amodest budget and published away from empire and according to personal and sions to the Annual,with the most frequent topics away from the metropole, such areputation was individual responses that were shaped by aglob- over twenty five years including descriptions and essential to disseminating its information. Its new al framework. Many missionaries even actively analyses of fauna, flora, and geology.Byprovid- editions would be summarized in the prestigious 54 ing amixture of firsthand observations alongside journal Nature,where it was characterized as a opposed national interests. The itinerant nature local examination and laboratory analyses, these respectable scientific publication with agreat of missionaries often combined with their close articles went beyond mere description as they deal of interesting information about contacts with other missionaries and literature 49 attempted to explain the scientific significance of Madagascar. Beyond Nature,the Annual and its from across the world to create aglobal outlook. placing Madagascar’s unusual qualities in aglob- articles received praise and republication in major While some would spend decades, even lifetimes, in one area, many would stay only afew years al framework.46 journals of the day,such as Science, Zoological before mov- In addition to its major articles, the Annual Proceedings, Folk- ing on to published, at the end of each edition aseries of lore, the Missionary involvement with science has often been cast as apropa- another natural history notes. Here, brief descriptions, Anthropological ganda tool instead of as apursuit in its own right. However,framing missionaries as tools of empirehas obscured the fact that missionar- assignment. observations, discoveries, analyses, and other Institute, and the ies often operated away from empireand according to personal and As they trav- noteworthy findings were announced, providing a Royal Geographic individual responses that wereshaped by aglobal framework. eled, they rich sampling of life on the island. This section Society’spublica- brought with was significant. Over the years, it amounted to tion, Proceedings, them the experience, knowledge, and viewpoints hundreds of individuals reports on the fauna and which annually announced the publication of the of adifferent locale. Interconnected by their flora of the island that provided an overview of its Annual and often provided asummary of its con- 50 agencies in the metropole, who assigned them to biodiversity and an important outlet for scientific tents. The Royal Geographic Society’s stations across the world, missionaries stayed up dissemination. By publishing these findings, nat- Proceedings wrote of the Annual,“for those to date not only on news and events in Europe but uralists had awritten record to consult. The notes interested in Madagascar,its geography,natural also with missions across the world. often served as aforum for responses and updates history,and people, it is of great value.”51 After In Madagascar,aglobal experience led to a on previous articles or discoveries, fostering fur- one review in Nature, attention came from Vienna comparison with other environments such as ther scientific debate. and led to the reprinting of an article in Symons’s Polynesia, South Africa, and India. Scientific dis- While the majority of authors were Monthly Meteorological magazine in 1885.52 coveries were not only analyzed within the con- Protestant missionaries from the L.M.S., the Interest in Madagascar,inits unusual environ- text of universal theories, but were also evaluated Annual also included authors from other mission- ment and natural history,made the Annual apop- 27 by how that local knowledge could be translated ited role. In religious tracts designed to promote paradise to the botanist as the island of into global science. This placed missionaries in a public support for the mission, missionaries Madagascar.”61 Indeed, Shaw’sstay in the coun- role where they could both compare Madagascar believed that nature revealed the workings and try and his scientific interests led him to provide to other places and evaluate the island through glory of God just as they did in other missions.57 afirsthand insight into lemurs and their behavior. intimate knowledge. Indeed, areview of the Sibree wrote “We[college instructors] have From his observations, he argued for the great Antananarivo Annual led missionaries in the always tried to show our men how God has arev- diversity of lemurs, explaining that some were Indian Evangelical Review to conclude that a elation to us not only in His Word, but also in His nocturnal, others diurnal, some fed on berries and great similarity existed between the two missions, wonderful works; and so some scientific subject fruit, others on insects, spiders, and beetles. and that the distance between missionaries in is taught every term using the text-books we have While many lived in trees, others had “pre-emi- India and Madagascar was a“distance rather of on astronomy,botany,zoology,chemistry,geolo- nently adapted” to walking on their hands on thought than of reality.”55 gy,and physical geography,etc, as the basis of rocky slopes.62 Such findings often countered Missionary William Ellis traveled to our teaching.”58 Such sentiments have led existing ideas of lemurs, such as their strict arbo- Antananarivo in the 1850s and blended mission- Laurence Dorr to conclude that “one of the strong real habits or diet.63 Deans Cowan, Sibree, and ary,political, and scientific roles. Although his arguments for teaching natural history at the other missionaries shared in the belief in the trip helped to reestablish political and missionary L.M.S. College was the idea that plants and ani- adaptation of lemurs to their environment and relations with the Merina Kingdom, Ellis operat- mals were examples of God’screation.”59 used lemurs as aprime example of the potential ed as aglobal naturalist. Awell-respected mis- Still, the focus on natural theology as the of Madagascar to unlock scientific mysteries, sionary,his earlier work on Polynesia had estab- driving force behind missionaries’ scientific such as that of biogeography and the develop- lished his reputation as ascientific observer and endeavors minimizes their commitment and ment of species.64 he immediately compared Madagascar with enthusiasm for science. Indeed, missionaries By the time Joseph Mullens visited Polynesia. He made connections between the often embraced the latest scientific theories to Madagascar as part of areview of the L.M.S. and Malagasy and Polynesia languages which helped better understand their own pursuits. From this their efforts in 1875, science had become acen- begin an enquiry that would establish aMalayo- vantage point, missionaries in Madagascar had a terpiece of missionary explorations. As foreign Polynesian ancestry to the Malagasy.Hecollect- different focus than simply impressing upon the secretary of the L.M.S., Mullens had traveled to ed botanical samples for the Royal Botanical Malagasy that the surrounding environment mission stations in China and India. In addition, Gardens. After his visits, he produced two large revealed the glory of God and, hence, the harmo- he had spent over ten years as amissionary in works in Madagascar that blended missionary ny of Christianity.Missionaries’ love of nature India. With this experience, Mullens traveled to progress with an in-depth look at the Malagasy may have stemmed from their belief that it Madagascar with scientific equipment In order to people, their language, and the unusual fauna and reflected God’sgreatness, but they were wary of map and record the island. After returning to flora of the island. Due in part to his work on Malagasy beliefs that deeply entwined the fauna London, Mullens composed abook that extolled Madagascar,Ellis was made afellow of the Royal and flora with traditional customs and “supersti- the natural qualities of the land and called for Geographic Society.56 Ellis promoted tions.” When it came to explaining fauna and more scientific study of the island. While Mullens Madagascar as an unusual land, rich in undiscov- flora, missionaries separated science and rational- covered the Malagasy,their language, and ori- ered and unique fauna and flora that were adis- ity from religious tenets. gins, he devoted much of his work to geographi- tinct blend of Africa and Asia. With contacts and Instead, their audience for natural history cal science, praising the beauty of the land as well knowledge from Southern Africa and Polynesia, remained other Westerners, particularly natural- as recording topographic details, particularly Ellis had produced an insight into Madagascar, ists, among whom they wanted to promote the mountains, lakes, and volcanic deposits. From his made possible only because of his varied global scientific value of Madagascar.Many of the mis- journey,Mullens produced one of the first accu- experiences. Ellis, however,had only begun to sionaries in Madagascar viewed themselves as rate maps of the interior of Madagascar.His conceptualize Madagascar as aplace of vast sci- naturalists who were part of aglobal profession preparations and reports reveal the priority placed entific potential, atask that missionaries during promoting the spread of scientific knowledge, on creating ascientific record of Madagascar.65 the next several decades would develop. and thus did not resist themselves simply to areli- The efforts of Mullens and other missionar- Missionaries crafted and publicized their gious role. Deans Cowan believed his explo- ies were praised by the scientific community. findings for aglobal audience of fellow mission- rations were asuccess not only for spreading the Many of their works received favorable reviews aries and Westerners who could be interested in Gospel, but also because “the land has been spied from journals such as Nature.66 Many presented Madagascar’s unusual fauna and flora. They out; mountains are placed where they ought to be; material evidence of their explorations at the wanted to popularize the science of Madagascar rivers and villages are named with their proper Royal Geographic Society,where they were com- and stress its connections to the most current sci- names. The whole country is now mapped out, mended. Apresident of the society declared that entific theories, especially biogeography. and all the guess geography of its past cleared their actions explained how “geographical explo- Missionary tracts that explored the spiritual and up.”60 Missionaries wanted to establish them- ration led by anatural and simple process to the religious condition of the Malagasy and the selves within the scientific community.Their introduction of Christianity and civilization.”67 progress of Christianity on the island, were dis- writings reflected abelief not only in science, but This comment underscores not only the wide sup- tinct from those that promoted the island’sscien- also in the transformation science would have port for missionary activity,but also the belief tific potential. In these works, natural history over Madagascar. that science was essential to this civilizing played acentral role. Missionaries often covered The missionary George Shaw spent fourteen process.68 Indeed, science was often used in scientific themes, from botany and zoology to lin- years in Madagascar and was keenly interested in much the same way as missionaries approached guistics and meteorology.With their contacts its natural history.Inhis book, Shaw explores the potential converts- it offered arational and uni- back at scientific centers such as Kew Gardens island’snatural history,including discussions versal way to understand the world, transforming and the British Museum, as well as experience about the origins of the Malagasy and the merits the unfamiliar and unknown into arecognizable and an audience that spanned the globe, mission- of biogeography and the lost Continent of norm. And it was only after asuccessful conver- aries crafted their works to explain the unusual Lemuria as adequate theories to explain the ori- sion, that apeople or aland was saved from chaos quality of Madagascar with science and the envi- gins of Madagascar’s natural history,aswell as and darkness. The blending of missionaries as ronment as their centerpiece. recording the variety of life found in Madagascar. bona-fide naturalists as well as Christian evangel- Missionaries in Madagascar endorsed natu- Shaw emphasized that “no part of the world has icals, while involving asimilar process of trans- ral theology,but their writings reflect only alim- proved so interesting to the zoologist or such a formation, remained distinct, if complementary, 28 tasks. dynamics. ti Fan, British Naturalists in Qing China: Science, Empire, and The works of James Sibree illustrated this In order to be accepted, missionaries in Cultural Encounter (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004) duality.Inaddition to his contributions to the Madagascar created ascientific network that val- 13 Baron to Baker,27July 1880, Kew Gardens DC 188 Annual and various European publications, James idated their claims as authorities of natural histo- 14 For afuller treatment of the role of Kew Gardens in col- Sibree published over half adozen books in ry.Their careful identification and collection of lecting material see Richard Drayton, Nature’sGovernment: Madagascar with natural history as amajor ele- species alongside the use of instruments to pre- Science, Imperial Britain, and the ‘Improvement’ of the World ment in all of them. His works demonstrate the cisely observe and record data enhanced their (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000) Lucile Brockway, Science and Colonial Expansion: The Role of the British Royal complexity of missionaries’ relationship to sci- reputation and established them as scientific Botanic Gardens (New York: Academic Press, 1979) ence and religion as well as their global perspec- observers, not merely curious travelers. In their 15 William Turner,“On the Placentation of Lemurs” tive. In his books targeted for amissionary audi- publications, particularly the Antananarivo Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 166 ence, Sibree invoked the glory of God and Annual,missionaries developed ascientific (1876) 569-587 believed that nature revealed God’spresence. In forum that not only disseminated findings and 16 Richard Baron to Henry Ridley,20January 1890, Kew his children’sbook, Things Seen in Madagascar, theories, but also established their credibility and Gardens, MR 17 Sibree wanted the reader to “feel that the works authenticity.Byforming ascientific community, Baron to Dyer,28July 1894, Kew Gardens, DC 188 18 of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that missionaries created trust and authority as they William Deans Cowan 1878 NHM DF200/17/113 19 69 successfully cast themselves as agents of science James Wills, 19 March 1895, NHM TM/1/17/11and have pleasure therein.” Richard Baron to Dr Gunther 29 September 1891 NHM At the same time, Sibree blended an intimate and participated in adialogue about DF200/40/14 and in depth look at the natural world of Madagascar’s natural history and how it fit into 20 Richard Baron 1887 NHM DF235/1/3, James Wills to Madagascar,commenting on the marvels of how global theories. Gunther,10December 1889, NHM DF200/36/489. James animals had adapted to their environment, and the As global naturalists, missionaries possessed Wills, James Sibree, Richard Baron, and William Ellis were among several missionaries who had species of fauna and flora uniqueness of Madagascar’s species. Sibree an integrity that allowed their findings to be named after them. See Steven Goodman and Jonathan depicts nature as something wonderful and safe. incorporated by an increasingly professional sci- Benstead, eds., The Natural History of Madagascar,ed. Steven While Madagascar is never familiar,always abit entific society often bound to the metropole. Goodman and Jonathan Benstead (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003). curious, his work carries with it abelief in the Missionary efforts and their acceptance reveal 21 J.G.Baker,“Contributions to the Flora of Central transforming power of science. By embracing the that to be scientific and secular had more to do Madagascar” Journal of the Linnean Society (1882): 1-36. latest scientific theories, Sibree situated with objectivity and rationality than with being 22 James Sibree, ANaturalist in Madagascar (London: Madagascar in aglobal framework that prized the irreligious. Still, the approach of missionaries and Seeley,Service &co., limited, 1915), 129. potential of science. 70 naturalists alike reveals that Western science 23 J.G.Baker,“Further Contributions to the Flora of Missionaries such as Sibree championed operated in aglobal setting and was often con- Madagascar” Journal of the Linnean Society 18 (Nov 1886): ceived as part of acivilizing process made uni- 441-536. and Baker,“Further Contributions to the Flora of Madagascar as asite for great scientific discover- Madagascar” Journal of the Linnean Society,(Nov 1888): 294- ies, but they carefully connected the island to the versal by the scientific principles of reason and 350. world, arguing that the island should not be rele- observation. 24 William Deans Cowan, “Geographical Excursions in gated to aprimitive version of Africa, but rather South Central Madagascar,” Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly RecordofGeography 4 should be used as aplace to learn about species NOTES (September 1882): 521-537. development and the connections between Africa 25 1 William Deans Cowan, NHM, 1878 DF200/17/113 and Asia. Madagascar’s unusual fauna and flora Richard Lovett, The History of the London Missionary 26 Society,1795-1895 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1899). William Deans Cowan, NHM 4March 1888 were cast less as unique and more as instructive- 2 DF200/34/56-58 Robert Griffith, Madagascar: ACentury of Adventure 27 their very peculiarity was asource of possibility (London: Unwin Brothers, 1919). For instance, the American military officer and explorer rather than limitation. These works formed part of 3 Mason Shufeldt encountered Deans Cowan on his journey and James Sibree, “A Quarter Century of Progress” The praised his work as anaturalist, Mason Shufeldt, “To, About, the scientific debate about Madagascar. Antananarivo Annual no. 12 (1888). and Across Madagascar,” The United Service XII (1885): 1-8 4 Furthermore, missionaries were acutely aware Lovett, The History of the London Missionary Society, 28 Charles Price, 2December 1875 in Charles Thomas , that they were one of the few voices that could 1795-1895,766-768. Missionary to the Malagasy: The Madagascar Diary of the Rev. 5 speak about Madagascar and its unusual natural Bonar Gow, Madagascar and the Protestant Impact: The Charles T. Price, 1875-1877.,ed. Arnold Hereward Price (New Work of the British Missions, 1818-95,(New York: Africana environment and they embraced the task. Their York: P. Lang, 1989), 146. Pub. Co, 1979) and Mervyn Brown, Madagascar Rediscovered: 29 works provided intimate knowledge of the island William Deans Cowan 22 December 1887, NHM AHistory from Early Times to Independence (Hamden, CT: DF200/32/84-89. and, through details and insight, bestowed Archon Books, 1979) 30 6 Baron to Hooker,30November 1881, Kew Gardens, DC authenticity and authority upon their scientific Sujit Sivasundaram, Natureand the Godly Empire: 188. reputation. Science and Evangelical Mission in the Pacific, 1795-1850, 31 (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005) John M C.P., Cory,“Notes on the Habits of some of the Solitary Mackenzie, “Missionaries, Science, and the Environment in Wasps of Madagascar” Antananarivo Annual no. 14 1890. Conclusion - Science was essential to the Nineteenth-Century Africa” in Andrew Porter ed, The Imperial 32 “Meteorological Notes taken on the South-east Coast” Protestant missionary movement in Madagascar Horizons of British Protestant Missions, 1880-1914 (Grand Antananarivo Annual no. 14 (1890). Rapids, MI: William BEerdmans Publishing Company,2003), 33 during the nineteenth century.Just as they George A. Shaw, Madagascar and France (London: The and Megan Vaughan, Curing Their Ills: Colonial Power and Religious Tract Society,1885) Appendix believed that they were civilizing the Malagasy African Illness (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1991). 34 The Antananarivo Annual began publishing annual mete- 7 people through their preachings, so too did mis- Nature 17 July 1884 orological reports, complete with charts beginning in 1883. 8 sionaries hold to the idea that their scientific Thames Valley Times,11Jan 1888, in Kew Gardens, 35 RToy,“Remarks on the Meteorology of Antananarivo exploration of the island was converting Miscellaneous Reports and the Neighbourhood” Antananarivo Annual no. 41878 Madagascar into aknown and productive land. 9 For instance, see Richard Baron, “Notes on the Geology of Samuel Pasfield Oliver, Madagascar: An Historical and Madagascar” Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society 1889, Descriptive Account of the Island and Its (London: Macmillan, Bringing civilization to anew land required not “Notes on the Sedimentary Rocks of Madagascar” Geological 1886), 446-482. only teaching the local people the merits of Society 1889, “Notes on the Aye-aye of Madagascar” Nature 21 36 Ibid., Richard Baron, “The Crystalline Schists and Christianity,but also understanding the new envi- September 1882 Associated Rocks of Madagascar” Antananarivo Annual no. 23 ronment through Western science. The universal- 10 SOAS Richard Baron. 1899, Baron, “Geological Notes of aJourney in Madagascar” izing approach of nineteenth century science 11 James Wills, 26 February 1896, NHM TM/1/24/14 no 19 (1895), Baron, “Notes on the Geology of Madagascar” Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society (1889). often erased local complexities and involved an 12 William Deans Cowan, 1878, NHM, DF200/17/113; 37Joseph Mullens, Twelve Months in Madagascar (New evangelizing approach that elevated Western val- James Wills to Charles Wills, 19 March 1895, NHM TM/1/17/11; for an analyses of how local people understood York: Robert Carter &Brothers, 1875), 215-230; Joseph ues while obscuring local contributions and and influenced the collection and analyses of specimens see Fa- Mullens, “Recent Journeys in Madagascar,” Proceedings of the 29 Royal Geographical Society of London 21 (1876): 155-175; 53 A. Porter, Religion Versus Empire?: British Protestant Royal Geographical Society of London (1885): 406. James Sibree, “The Volcanic Lake of Tritrìva, Central Missionaries and Overseas Expansion, 1700-1914 67 Mullens, “Recent Journeys in Madagascar.” Madagascar,” Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004); Norman 68 Michael Adas, Machines as the MeasureofMen: Science, and Monthly RecordofGeography 13, (August 1891): 477-483; Etherington, ed., Missions and Empire,ed. Norman Etherington Technology,and Ideologies of Western Dominance (Ithaca, N.Y: Robert Kestell-Cornish, Journal of aTour of Exploration in the (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). Cornell University Press, 1989); Michael Worboys, “The North of Madagascar (London: RClay and Sons, 1876). 54 For instance James Sibree fought for Malagasy independ- Colonial World as Mission and Mandate: Leprosy and Empire, 38 William Parker report in Baron, “Notes on the Geology of ence from both French and British rule, James Sibree, 1900-1940” in Roy MMacLeod, ed., Natureand Empire: the Interior of Madagascar” Antananarivo Annual no. 9(1885). Madagascar and Its People (London: Religious Tract Society, Science and the Colonial Enterprise,ed. Roy MMacLeod, vol. 39 Felix Driver, Geography Militant: Cultures of 1870). See also J. Daughton, An EmpireDivided: Religion, 15, Osiris (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001) 201- Exploration and Empire (Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers, Republicanism, and the Making of French Colonialism, 1880- 220. 2001). 1914 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006). 69 James Sibree, Things Seen in Madagascar (London: 40 Steven Shapin, ASocial History of Truth: Civility and 55 Indian Evangelical Review,VI(1879): 121-127. Livingstone Press, 1921). Science in Seventeenth-Century England (Chicago: University 56 William Ellis, Three Visits to Madagascar During the 70 Sibree, The Great African Island and Sibree, ANaturalist of Chicago Press, 1994). Years 1853-1854-1856 (London: J.W.Bradley,1859); William in Madagascar. 41 W. WGrainge, “Visit to Mojanga and the North-west Ellis, Madagascar Revisited (London: John Murray,1867); Coast” Antananarivo Annual no. 11875. Anna Johnston, “The Strange Career of William Ellis,” 42 R. Toy, “Ants and Snakes” Antananarivo Annual no. 2 Victorian Studies 49 (2007): 491-501. 1876. 57 For example, see Sivasundaram, Natureand the Godly 43 James Sibree, The Great African Island (London: Trubner Empire. &Co., 1880), 268; Shaw, Madagascar and France 275, Sibree, 58 Sibree, ANaturalist in Madagascar. ANaturalist in Madagascar, 130-131. 59 Laurence Dorr,“ANineteenth Century Botanical 44 James Sibree, “Our Objects and Aims” Antananarivo Textbook in the Malagasy Language,” Archives of Natural Annual no. 1(1875). History,no. 2(1988). 45 Laurence JDorr,“The Antananarivo Annual and 60 William Deans Cowan, The Bara Land: ADescription of Madagascar Magazine (1875-1900),” Huntia 8, (1992). the Country and People (Antananarivo: L. M. S. Press, 1881), 46 James Sibree, “The Mammals of Madagascar” in no. 17 67. 1893, no. 19 1895, no. 20 1896, no. 21 1897; “The Birds of 61 Shaw, Madagascar and France, 243. Madagascar” 1889-1892; and “A Corrected List of Birds of 62 Ibid. Madagascar” no. 18 1894 63 Cassell, Cassell’spopular natural history (London: 47 London Times, 16 November 1886 Cassell, Petter,and Galpin, 1871). 48 London Times, 25 August 1879. 64 Cowan, The Bara Land; Sibree, The Great African 49 For example, Nature 24 March 1887. Island. 50 Proceedings of the Royal Geographic Society vVII 65 Mullens, Twelve Months in Madagascar;Mullens, (1885): 406, vIX(1887): 260, v. X(1888): 253, vXI, (1889): “Recent Journeys in Madagascar”; Joseph Mullens, “On the 315, v. XII (1891): 567, vXIV (1892): 341. Central Provinces of Madagascar,” Proceedings of the Royal 51 Proceedings of the Royal Geographic Society vVII Geographical Society of London 19 (1874): 182-205. (1885): 406. 66 Strong reviews of books such as James Sibree’s The Ralph Crozier taking arest during John 52 “Rainfall in Madagascar” Symons’sMonthly Great African Island in Nature 19 February 1880, or of scientif- Marriott’stour of London’sEast End. Photo Meteorological Magazine v. CCXXXII (May 1885). ic work of missionaries in general Nature 17 July 1884. Also Courtesy of Laura Mitchell. George Shaw’s Madagascar and France in Proceedings of the

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30 The 2008 World History Association Teaching Prize has been awarded to Sharlene Sayegh for The Logical Fallacies of Winner Nationalism: Critical Thinking in the World History Classroom. Dr. 2008 WHA Sayegh can be contacted at California State University at Long Teaching Prize Beach, Department of History,1250 Bellflower Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90840. E-mail: [email protected].

The Logical Fallacies of Nationalism: Critical Thinking in the World History Classroom

Sharlene Sayegh California State University,Long Beach

Introduction: We often think uncritically about the nation, despite the fact that national identity is built into our popular culture. The Olympics, held every four years, attempt to foster acommunity of athletes (the “Olympic Village”) while promoting “healthy competition” between nations by scrolling a rolling count on our television screens of which country has accumulated the most medals. The athletes wear national colors or some other symbol of their national identity,and we are meant to cheer “our” athletes as they represent “our” nation. Our automobile manufacturers change names of vehicles to “Liberty” or “Freestar” to appeal to apatriotic spirit. Both of these examples are visible symbols of the myths of self-identity,and yet the ways in which they promote aglorification of national differences are all but ignored. One of the main goals Ihave for students in introductory world history courses is to demonstrate knowledge of the ways in which nationalism on aglobal scale is both aproduct of the modern world and aproblem inherent to it. Part of this goal requires them to think critically about their own nationalist sentiments—sentiments that are sometimes developed unquestionably from family tradition or popular media. Idivide my modern world history course (1500 –present) into three components: the first is afoundational component, exploring the socioeconomic changes throughout the world up to the beginning of the nineteenth century; the second component is astructural component beginning with atheoretical discussion of nationhood and how ideas of the nation changed during this period up to the end of the World Wars; the third component is largely cultural and explores the problems of connecting ideas of the nation to science, modernity,geography,and ideology.Bythe end of the term, students are in aposition to examine critically the rhetoric of nationalism in aglobal context and explain similarities and differences among those who claim to speak for the nation. To get to this point, students will have gained a“reservoir of knowledge” about the basic economic, political, and social chronology of the modern world. In particular,Iaminterested in the ways in which “self” (whether areligious, economic, or national identity) vis-à-vis an “other” is articulated in such away both to construct and propel amythic national identity.This teaching unit is designed as alower-division college exercise, but the lessons and the class exercises can easily be modified for upper-division as well as high-school world-history instruction. Assessment 3isspecifically designed with upper- division students in mind; however,itwill also be useful in critical-thinking classes and can be modified to work well both for advanced students in high school and for lower-division college students. At least three class periods should be devoted to the exercises, though if time is an issue, Assessments 2 (reading primary sources) and 4(testing knowledge) can be used as the sole exercises. In asemester that includes 30 class sessions, Iusually spend approximately 7class periods to complete “preparatory” work. This includes my lectures on nationalism beginning with “The Nation-State: ATheoretical Discussion.”

Students areevaluated in the following areas:

1. Content Knowledge –Students will articulate abasic understanding of the timeline of the modern nation-state, accounting for changes in practice or ideology.Through examinations and essays, students will be able to articulate the chronology of various components of nationhood from 1789 to the present (Assessment 4) 2. Critical Thinking –specifically,students will use skills learned regarding logical fallacies to apply them to readings of primary sources. In successfully accomplishing this skill set, students will also demonstrate knowledge of the ways in which world historians link various historical experiences. Students will also demonstrate the ability to read primary sources for bias, argument, and context (Assessments 1-4) 3. Oral Presentation Skills –ingroups of 2-4 (depending on class size) students will present their findings to the class, specifically articulating the types of rhetorical ploys nationalists use and why such elements of rhetoric fit into a“nationalist identity.” Students also have the option of presenting a speech of their own, convincing their “nation” (i.e.; their classmates) that adopting aparticular skill, attitude, or identity,iscrucial in maintaining their “world history identity.” (Assessments 2and 3)

This critical evaluation of the idea of the nation-state is relevant to world-history scholarship. In the last five years alone, there has been considerable discussion in The Journal of World History (JWH) about global history and how studies of national identity might seem to circumvent the larger goal of global history.Most recently,the debate between Jerry Bentley and Arif Dirlik (Volume 16), and the continuation of that debate by Dominic Sachsenmaier and Heather Sutherland in the Forum “Debating the World-History Project” (Volume 18) suggest that the study of nationalism remains at the forefront of discussion of modern identity-formation. In particular,Bentley’sdiscussion of “Myths, Wagers, and Some Moral Implications of World History” asks the question: “how might it be possible to move beyond historical scholarship that takes glorification of the national community or some other exclusive con- stituency as its political purpose?” Ibelieve that in the world history classroom, we can begin to move beyond that “glorification” by teaching students the ways in which logic is often misappropriated in the quest for defining “self” versus “other.” 31 Preparation:

1. Students will view apower point presentation and participate in discussions about the histories and theories of modern nationalism; 2. Students will participate in instructor-led lectures and discussions of case studies of national identity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Case studies might include discussions of the following nations (neither arubric nor all-inclusive): Russia, Zimbabwe, Great Britain, Yugoslavia, Iran, Algeria, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kenya, or any other countries of the instructor’s choosing; 3. Students will watch the video The Road to Nowhere and explore Michael Ignatieff’sargument about the inconsistencies inherent in nationalist rhetoric. They will then respond to various questions, such as (but not limited to): -What started the Yugoslavian civil war? -How do Serbs and Croats differentiate each other? -DoSerbs and Croats hate each other? If so, why? Are there examples in the film that suggest the hate is more rhetorical than “real”? -How likely is it that these two groups will achieve exactly what they demand?

Assessment One: Group Exercise on Thinking Critically with Primary Sources, I Students will be assigned groups randomly to read specific passages by nineteenth-century authors and juxtapose the arguments made by each. In this exercise, students will demonstrate an understanding of how nationalists defined the “nation” and how these concepts were manifested in different historical and geographic contexts. Further,they will be able to display their knowledge of the network of ideas prevalent globally in the nineteenth century,insuch areas as science, economics, and politics. Students most likely will read extended excerpts from D.F.Sarmiento, Liang Qichao, Yukichi Fukuzawa, Joseph Chamberlain, or Jules Verne.

Assessment Two: Group Exercise on Thinking Critically with Primary Sources, II Students will be assigned groups randomly to read aspecific speech by national leaders and explore the logical fallacies in the document (see Appendix B for complete information on the assignment and Assessment 3for examples of logical fallacies and rhetorical ploys). Speech excerpts may include (but are not limited to): Josef Stalin, “Industrialization of the Country” John F. Kennedy,“The Lesson of Cuba” Fidel Castro, “On the Export of Revolutions” Golda Meir,“Attainment of Peace” Indira Gandhi, “Democracy in India” Ruhollah Khomeini, “Uprising of Khurdad 15, 1979” Ronald Reagan, “Evil Empire Speech” Margaret Thatcher,“Christianity and Wealth” Slobodan Milošević, “Gazimestan Speech”

Assessment Three: Thinking Like Nationalists PART I: Students may choose to work in pairs or alone to write abrief speech using the main rhetorical ploys encountered by our nationalists. The speech should be no longer than 2minutes and should be based on a fictional country.They do not have to be aleader of their “nation,” but could also choose to be agrassroots organizer,arevolutionary,ora“regular person” expressing their views of their country.The goal of this exercise is to determine how well the students have interpreted the bias and arguments at work in the primary sources. Rhetorical ploys and fallacies should include at least two of the following: -either /orfallacy (or black /white) fallacy –putting ideas into stark terms with no middle ground; -hasty generalization –orjumping to conclusions. In this exercise it may mean using evidence from another country to jump to conclusions about the country’sintentions; -pathos –the use of emotional appeals; -ethos –establishing one’sright /authority to speak for the group, in this case, the nation; - ad hominem –attacking the opponent, not the issue; in this case, it can be aleader of another country or the country’sideals; -us/them –the classic rhetoric of the nationalist used to establish identity and maintain allegiance (sometimes used in connection with the either /or fallacy,but the two should not be conflated) PART II: When students give their speech to the audience, the class will critically analyze the speech for its logical flaws in the same way they analyzed the documents in Assessment 2. Students must be made aware, even when they purposefully construct them, of the problems of creating amyth-history built around difference. Instructors must carefully monitor students as they work on this assignment to keep it clearly focused and should not adopt this exercise unless there is enough time to devote both to Parts Iand II.

Assessment Four: Retaining Chronological Knowledge Students will be tested in two ways under timed conditions. First, they will be asked to identify and explain an excerpt from aprimary source in relation to the main themes of the exercises. Primary-source analysis strengthens their critical-thinking skills. Second, they will be required to write an analytic essay exploring the definitions of nationalism and their consequences for state development.

32 Appendix A: Journal of World History References and Primary Source Material

Bentley,Jerry H. “Myths, Wagers, and Some Moral Implications of World History.” Journal of World History 16/1 (2005): 51-82. Dirlik, Arif. “Performing the World: Reality and Representation in the Making of World Histor(ies).” 16/4 (2005): 391 –410. Sachsenmaier,Dominic. “World History as Ecumenical History?” Journal of World History 18/4 (2007): 465-490. Strayer,Robert. “Decolonization, Democratization, and Communist Reform: The Soviet Collapse in Comparative Perspective.” Journal of World History 12/2 (2001): 375–406. Sutherland, Heather.“The Problematic Authority of (World) History.” Journal of World History 18/4 (2007): 491 –522.

Many of the primary sources are readily available online. Specifically,the following websites might be explored: Paul Halsall’s Modern History Sourcebook –awebsite of selected primary documents with citations. European NAvigator (or ENA) –awebsite on the history of the European Union Cold WarInternational History Project –awebsite connected to the Wilson Center that houses adigital library of documents relating to the Cold War. Many documents very specifically deal with nationalism. Tamilnation –awebsite primarily devoted to Tamil history.Nevertheless, it dedicates several pages to defining nationalism and ideas of nationhood:

Appendix B: Example of Group Exercise Group Exercise #3: Nationalism and Argumentation

Directions: In your group, read the document and then answer the following questions. Youwill have 45 minutes to complete this form (write on another sheet of paper or on the back) and we will reconvene as agroup to discuss your findings. Youshould also to use the supplied butcher paper to outline your responses for the class.

1. Who is the author/speaker? What is her/his title? What country is the speaker from? Who is the intended audience? 2. Does the speaker make comments about the nation? How? In what form? 3. Does the speaker make any allusions to other nations? What are these allusions? How do you think the audience is supposed to react to these comments? 4. What forms of argumentation does the speaker use (appeals to emotions, recognition of counterargument, appeal to authority of the speaker,etc.)? 5. What is the argument being made in this piece? Can you pinpoint a“thesis statement”? Summarize the main argument (your OWN words) in one or two sentences. 6. Can you pull out the bias in the argument? Youshould also pinpoint logical fallacies used by the speaker (either /or, ad hominem, overuse of pathos, etc.). 7. Compare your reading to the statements Michael Ignatieffmade about nationalism in The Road to Nowhere.Are there similarities between your reading and some of the people Ignatieffinterviews? Explain.

Appendix C: Student Reflection

Igenerally solicit student reflections on the effectiveness of group assignments after the semester.The following response is from astudent who took my class in Spring, 2007.

What, in your view,was the primary goal of the exercise? The primary goal of this exercise was to recognize and analyze the bias that was present in different country’s[sic] nationalistic arguments. By recogniz- ing this bias, we could begin to speculate the reasons, goals, and motives for such arguments. How wereall of these documents related to each other? All of these documents and films wererelated to each other in that they all focused on nationalist rhetoric and bias. They all contained aspecific language and tone, and used carefully selected images, words, or phrases to either mask or embellish their arguments with pathos specific to their targeted audience. What did you learn about nationalism? Ilearned that nationalism can be both aunifying and dividing factor and that bias and prejudice often affect the way other nations and peoples view each other. Based on the lesson, did you realize that you had preconceived ideas about the nation that you never really contemplated before? If so, what and why? This lesson made me realize that Ihad preconceived ideas about how the United States was viewed around the world. Based on American media from the 1980s Cold Warperiod, one would believe that the United States was viewed as liberators spreading democracy to people that werebegging for our help, when in reality,itmay only have been the United States desirefor this image. Did the exercise make you think about the world around you any differently? If so, how? If not, why not? This exercise made me think morecritically about the language and bias that is present in nationalistic rhetoric, especially that of the United States. It is often easier to analyze argument of another nation or people, yet it is harder to do so with your own country as it is morecommon place and trite. This exercise made me view and analyze both my own country and others countries [sic] nationalistic arguments morecritically. General Comments on usefulness of the exercise: This exercise is very useful, it forces students to think and analyze argument critically and not accept everything at face value. The use of nationalism as a medium for critical analysis is both engaging and informative, especially with the use of both foreign and domestic examples. 33 piled by Chinese scholars. Many of the Chinese Teaching World History at professors had returned from studying in Europe World or America. Chinese Universities: After the founding of the People’sRepublic Past and Present of China in 1949, the discipline of world history History From greatly changed. First, specific teaching and research sections Afar Xia Jiguo of world history were set up in all history depart- Capital Normal University ments. Today,teachers of world history account for about 40 percent of the faculty of adepart- ment. Global/World History in Three Concepts: World History,World General Second, the categories of world history have History, and Global History - The Ministry of greatly increased in contrast to the pre-1949 peri- China Education in China requires world history as one od. The histories of some important countries are of eight history subfields. The other subfields are: now taught. These include the former Soviet Professor Xia Jiguo and Mr.Sun YueofCapital the theory and philosophy of history,archaeology Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Normal University in Beijing presented the fol- and museology,historical geography,the philoso- France, Germany,Japan, and so on. There are lowing papers at the session “World/Global phy of historical documents, special history also teachers wholecture on the History of History in China,” Friday,27June 2008, at the (courses focused on fairly narrow topics, such as Regions, such as Asia,Africa, and Latin America. opening session of the WHA’s 17th Annual the Renaissance), the ancient history of China, Before 1949, these regions, or areas, as they are Conference at Queen Mary,University of and modern Chinese history.Ofthese, the most known in the U.S., were merely treated as the London. Both areactively engaged in the study of important are the ancient history of China, mod- objects of colonialism in the curriculum of global history,Professor Xia as amember of the ern Chinese history,and world history.The histo- Western History.Today we also offer specific his- faculty of CNU’sGlobal History Center,with a ries of all foreign countries are subsumed under tories, such as the History of World WarTwo, the specialty in the medieval era, and Mr.Sun as a the title world history.Generally speaking, teach- Western Renaissance, the Culture of Ancient Ph.D. candidate, with aspecialty in early modern ers who are engaged in the teaching and studying Greece, and the Catholic Church in the Middle Europe. Additionally,Sun Yueteaches in the of world history reside and practice in only one Ages. English Education Department of CNU‘s College discrete teaching and research area. The main Third, since 1949, Chinese universities have of Foreign Languages. Both colleagues serve on courses, or subjects, they offer include: world been teaching world general history.World gen- the Local Arrangements Committee, which Mr. general history,special history,dynastic histo- eral history is divided into four stages: Ancient, Sun chairs, in preparation for the 20th Annual ries, national, or state, histories, and regional his- Medieval, Modern, and Contemporary.The 4- WHA Conference, which Capital Normal tories. Among these courses, world general volume edition of World general history was pub- University will host, 7-11July 2011, at its state- history is compulsory,the others are elective. lished in 1962, as the first comprehensive teach- of-the-art International Cultural Plaza. Whereas world history is the history of anything ing guide and curriculum at the university level. In his paper,Professor Xia offers ageneral outside of China, traditional world general histo- With historical materialism as its guiding princi- overview of the past and current states of global ry is acollage of national and regional histories. ple, this book was deeply influenced by Soviet and world history studies in the PRC, pointing In this sense, it is somewhat similar to the world historical science. Since 1978, Chinese scholars out the differences between the U.S. and Chinese history surveys offered in the U.S. by those who have probed in depth into the system of world understanding of the term world history.There, are not comfortable or conversant with the new general history,and many new textbooks have what we understand as world history is termed world history, as represented by the AP World been published. global history,and, as we shall see in this essay, History curriculum and as promoted by the world history and world general history are WHA. But adistinctive feature of world general World History Teaching Conditions Today: A something entirely different from one another and history is that Chinese history is not included. Survey - We at Capital Normal University con- from the WHA’s world history. The so-called new world history,especially as ducted asurvey in early 2005. The main aim was Sun Yuehas pointed out in private corre- practiced in the U.S., which focuses on global to provide practical information for scholars spondence with this editor that his essay on the relationships, systems, interactions, and compar- engaged in the study of world general history and early modern European witch-hunt phenomenon ative history,iscalled global history by Chinese to encourage teaching reforms in this field. not only places it within aglobal context but pres- scholars, to distinguish it from world history and ents it with adistinctly Chinese perspective and world general history as taught and practiced in Statistical Information from the Teacher voice. Moreover,itnicely reminds us of next China. So there are some real differences here. Questionnaire. We distributed asingle question- year’s WHA conference venue: Salem, naire to 50 universities, inviting ateacher Massachusetts (25-28 June 2009), site of the infa- The Development of World History Teaching at engaged in the teaching and study of world histo- mous 1692 witch trials. Chinese Universities - From the beginning of the ry to fill it out. We received responses from the So we have one paper which deals with the twentieth century to 1949, acurriculum of following 37 universities: East China Normal state of world and global historical studies in Foreign History was set up in all Chinese univer- University,Shandong University,Wuhan contemporary China, and another that illustrates sities history departments, consisting mainly of University,Fudan University,Beijing Normal global history as practiced in the Peoples’ many kinds of Western histories. These included University,Sichuan University,People’s Republic of China. Taken together,the two papers Western General History,the History of Greece, University,Nanjing University,Nankai will allow WHA members who plan to attend the the History of the Roman Empire, Western University,Northeast China University,Jilin 2011conference at Capital Normal to engage in Medieval History,Western Modern History,the University,Neimenggu University,Zhengzhou meaningful and mutually beneficial dialogue with History of England, the History of France, the University,Shanghai University,Nanjing Normal the Chinese colleagues and students whom they History of the United States, and so on. Western University,Hunan Normal University,Hebei will meet there. General History was arequired course for history Normal University,Southwest China Normal A. J. Andrea students. The teaching materials used were main- University,Shanghai Normal University,Qufu ly written by Western scholars; few were com- Normal University,Shanxi University,Ningxia University,Heilongjiang University,Anhui 34 Normal University,Middle China Normal universities, 3 strengthened; docu- Table 3: Teacher Qualifications University,Huaibei Coal Industry Teachers’ semesters; and at mentary materials College, South China Normal University,Capital the remaining should be shared Normal University,Liaocheng University,Hubei universities, 2 among institutions; Teachers’ College, Hunan University of Science, semesters. The and multimedia Xihua Normal University,Yan’an University, total number of materials should be Anshan Teachers’ College, Guangxi University class hours at the edited for use. for Nationalities, Baotou Teachers’ College, and different univer- Other teachers Jiangxi Science and Teachers’ College. As is sities is shown in argued that multi- clear,these universities cover almost every part Table 4. media methods of China. Seventeen of these universities are con- This reflects the fact that world general his- should not be promoted too much, as they are sidered first-rate universities; 19 are the key nor- tory is changing now.Ten years ago, almost every only audiovisua1 aids and cannot replace the tra- mal universities of their province; and 4are com- university had more than 400 class hours of world ditional methods of historical science. Nine mon universities (some are double-counted). general history,and the same number class hours teachers proposed that lectures should be com- Among the 37 persons who participated, 5are of Chinese history.Now some universities are bined with classroom discussion in order to moti- deans or presidents of universities that teach or offering more elective courses. vate students to study.The textbooks on world study We also know from the survey that 14 general history,the teachers believe, should be Table 1: Age Distribution world universities revised constantly so that new study results can history, (38%) Table 4: Number of Class be incorporated; references should be appended 14 are offered to each chapter,and textbooks should include his- Hours of World General leading world gener- torical maps. The prevalent textbook World histo- History Teaching scholars al history in ry should be revised as soon as possible.1 In addi- in the their non- disci- history Table 6: Question -Which Teaching pline of departments, Methods areUsed in Your World world 18 universi- General History Course? history, ties (49%) and l8 did not offer are com- it at all, and mon 5(15%) did- teachers of world history.Webelieve that this n’trespond. survey is sufficient to reflect the basic condition Excluding of world general history education in China, and the courses that its results provide abundant and comprehen- on world sive first-hand material that is thought-provoking. general his- At the 37 universities that responded, atotal tory,80% of the universities offered more than 10 of 366 people are engaged in teaching and study- world history elective courses. ing world history.The following is some back- To gain amore in depth view of the teaching tion, it is imperative that teachers constantly ground information about them. methods and quality of teaching in the field of improve their own knowledge of world history Looking at the data, especially at the large world general history,wedeveloped the follow- theory,methods, and research. In order to over- number of people who have been abroad for fur- ing two selective questions: Do you adopt multi- come the high degree of specialization, teachers ther study and who hold adoctoral degree or sen- media techniques in your course(s)? and Which should foster abroader view of world history. ior title, there is no doubt that there has been a teaching methods are used in your world general They should be familiar with the relevant materi- high level of achievement within the discipline of history course? From these results (Tables 5and als and studies, reinforce communication with world history in recent years. Yetifweclassify 6), we conclude that most teachers not only other scholars, and attach more importance to these 37 schools into three kinds according to the understand the basic foundations of world gener- language-training in both Chinese and English. standard or level of the discipline of world histo- al history education, but they also incorporate Looking beyond a world history which is ry at each, we still find great differences among advanced international research into their courses everything but China, there is integrated global them. to widen the students’ horizons. To the subjective history,which has become the focus of interna- With regard to the total number of class question, “Do you have any suggestions for tional historiography since the 1980s. To gain the hours of world general history,wehave informa- improving upon teaching methods?” many good view of history teachers in China on this subject, tion on 36 universities. At 1university the pro- ideas were offered, which mainly focused on sev- we asked the following questions: Are you famil- gram spanned 6semesters; at 9universities, 5 eral aspects men- iar with global history?Doyou give lessons in semesters; at 13 universities, 4semesters; at 12 tioned below.As Table 5: Question -Do global history?and Have you ever read books on to the topic of global history?(See Tables 7and 8) multimedia YouAdopt Multimedia Table 2: Highest Educational Level Techniques in Your The most teaching, l2 popular global his- Course(s)? Table 7: Question - respondents stat- tory books they ed that more read are: AreYou Familiar with multimedia Stavrianos’ A Global History? methods should Global History, be put into prac- Pomeranz’ The tice; the source- Great Divergence, building of mul- Wallerstein’s timedia-teaching Modern World shouldbe 35 System,Frank’s Reorient: Global Economy in the ic thought and methods to historical research. fully. Asian Age,Spengler’s The Decline of the West, Fifth, in an era of globalization, global his- Fourth, while global history is objective and and Toynbee’s The Study of History.These results tory opens up new research fields in the study of scientific, its grand sweep is nonetheless based on prove that teachers have acertain familiarity with world history microcosmic history.Above all, we must teach the Western tradition and current international and indicates Table 11:Question -How essential historical facts. Only after this is done scholarship in world and global history. new ways for Often Do Your Teachers of can we introduce the global dimension of history Teachers articulated, however,widely vary- its future. World General History Use to students. ing views on global history,which are enlighten- Sixth, Multimedia? ing. Out of 37 teachers investigated, nearly 30 global history Statistical Information from the Student offered their opinions on the topic. Some teachers provides the Questionnaires.For the student survey,wedis- made apositive tools to study tributed 340 questionnaires to students at 9uni- Table 8: Question -Do evaluation of the history of versities: Nankai University,Shandong YouGive Lessons in global history. the world in its University,Sichuan University,East China Global History? Their arguments entirety; it Normal University,Middle China Normal can be summa- offers astruc- University,Tianjin Normal University,Qufu rized in six points: ture for its Normal University,Liaocheng University,and First, the development Capital Normal University.Wereceived 3l3 field of global his- and highlights global trends. responses, from which we can draw some conclu- tory is one that a Besides these positive reactions, teachers sions about the degree of students’ understanding rising China also expressed their perplexity and anxiety about of world general history and their assessment of should take up as how to apply global history in the course of teaching and textbooks, as well as their degree of it represents valuable assets in trying to reestab- teaching. Five points were raised. satisfaction with this field. The main questions lish the world general history system after having First, global history is an effective theoretical and feedback are presented in Tables 11 through gotten rid of the fetters of ideology.The key to method for analyzing history and doing historical 19. global history lies in its completely new research. It emphasizes transnational relation- We can conclude here that the undergradu- approach. It is neither asuperficial change in tra- ships in the development of history and is helpful ates are interested in world general history,they ditional general history nor the result of abal- in deconstructing Eurocentrism and want to know the world, including the history of anced history in area studies. Its focal point is not Sinocentrism. However,itshould not be used the world and the world today,and they are gen- the nation but the greater world. Global history when compiling textbooks and teaching courses. erally satisfied with the world general history treats the globe as awhole from the angle of Especially in the field of ancient history,ithas teaching conditions. domestic politics, nation and race, geography and 1ed to an artificial exaggeration of relationships From the teacher questionnaire, we found climate, cultural traditions, and diplomatic rela- among ancient peoples. Global history brings out that economic growth led to the improvement tions, and it many perplexities into teaching and, for example, of teaching facilities in universities, which allows aims at inves- Table 9: Question -Have should not be applied to the teaching of ancient most teachers to use multimedia if necessary. tigating the history. However,from the student questionnaire, we features and YouEver Read Books Second, although global history is very use- found that teachers do not use multimedia presen- trends of glob- On Global History? ful, its scope is more complicated and intimidat- tations enough: al history ing for students. Furthermore, the degree of diffi- Comparing the responses for the questions developments culty of the courses increases rapidly.Ittherefore in Table 12 and Table 13, we know most teachers by exploring makes much more sense to teach history by are still using traditional teaching methods, such the exchanges focusing first on geographical areas. Once the as lectures. In contrast, the discussion/disquisi- and relationships among Table 12: Question -What Kinds Table 13: Question -What Kinds people, nations, regions, and countries. of Teaching Methods Do Your of Teaching Methods AreYour Moreover,Chinese global history scholars should Teachers of World General History Favorites? (Multiple Choice) attempt to thoroughly abandon the influence of Often Use? (Multiple Choice) Eurocentrism and to express the particular Chinese understanding within the international discourse on world history. Second, global history could macroscopi- cal1y draw the general outline of the whole development of world history and avoid Eurocentrism. Third, as ahistorical research method, global history is useful in understanding the complexity of the world and in avoiding treating world tion approach is favored by the students. There general history students have mastered the key issues of world are many reasons for this. The main reason is, the Table 10: Question -Do as acollection of history,they are then more capable of grasping Chinese students tended to be shy in the past. YouLike the Course of seriatim national the concepts of global history. When teachers asked them questions, generally World General History? histories. Third, global history should be understood there was no response. But now,the students are Fourth, and comprehended fully by every teacher who different. They are more active than before, so global history teaches world history and even by those who teachers should change their teaching methods, reflects an inter- teach only Chinese history.But the problem still and the sooner,the better. disciplinary remains as to how to effectively teach global his- From the data in Table 14, it is very clear approach and tory well, how to incorporate it into the currcu- that teachers usually assess students through writ- applies systemat- lum, and how to join theory and practice success- ten tests. Surely this is connected with their teach- 36 ing methods. Because of this, Chinese undergrad- Table 17: Question tries. Table 19: Question -Which Books uates don’thave too much to do after class, and Sixth, they propose -DoYou Know Have YouRead? [The most popular over 90% of them can pass the finals. Something About to enforce the study With regard to these current teaching condi- of historical theories books arelisted.] the Viewpoints of and methods and to Table 14: Question -What Global History? extend the class Means Do Your Teachers Use hours of world gener- to Evaluate Your Performance? al history. (Multiple Choice) In summary,above and beyond classroom teaching, more attention should be paid to students’ acquisition of knowledge by themselves, proven this point. We should compile textbooks i.e. self-directed learning. In that regard, Tables on special areas and national histories, omit 15 through 19 reflect the responses received to national histories in our world general history our questions. textbooks, and focus instead on relations and mutual exchanges among different parts of the tions, students suggested six points on how to Table 18: Question - world. improve the world general history program. Have YouRead Some Third, as the result of the second problem First, it is necessary to read more foreign Books About Global area, the class hours of world general history at history masterpieces. For the beginner,teachers all universities should be standardized. History? should introduce easy books and frequently con- Fourth, teaching methods must be improved. duct activities on We should change the traditional method to dis- reading and com- cussion and disquisition and guide students in Table 15: Question - prehension tech- solving problems independently while reading. Have YouRead Any niques. Finally,there need to be some changes in Extra Books? Second, students examinations and in the methods of scoring stu- want to obtain dents. more perceptual knowledge about world general his- Conclusions - From the teacher and student sur- 1 According to our survey 23 institutions use World history tory.Multimedia, veys, we can sum up the current teaching condi- (six volumes), compiled by Wu Yujin and Qi Shirong. video documents, tions in world general history at Chinese univer- classical movies, sities. With the quick development of the Chinese and introductions to foreign customs, are seen as economy,the increasing possibility of interna- good ways. In order to enhance students’ compre- tional and national communication, and especial- hension of geographical spaces, or “spatial per- ly the high-speed development of postgraduate ception,” textbooks should contain illustrations, education, teaching facilities have greatly graphs, and other visual materials, especially his- improved and library resources have become Prospectsand Pitfalls of aGlobal torical maps. abundant. In addition, teachers have improved History Approach To the Early- Third, teachers should talk more about their academic credentials and broadened their Modern European Witch Hunt important world topics and try to guide students perspectives. All of these factors have benefited from ancient to modem times. teaching and made reforms possible. Fourth, it is suggested to diversify the means At the same time, many problems need to be of examination. For example, term papers could resolved in world general history education. Sun Yue be used in addition to final examinations. First, since it is agreat project to transform the Capital Normal University Fifth, students expect to be offered advanced traditional world general history into areal glob- foreign-language classes in order to be able to al history, world general history should be taught Abstract: The contemporary rise of global histo- read more original documents from other coun- by sophisticated senior professors in the third ry signals the efforts of history as an academic academic year.Inthe first and second years, discipline to keep abreast of the times. Many his- Table 16: Question -IfYou Have Read courses such as Chinese history,national histo- torical issues, including the early-modern Some, Please List Your Favorites. [The ries, and historical theory and methodology European witch hunt, when examined in the new most popular books arelisted.] should be offered, which are helpful to lay the light of global history,yield startlingly fresh foundation for learning world general history. images and new prospects for historical research. These recommendations are based on the follow- Yetglobal history is not without pitfalls. Failing ing current realities: At Chinese universities, to critically examine primary sources can be world general history is taught from the first aca- lethal; blindly following established narrative demic year,and most of the teachers of this frameworks can lead one astray; and global his- course are young and do not have much teaching tory is not the history of everything, something to experience; similarly,more experienced and be borne in mind by practitioner and reader advanced professors prefer to offerelective alike. courses based on their narrow research. Second, it is necessary to improve text- Arguably, global history covers everything that books. Our surveys of teachers and students have has happened to man in time and on Earth. Or 37 conversely,“all aspects of past human activity “disenchantment of the world”5 with arejection ed in standard world history textbooks, while a 1 and belief” fall properly into the domain of a of the mysticism of religion and aturning toward number of Chinese world historians have chosen 14 global history examination. As such, global histo- amore mechanical, rationalistic worldview; the to dwell on other issues. ry stands in sharp contrast with traditional histo- rise of religious pluralism; and ageneral amelio- How do we make sense of the rise and fall of riographical schools, which either square history ration of the social condition.6 the early-modern European witch hunt? Standing within the nation-state container,orare regional- This neat explanation, however,leaves farther back, one may ask: Were witch hunts ly/culturally structured, leading almost inevitably major problems unresolved. For example, what unique to early-modern Europe and English to the dualistic dilemma of civilization versus were the ultimate drives behind this frenzied, North America? barbarism. The approach is laden with problems human-orches- and frustrations. For one trated atrocity? The Methods: For Chinese historians studying ...global history is aconscious attempt to break thing, fits of barbarism Rationalists the early-modern European witch hunt, perhaps away from over-professionalization in historical erupt within the epicenter regard witchcraft the only thing they can possibly rely on is just studies,... of civilization itself, some- beliefs as result- common sense, often prevented as they access times lasting centuries, ing from delusion archival materials. That means they have to rely one example being the early-modern European and the witch-hunt adeliberate attempt by the largely on “second-hand” materials –other histo- witch hunt, which the historian Rossell Hope Church to crack down on dissidence for its own rians’ interpretations and edited sourcebooks as Robbins (1912-1990) denounced as a“shocking benefit; romanticists contend that witchcraft prac- well –inmusing on just about any topic in world nightmare, the foulest crime and deepest shame tices and alleged sabbats, or covens, were histor- history.Itisnot acomfortable position, profes- 15 of modern civilization, the black-out of every- ically true and represented aperennial pagan sionally. But this can be turned into an advan- 2 thing that …reasoning man has ever upheld.” resistance to Christian belief and practices; and tage: the lapse of time and asociopsychocultural This paper is not to argue that global history social scientists depict the witch-hunt as aprod- distance could provide vistas unavailable to peo- provides the only viable perspective and methods uct of enormous social strain at atime of dramat- ple nearer at hand, the gist of which is aptly cap- for eliminating this apparent dilemma, but rather ic change.7 Agendas8 aside, all three schools are tured in ashort poem by the eleventh-century that the global history approach does yield impor- sympathetic with the persecuted ones; few schol- Chinese poet Su Shi titled “Written on the Wall of tant insights. In anutshell, this paper aims to offer ars today find much agreement with Sprenger and Xilin Monastery”: acritique of current scholarship on the early- Kramer—authors of the Malleus maleficarum Horizontally we see arange of hills, and modern European Witch-hunt, advocating a glob- (Hammer of Witches)of1484—who presented sideways apeak, al history treatment. It intends to show,from the the side of the persecutors. Were the persecutors Each perspective and altitude shift gives a perspective of global history,that the early-mod- not at all justified in what they wrote and did? different shape. ern European witch hunt was unique but not Levack, for one, provides aclue to partially exceptional; along with witchcraft, it is aperenni- The true face of Lushan is not to be revealed, answering this, i.e., the “fear of rebellion.” For at To one lost in its misty haze. al human fact; was underlined by aplethora of least in late-medieval or early-modern Europe, it human factors, the gist of which is none other was widely held that “Rebellion is the mother of So it is my wish that I, an outsider to than apower game, scapegoating, and persecu- witchcraft.” And the fear was not groundless, for tion of the Other; needs triggering, in the form of Western mainstream culture, and one who, with- “the numerous calamities of the late fourteenth in aConfucian tradition, embraces aholistically personal animosity,social tension, or natural hap- century,most especially the Black Death, may hazardness, among other factors. humane approach, with the help of a global histo- have encouraged intellectuals to assume greater ry perspective, might be naturally endowed with demonic intervention in the world...”9 Equally The Problem: The early-modern European avision that possibly contributes to unveiling the confusing is the decline of witchcraft beliefs and “true face” of the early-modern European witch- witch-hunt has attracted so much recent scholarly 10 the witch hunt. craft and witch hunt. attention that the topic has earned the status of a The result is that this episode in European 3 History sets out to account for what actually “genre in its own right,” and, consequently,the history continues to be shrouded in the mists of a amount of witchcraft literature is volunious. happened. But that is only part of the job of his- “proliferation of theories,” which has created torians. Theyare burdened with the task of Simply put, historical explanations of the episode “more confusion than enlightenment.”11 It is cer- run as follows: 1) witchcraft as maleficium (sor- detecting patterns of continuityand change, help- tainly reasonable to recognize that the early-mod- ing to shape wiser,healthier minds and sustain- cery), when coupled with the notion of apact 12 ern European witch hunt was “multi-causal,” ably happier lives. with the Devil, was perceived as adiabolical but one is slow to attribute it to acollective endeavor,and this, in turn, generated the intellec- Historians are detectives and doctors at the mania, considering the length of witch hunting same time. Detectives find; doctors save. Both tual foundation for witch persecution; 2) the shift episodes and the legal mechanisms that were from accusatorial to inquisitorial procedures are eagle-eyed and cool-minded. And on the basis widely employed during the whole process. The of the above model, historians can set out to inte- facilitated legal torture, boosting the size and least likely explanation, of course, is that there 4 grate individual experiences, social encounters, momentum of the witch craze, which, in turn, suddenly emerged countless sabbats, or covens, led to widespread “judicial murder;” 3) the and natural environment transformations, detect- of witches who were practicing infanticides and ing the struggling, shifting, intertwining, interact- Reformation served to intensify witch-hunts in a cannibalism and had in mind nothing short of period of religious and social turmoil, especially ing, mutually reinforcing or confining among overthrowing the whole of Christendom, as con- them, all of which results in an order arising out throughout the Holy Roman Empire, and particu- spiracy theorists’ fantasies would have us believe. larly in Germany; 4) though witch persecutions of chaos, an order of the holistic dynamism of The early-modern European witch hunt is change.16 showed variations in terms of size and locale, the perceived as unique, particular to aspecific time typical accused witch was apoor,old, ugly hag, Beyond that, global history is aconscious and place, and nowhere else to be found if exam- attempt to break away from over-professionaliza- often widowed, and known as abitter gossip; 5) 13 ined in isolation or in low-context profile. So tion in historical studies,17 the rigid nation-state witchcraft beliefs and witch persecutions despite several dozen different interpretations, declined as aresult of four factors, namely: anew paradigm, and the prevalence of Eurocentrism, to this period of seeming anomaly is always used to name but three phenomena against which it judicial climate in which evidence of acrime was justify the exceptional quality of European histo- demanded, as well as credible crime witnesses; a stands. So instead of simply searching within the ry.Meanwhile, in China, the topic itself is avoid- boundaries of nation-states, regions, or civiliza- 38 tions, global historians look at the globe and devil. It was the understanding of gender inside yet vehement attack, conspiracy theory does not human societies as awhole to make sense of Puritan culture that enabled husbands to turn on seem to have lost its staying power,especially in humanity’sadventure on Earth; they stare into their wives, “good” women to accuse “bad” ones, the United States. In his essay on Communism, 22 life or the world itself to see what it can yield and high-minded judges to believe them. motherhood, and Cold Warmovies, Michael about the human existence, from above and Taken as awhole, it is only natural that Rogin identifies three major moments in the his- below,from within and all around. monotheistic Christian dualism would have bred tory of demonology in American politics, in heresy and the zeal of persecution lavished on the “inventing” enemies as targets of attack to define The Solution: The need for aglobal treatment of alien Other.This points to the sociocultural cli- the U.S.A.’sown cultural identity.28 That was the early-modern European witch hunt has grad- mate of the late-Middle Ages of European socie- what drove Thomas Jefferson to describe the ually surfaced. The publication of the six-volume ty as the single most important factor feeding motives of King George III as “the establishment 18 Witchcraft and Magic in Europe series testifies into the early-modern witch hunt, this despite the of an absolute tyranny over these states”;29 that to the perennial appeal of witchcraft beliefs, and concept of diabolism triggered by various natural was how the former Soviet Union almost imme- sporadic outbursts of “witch hunts,” even in the disasters, including the Black Death and the diately replaced the Nazis and the Japanese (who st 23 21 century,are manifestations of this. It is also Little Ice Age, and despite the legal facilitation had earlier usurped first place from but never ahopeful sign that the geographical and chrono- of torture, which served only as ameans to an fully replaced “Indians” or “blacks” and the logical coverage of witchcraft studies has end of persecution. In short, the witch hunt was immigrant working classes) as the new “per- increased in recent years, while global and inter- the logical outcome of adualistic scheme of ceived” threat to America during the Cold War, disciplinary approaches to witchcraft are steadily things. Consequently unless people can arm as savage, alien, and fit to be eliminated.30 being published, as the global perspective contin- themselves with anew set of values that honor So far,Ihave afeeling of marching into ues to yield anumber of astoundingly new find- harmonious development, accommodate differ- unknown lands. But this piece of common sense ings. ences, place human beings above cultural orien- is not yet lost to me: in studying witchcraft and First, it has been discovered that witchcraft tations, and transcend conflicts, new rounds of witch hunts, historians’ eyes are filled with bitter- beliefs or even witch hunts have never ceased witch hunt or pseudo-witch hunts are likely to ness and bloodshed if they allow their eyes to be both as manifestations of ahuman psychological recur. fixed on the cruelties of the human past, to the need to account for the inexplicable, and in the Most cultures have narratives or myths in deprivation of the wholesomeness and meaning- service of certain economic or political agendas, which the “Other,” apprehended as ablamewor- fulness of human existence on earth and in the which dampens, if not totally destroys, the notion thy stranger,issacrificed as ascapegoat. Cultural universe. The historians’ aim remains clear,i.e., of early-modern European exceptionalism in identity is affirmed by holding the stranger to help build amore harmonious and sustainable regard to its witch hunts. If it were only igno- responsible for the ills of society and sacrificing human society where creativity and happiness rance, religious dogma, and the lack of advanced him or her accordingly.The biblical scapegoat reign. Following the logic of conspiracy theorist, sci-tech means that led to witchcraft beliefs in the symbolically laden with all the guilt of the what we refer to as “witch hunting,” or anything late Middle Ages, how can one explain the wide- Israelites is reenacted, usually in human form, like it, is highly likely to recur in atime of rapid spread witchcraft beliefs in some of the world’s right down to the present day.Jews, lepers, change coupled with unexpected, unfathomable most developed countries in the contemporary heretics, witches, shamans, pagans, Gnostics, disasters. So even though we as historians are 20 world? Besides, witchcraft beliefs have been Sufis, infidels, Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, seemingly entrusted with the duty of reminding long cherished by Africans, Asians, Amerindians, Native Americans, Negroes, homosexuals, and the world of the evil and vain barbarity of scape- 21 Australian aborigines, as well as Europeans, atheists, have all been cast in this role. The alien goating, we cannot guarantee that it will not hap- and witch hunts or quasi-witch hunts flare up in Other is also experienced as ademonic monster, pen again; for once it gets started, it has alife of cases of inexplicable disasters or political agen- as quasihuman but degenerate, exceeding the its own. For example, in times of war,soldiers, da-setting, almost always within the context of a bounds of human decency,inspiring unease, dis- with no obvious “propensities toward rape, sexu- conspiracy theory. quiet, and even terror. al sadism, or sadistic violence in civilian life,” It must be admitted that for any event to The perception and persecution of the might resort to rape, torture, random killing, and happen, for any response to be elicited such as “Other” as athreat has persisted throughout his- mutilation.31 the legitimated use of violence against an alien tory.The elimination of the Philistines by the “Other,” there must be aplethora of factors at Israelites (Amos 1:6-8), the destruction of Prospectsand Pitfalls: Witchcraft studies, or, work. First and foremost, there must be aper- Carthage by the Romans, the massacres of “infi- more specifically,the study of early-modern ceived danger to individuals, to the power hierar- dels” by Christians and Muslims alike during the European witch hunts, may well turn out to be a th th chy,ortothe moral order of society.Toalarge Crusades of the 12 and 13 centuries, the exter- tester of the possibilities and limits for historical extent, this scenario exemplifies the spirit of why mination of the Huguenots by Louis XIV,the inquiry and research. It is perhaps impossible for witches are hunted almost everywhere. In “Why Spanish conquest of Meso- and South America, historians to provide definitive explanations of Salem Made Sense,” Isaac Reed demonstrates the state-inspired slaying of Jews in tsarist even the core factors behind the formation, ardor, that the fears and anxieties that drove the people Russia, the bounty imposed on Apache scalps in and execution of witch persecutions in early- th of Salem to execute twenty of their own men and 19 -century Mexico, and the extirpation of modern Europe. Perhaps it was simply an attempt women, cannot be reduced to political uncertain- Beothucks in Newfoundland, are all examples of to get rid of swarming dissidents in an age of ty,economic competition, or village jealousy; attempts to kill offanunwanted “Other.” Yetall sociopolitical turmoil on the part of the powerful rather,itmade sense to the Congregationalists in these pale against the “systemic slaughters” of but declining Church and the burgeoning nation- th Massachusetts because it was aset of actions in the 20 century,which makes it indisputably the state. Wasthere really aparadigm shift with defense of an emotionally charged order of bloodiest and most barbarous century,hardly empirical science replacing dogmatic 25 morality,metaphysics, and sex –the Puritan deserving the name of “civilization.” Christianity,thus shaking the foundation of the 26 world view.What Salem put at stake was not Conspiracy theory, the “erroneous view latter? But Christianity stands firm and sound only the self-conscious collective identity of the that whenever something evil happens, it must be even in the contemporary world, with the number 27 Puritans as God’schosen people, but also the due to the evil will of an evil power,” is the nat- of Christian believers alone approaching over nature and place of men and women, and their ural outgrowth and companion of such demoniz- two billion worldwide.32 Just as the decline of relationship to the invisible world of God and the ing tendencies. Despite Sir Karl Popper’s sober Catholic Christianity’sauthority and the rise of 39 state power might have triggered large-scale Grayson and David Lederer (Cambridge: Cambridge University staggering nine million! In the United States, the nine-million witch hunts, the state decline in Nigeria is already Press, 1997), p. 1, n. 1. figure appeared in the 1978 book Gyn/Ecology by the influen- 4 Brian P. Levack, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe, tial feminist theoretician Mary Daly,who picked it up from a followed by the “return” of occult power and the 19th-century American feminist, Matilda Joslyn Gage in 2nd ed. (London: Longman, 1995), p. 2. The “mania” explana- 33 Woman, Church and State (1893; reprint, Watertown, Mass.: eruption of witch persecutions. Religious plu- tion typifies apathological model, essentially progressivistic. Persephone Press, 1980), pp. 106-7. See also Diane Purkiss, ralism is customarily lauded as aterminating fac- Robert Scribner thus sums up the evolution of witch hunts: “An The Witch in History: Early Modern and Twentieth-Century accusation of witchcraft is brought against an individual and tor of the great witch hunt, yet the current trend Representations (London and New York, 1996), p. 28, n. 23. stirs up deep-seated fears and anxieties; persons are interrogat- toward amulticultural globe often accompanies Miriam Starhawk, an influential figure in the modern witchcraft ed, accomplices sought, confessions made and other persons movement, claims “to be awitch is to identify with nine million demonological predictions of clashes and con- named; the list of suspects grows longer as the activity of witch- victims of bigotry and hatred…” This is certainly unreliable, for 34 craft is revealed as awidespread conspiracy,precipitating a flicts. Is the world heading toward anew glob- she says at the beginning “[a]ccording to our legends.” See moral panic in the community at large. The net of complicity al order or chaos? Miriam Simos Starhawk, The Spiral Dance. Rebirth of the spreads out to encompass those apparently above reproach: th As much as witchcraft studies have benefit- potentially everyone within the community is implicated. There Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess,10 anniversary edition ed from enlarging perspectives and cross-discipli- are interrogations under torture, burnings, arising tide of panic, with anew introduction and chapter by chapter commentary (Harper,1989; orig. 1979), p. 22. nary scholarship, much more remains to be done. until even the very judges themselves are suspect. Then the boil bursts, the fever burns itself out and the exhausted social body 9 See Levack, pp. 64-67. Needless to say,much of the previous invaluable is left to recuperate as best it can.” This explanation is “funda- 10 For agruesome individual case, see Adrian Howe and regional research needs to be incorporated into a mentally flawed,” argues Scribner,insisting on an empathetic Sarah Ferber,“Delivering demons, punishing wives: False global history of witchcraft and witch hunt. And understanding of the role of popular magic, sorcery or witch- imprisonment, exorcism and other matrimonial duties in alate such an endeavor calls for joint transdisciplinary craft as “embedded in the texture” of the early modern 20th-century manslaughter case,” Punishment Society,Vol. 7, European “daily life” before historians can come to terms with No. 2(2005): 123–146, which details Australia’smost famous efforts; it demands institutional collaboration; it this period of seeming “anomaly.” See Robert W. Scribner, “exorcism-womanslaughter” case, in which awoman, Joan urges historians to go both wider and deeper in “Witchcraft and Judgement in Reformation Germany,” History Vollmer,underwent an “exorcism” performed by four people, search of elements bolstering human develop- Today (Apr., 1990): 12-19. resulting in her death on January 30, 1993. For some of the lat- 5 ment and interactions, giving rise to patterns of The term “Entzauberung der Welt” is derived from Max est publications on witchcraft in Africa, see Andrew Apter, Weber,who first elaborated on the thesis of “disenchantment of “Atinga Revisited: Yoruba Witchcraft and the Cocoa Economy, continuity and change, taking insights and clues the world” in a1917 lecture, pinpointing the retreat of amagi- 1950–1951,” in J. Comaroffand J. Comaroff, (eds) Modernity from both regional microhistorical analysis and a cal, animistic world, and therefore, the loss of meaning in a and its Malcontents: Ritual and Power in Postcolonial Africa sweeping global vision of the human adventure rational,secularized, bureaucratic world. See Max Weber, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993); Misty Bastian, “Science as aVocation,” in H. H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills, “‘Bloodhounds Who Have No Friends’: Witchcraft and on earth. (eds.) From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology (New York, 1946), Locality in the Nigerian Popular Press,” in Modernity and its Moreover,global historians face the chal- pp. 129-156, quoted in Michael Saler,“Modernity and Malcontents;Peter Geschiere, The Modernity of Witchcraft: lenge of accommodating both amacroscopic Enchantment: AHistoriographical Review,” The American Politics and the Occult in Postcolonial Africa (Charlottesville: Historical Review,Vol. 111,Issue 3(Jun., 2006): 692–716, n. 5. University Press of Virginia, 1997); Adam Ashforth, Madumo: vision and vivid details, thereby composing grand According to Weber: “the increasing rationalization and intel- AMan Bewitched (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, historical narratives that are alive with the joys lectualization…means that principally there are no mysterious 2000); Elias Kifon Bongmba, African Witchcraft and and sorrows of humanity. incalculable forces that come into play,but rather that one can, Otherness: APhilosophical and Theological Critique of in principle, master all things by calculation. This means that Intersubjective Relations (Albany,NY: State University of New the world is disenchanted,” see Weber,“Science as aVocation,” York Press, 2001). One wonders: have witchcraft beliefs and Conclusion: If it is true that concerning witch- p. 139. Weber saw “disenchantment” as a“great historic process witch hunt really declined? craft, “we know far too little,”35 we might as well in the development of religions…which…came here to its log- 11 Levack, p. 2. acknowledge that there’smuch more that remains ical conclusion.” See Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit 12 Levack, p. 3; Robin Briggs, “‘Many reasons why’: witch- to be uncovered in order to construct of a global of Capitalism,trans. Talcott Parsons (New York, 1958), p. 105, craft and the problem of multiple explanation,” in Jonathan quoted in Robert W. Scribner,“The Reformation, Popular Barry,Marianne Hester,and Gareth Roberts, (eds.) Witchcraft history of witchcraft. The problem of evil resur- Magic, and the ‘Disenchantment of the World,’” Journal of in Early Modern Europe: Studies in Cultureand Beliefs faces in the contemporary world as aresult of Interdisciplinary History,Vol. 23, No. 3, Religion and History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp. 49-63. (Winter,1993): 475, n. 1. Asimilar thesis is argued in Keith intermittent horrifying disasters, either mysteri- 13 Green and Bigelow list three things that set Europeans Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic (Harmondsworth, “far apart from most other peoples at most other times and ously visiting or overtly befalling various soci- 1971), pp. 27-89. places”: “Between 1500 and 1700 they set sail in tall ships and 6 eties; in meeting the challenge human solidarity See, for example, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline explored and colonized the far corners of the globe. They made is called for to eliminate the evil. Buddhism finds of Magic;Alan D. J. Macfarlane, Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart stunning strides forward in the sciences. And they executed tens an escape from this dilemma in an abolition of all England (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1970; of thousands of people, mainly women, as witches.” See Karen London: Routledge, 1999); C. Larner, Enemies of God: The Green and John Bigelow,“Does Science Persecute Women? selfish desire, Confucianism, in ahierarchy of Witch-hunt in Scotland (London: Chatto and Windus, 1981); The Case of the 16th-17th Century Witch-Hunts,” Philosophy, Bengt Ankarloo and Stuart Clark, (eds.) Witchcraft and Magic human relationships and proper conduct, and Vol. 73, No. 284 (Apr., 1998): 199. Levack, for one, regards the in Europe: The Period of the Witch Trials (Philadelphia: Christianity in good triumphing over evil. If the witch hunt as a“time-bound phenomenon,” peculiar to early University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002); Jonathan Barry, modern Europe and nowhere else. In the same vein, the witch current constitution of modern human existence Marianne Hester,and Gareth Roberts, (eds.) Witchcraft in Early hunt in early modern England is claimed to possess qualities of is shaped by generations of human efforts, global Modern Europe: Studies in Cultureand Beliefs (Cambridge: its own, in terms of both its lack of diabolical elements and Cambridge University Press, 1996); Levack, The Witch-Hunt in historians must see it as incumbent upon them to inquisitorial procedures targeted at the accomplices of the Early Modern Europe;Gary K. Waite, Magic, and Witchcraft in Devil. See Levack, Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe,pp. 3, make sense of all of this. Early Modern Europe (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003); 10, 73-4, 83. H. R. Trevor-Roper, The Crisis of the Seventeenth Century: 14 Religion, Reformation, and Social Change (Indianapolis: World history textbooks in China, e.g., Wu Yujin and Qi ENDNOTES Liberty Fund, 1967). Shirong, (eds.) Shijie shi [World history], vols. 1–6 (Beijing: Gaodeng jiaoyu chubanshe, 1994), usually make no reference to 1 7 See Jonathan Barry,and Owen Davies, (eds.) Palgrave Alfred J. Andrea and James H. Overfield, (eds.) The this period of seeming “anomaly” in European history.The first Advances in Witchcraft Historiography (Palgrave Macmillan, Human Record: Sources of Global history,2vols. 6th ed. doctoral dissertation on this topic, “The Witch-Hunt amidst the 2007); Thomas A. Fudge, “Traditions and Trajectories in the (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company,2009), Great Transformation” (Yao Peng, Beijing Normal University, Historiography of European Witch-hunting,” History Compass, Prologue, p. 1. 2005), dwells on the “intricacy,complexities, and paradoxes of 4/3 (2006): 488-527. 2 See Rossell Hope Robbins, The Encyclopedia of the early modernization process,” while other pioneering efforts 8 Rationalists were eager to install the supremacy of reason Witchcraft and Demonology (London: 1959), p. 3, quoted in in this regard place the witch hunt in anew wave of patriarchal while romanticists, in protest, were perhaps too much absorbed Scarre and Callow, Witchcraft and Magic in Sixteenth- and reformulation in early modern times, resulting in the persecu- in the “willing suspension of disbelief,” or in service of the tion of women, see Xu Shanwei, “Reality and Theoretical Seventeenth-Century Europe,2nd ed. (Palgrave Macmillan, French Revolution. Feminist interpretations of the witch hunt in Foundation of the Persecution of Women in Europe, 1500- 2001), pp. 2-3. One does not seem to be accountable for even recent decades are perhaps another typical case of agenda-mak- 1800,” World history,No. 4(2007): 82-91; and his “Patriarchal the “foulest crime” committed during “black-outs of reason” or ing, in that they have mainly sought to take advantage of this Reformulation vs. the Persecution of Women during the sleep. But the whole thing was deliberate and legally supported! episode of “patriarchic atrocity” to work out afeminist witch European Witch-hunt,” Studies in Historical Theory,No. 4 3 Darren Oldridge, (ed.) The Witchcraft Reader (London: figure to their own advantage, hence the legendary nine million (2007): 34-41. Routledge, 2002), p. 1; Wolfgang Behringer, Witchcraft witch martyrs for the feminist cause. So although the exact 15 It is often said and basically true that ahistorian’scom- Persecutions in Bavaria. Popular Magic, Religious Zealotry number of persecuted witches supported by serious academic petence approximates the quantity of archival materials avail- and Reason of State in Early Modern Europe,trans. J. C. historians is no more than 60,000, feminists have postulated a able to him or her.But there is something else, vision. 40 Confinement to the mythic structure of the nation state, for presumed culprit witches. Adramatic exception was the year as ‘a Swedish Buddhist,’” on p. 3. example, can often result in one’sinability and failure to view 1430, which alone reports no execution of witches in what was 33 Johannes Harnischfeger,“State Decline and the Return of the rise and fall of the nation state itself. otherwise an almost continuous frenzy of witch-hunting during Occult Powers: The Case of Prophet Eddy in Nigeria,” Magic, 16 This is different from Kant’suniversalistic apriori; the decade of 1427-1436, because that single year saw “no cli- Ritual, and Witchcraft (Summer 2006): 56-78. Kristin Aune, instead it is based upon faithful transcriptions of humanly matic extreme events.” Further,Behringer points to the frequent Sonya Sharma, and Giselle Vincett, (eds.) Women and Religion accessible facts and aposteriori generalizations. See Immanuel accusations of witches indulging in weather magic that was in the West Challenging Secularization (Ashgate, 2008); Kant, Idea for aUniversal History from aCosmopolitan Point responsible for “unnatural weather,” which destroyed crops and Hannah E. Johnston and Peg Aloi, (eds.) The New Generation of View (1784). drove grain prices up, despite the official teaching of theolo- Witches: Teenage Witchcraft in Contemporary Culture gians who rejected popular beliefs in weather magic. That is to 17 E.g., history study in China is usually further segmented (Ashgate, 2007) may also be of reference value in this connec- say,climate anomalies and the ensuing subsistence crises were to Chinese History and World history,with the latter covering tion. attributed to the deeds of so-called “evil persons,” transformed what is outside Chinese History,which are mutually exclusive. 34 For the former,see Waite, Magic, and Witchcraft in Early and personified as enemies in accordance with popular beliefs Each is trained and expected to know his/her own stock in trade, Modern Europe;and the latter,typically represented by Samuel in the occult. See Behringer,“Weather,Hunger and Fear: with no communication whatever between the two, to say noth- P. Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations?” Foreign Affairs, Origins of the European Witch-Hunts in Climate, Society and ing of integration. For this reason, in China the term “Global Vol. 72., No.3 (Summer 1993); The Clash of Civilizations and Mentality,” German History,Vol. 13, No. 1(1995): 1–27; history”has been coined to indicate what is elsewhere known as the Remaking of World Order (New York: Simon &Schuster, Behringer,“Climatic Change and Witch-Hunting. The Impact “world history.” Concerning over-professionalization, here is 1996); Richard Bernstein and Ross H. Monro, The Coming of the Little Ice Age on Mentalities,” Climatic Change,Vol. 43, an enlightening story about the awkward chef: Aroyal chef Conflict with China (New York: Alfred &Knopf, Inc., 1997; No. 1(1999): 335–51 for comprehensive coverage. For 1430, once had aholiday and went back to his ancestral home. Rural Vintage, 1998). see Behringer, Witches and Witch-Hunts,p.65. folks, neighbors, and villagers were enthusiastic about this and 35 Macfarlane, Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England,2nd 24 For the persecution of heresy,see Malcolm Lambert, asked him to cook them afew dishes so that they would have a ed. (London: Routledge, 1999), p. 9. chance to taste royal cuisine. To their disappointment, the chef Medieval Heresy: Popular Movements from the Gregorian told them he worked at the pastry department, meaning he could Reform to the Reformation (Malden, Mass.: Blackwell not cook adish. All right, make us some dumplings, requested Publishing, 2002), pp. 194–207; for persecution of pagans, the villagers. There was asparkling in the eyes of the chef, since Ramsay MacMullen, Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth that was just his specialty.Yet upon second thought, he told to Eighth Centuries (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997); WORLD HISTORYPH.D. MINOR them that was beyond him since his specialty was the dumpling for persecution of the Jews, H. S. Q. Henriques, “The Civil exterior.You could see that even royal dumpling skins were Rights of English Jews,” The Jewish Quarterly Review,Vol. 18, FIELD AT LOUISIANA STATE appealing to these eager faces of this marginal region. But No. 1(Oct., 1905): 40-83, Maria Boes, “Jews in the Criminal- UNIVERSITY again, the chef declined, saying he couldn’troll the dough for Justice System of Early Modern Germany,” Journal of making dumpling hides! So the villagers didn’tget what they Interdisciplinary History,Vol. 30, No. 3(Winter,1999): 407- desired. Igot this story from Associate Professor Hao Peng of 435, and David Norman Smith, “The Social Construction of The Department of History at Louisiana State our English Education Department, when we were on an expe- Enemies: Jews and the Representation of Evil,” Sociological University announces anew minor field in world rience-sharing outing, when the faculty unanimously Theory,Vol. 14, No. 3(Nov., 1996): 203-240; for persecution of history for the Ph.D. Requirements consist of a many women as “witches” who were religious non-conformists, denounced the over-specialization of the current education sys- seminar in comparative history plus at least three tem. Jeffrey Burton Russell, Witchcraft in the Middle Ages (Ithaca, NY:Cornell University Press, 1972); Levack, The Witch-Hunt graduate-level courses in any three of the following 18 Ankarloo and Clark, (eds.) Witchcraft and Magic in in EarlyModern Europe;Kors and Peters, Witchcraft in four areas: East Asia, South Asia, Africa, Latin Europe: Biblical and Pagan Societies; Ancient Greece and Europe: 400–1700.`` America. An oral exam is designed to prepare stu- Rome; The Middle Ages; The Period of the Witch Trials; 25 th Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries; The Twentieth Century Indeed, the 20 history gave rise to amore sinister type dents for teaching world history.Participating in the (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999, 2002). of aggression: genocide, coined and introduced into the human program are the following faculty: David language by Rafael Lemkin, aPolish Jew,who survived the 19 Wolfgang Behinger, Witches and Witch-Hunts: AGlobal Lindenfeld (Ph.D. University of Chicago, Europe, Holocaust and lobbied tirelessly for recognition of this particu- history (Malden, MA: Polity Press, 2004); Ronald E. Hutton, world history); John Henderson (PH.D. Berkeley, lar form of mass killing of groups of people, and defined by the “The Global Context of the Scottish Witch-hunt,” in Julian East Asia); Gibril Cole (Ph.D. UCLA, Africa), Reza United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment Goodare, (ed.) The Scottish Witch-hunt in Context (Manchester Pirbhai, (Ph.D. University of Toronto, South Asia), of the Crime of Genocide, 1948, as acts committed with the University Press, 2002). For interdisciplinary efforts, see intent to destroy,inwhole or in part, anational, ethnical, racial, Margherita Zanasi (Ph.D. Columbia, Modern Ronald E. Hutton, “Anthropological and historical approaches or religious group. Such acts include killing members of an China); Louise Walker (Ph.D. Yale, modern Latin to witchcraft: Potential for anew collaboration?” Historical identifiable group, causing serious bodily harm or mental harm America) Journal,Vol. 47, No. 2(2004). to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group 20 The department offers major fields in the fol- According to Behringer, Witches and Witch-Hunts,pp. conditions of life to bring about its destruction in whole or in lowing areas: US History,European History to 11-46, esp. 21-22, in West Germany,“astable minority of about part, imposing measures intended to prevent births within the 1650, European History since 1500, British 10-15 per cent” of Germans still believe in witches! And the group, and forcibly transferring children of the group to anoth- History,and Latin American History.Further infor- “ideal type” of witch-believer is female, aged, living in rural er group. See Donald G. Dutton, et al, “Extreme mass homicide: areas, featuring low education, low social status, and political From military massacre to genocide,” Aggression and Violent mation is available at the Department’swebsite: conservativeness. Die Hexe in Germany, la strega in Italy,vam- Behavior 10 (2005): 437–473. http://www.artsci.lsu.edu/hist/index.htm. Students pires in Romania –belief in supernatural creatures or humans 26 The term “conspiracy theory” was first used in the 1920s, interested in the program should contact Victor with supernatural and even diabolical powers is still part and see Peter Knight, Conspiracy Culture–American Paranoia Stater,Graduate Advisor.Email address: parcel of Western thought; then there is the evil eye of Middle from the Kennedy Assassination to the X-Files (London: [email protected] Eastern-Mediterranean cultures. In comparison, 66 percent of Routledge, 2000), p. 16. US citizens believe in the existence of the devil, “surely atemp- 27 tation for American politicians.” Meanwhile, Pope John Paul II Karl Raimund Popper, Conjectures and Refutations; the (Karol Woityla, 1920-, r. 1978-2005) repeatedly confirmed the Growth of Scientific Knowledge (London: Routledge and Kegan Conference Group for the Study Catholic Church’sconviction in the existence of apersonal Paul, 1963), p. 8. devil. If Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) continues 28 Michael Rogin, “Kiss Me Deadly: Communism, of Religion in World History preaching that the devil is “a puzzling but real, personal and not Motherhood, and Cold WarMovies,” Representations,Vol. 6, merely symbolical presence,” there naturally arises the equally (1984): 1-36. puzzling issue of “Who is the devil?” and another round of 29 Thomas Jefferson, ‘The Declaration of Independence’, Minutes of 2nd Annual Meeting witch-hunts might not be far away.See Spirit Daily,April 26, Speeches and Documents in American History: Vol. 1: 1776- June 28, 2008 1:45-2:45PM 2005. 1815 (London: Oxford University Press, 1944), p. 3. 21 The Muslims do not feature prominently in witchcraft 30 Rogin, “Kiss Me Deadly,” p. 1. World History Association Conference beliefs and witch-hunt campaigns, see Behringer, Witches and 31 Donald G. Dutton, et al, “Extreme mass homicide: From Queen Mary College, London Witch-Hunts,pp. 22, 34, 144, 153, 205. The “Koran does not military massacre to genocide,” Aggression and Violent prescribe the killing of witches,” while the Bible does, frequent- Behavior 10 (2005): 437. ly and emphatically. Approximately 20 people attended. 32 560 million in Europe, 260 million in North America, 480 22 Approximately half of them were previously See Isaac Reed, “Why Salem Made Sense: Culture, million in Latin America, 360 million in Africa, and 313 million Gender,and the Puritan Persecution of Witchcraft,” Cultural in Asia. That means almost 60% of Christians in the world enrolled members, and half were new faces. Sociology,Vol. 1, No. 2(Jul., 2007). today live in the Third World. In 2002, Jenkins forecast that of David Lindenfeld, who has served as the organiz- 23 Behringer finds that the witch-hunts in Europe are found the expected 2.6 billion Christians in 2025, 67% would live in er of the group, presided. He briefly explained the to be statistically correlative to aspell of extreme climate Africa (633 million), Asia (640 million), or Latin America (460 group’spurpose, which is to promote the integra- known as the “Little Ice Age,” concentrating in the years from million). For details, see Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: 1560 to 1630, the Little Ice Age’speak period. The cold climate The Coming of Global Christianity (New York: Oxford tion of the study of religion into world history gave rise to asubsistence crisis and drastic reduction of vine University Press, 2002). Jenkins wrote that “soon the phrase ‘a teaching and scholarship, and to be avisible pres- and grain produce, prompting poor farmers to retaliate against White Christian’ may sound like acurious and mildly surprising 41 ence in the WHA and other professional organiza- could serve as liaisons to professional associations by contributing papers, organizing panels, tions, networks, and meetings in their respective and other activities to be determined. He regional specialties. This could bring in more The Conference Group reviewed the progress of the organization since members to the conference group. Each volunteer its founding last year at the Milwaukee meeting would be responsible for at least one posting for the Study of Religion in World of the WHA. Thanks to advertisements in the every two months. The purpose would be to stim- History World History Bulletin, World History ulate discussion and further exchange of informa- Connected,and Perspectives,wehad 39 mem- tion. Having such volunteers would in no way The Conference Group for the Study of Religion bers prior to today’smeeting. Charles Weller preclude anyone from contributing to the list-serv in World History was founded in 2007 for the established an electronic list-serv for the group in on any topic relevant to the group’spurpose. This purpose of promoting the integration of the study April. proposal found general approval. The following of religion into world history teaching and schol- Several items were follow-ups from last regions were proposed, and the following people arship. For the moment, this mission centers year’s meeting. At that time, the group resolved volunteered to fill them. around two sorts of activities: 1) Maintain apres- to seek official recognition from the WHA as an Ancient history,origins of religion—vacant ence at the meetings of the World History affiliate. We were informed in December that Medieval Europe—Corliss Slack Association and other professional groups by pre- such recognition would be contingent on having a Modern Europe (since c. 1500)—Richard senting papers and organizing panels. These constitution with officers and by-laws. The ques- Gawthorp should not merely draw attention to religious top- tion was raised whether we want to go that route. North America—vacant ics as adistinct subfield, but also by showing its There was abrief discussion of pros and cons. Latin America—vacant connections to political, economic, social, intel- Although affiliate status would give the group Middle East—vacant lectual and cultural history.2)Create anetwork greater visibility,especially in dealing with Africa—Al Howard of information sharing on issues pertaining to organizations outside the WHA, the predominant South Asia—Lipi Turner Rahman religion that would be of interest to world history opinion was that such an apparatus was unneces- Central Asia—Charles Weller teachers and scholars. These could include short sary for the work of the group to proceed, and East Asia—vacant book reviews, notices of meetings, references to might lead to cumbersome bureaucratic compli- Pedagogy—Dale Hueber articles, bibliographies, sample syllabi and curric- cations down the road. As an alternative, the General, theory—Abdullah al-Ahsan ula, of thought-pieces or questions for discussion. group could operate electronically through the Volunteers for the vacant positions are welcome At its second meeting at the London conference list-serv.When avote was taken, no one was in and should contact David Lindenfeld of the WHA, the group resolved that the best way favor of the constitutional route, at least for the ([email protected]). of doing this was through an electronic listserv. moment. Several other projects for the group were We plan to do this via H-World, which already Next, the issue of panels for next year’s suggested, such as publishing an edited volume has awide readership. Our postings will begin meeting was discussed. The theme of that confer- on religion and world history,orproviding infor- with the subject line: “religion in world history” ence is “Merchants and Missionaries”, offering a mation for secondary school teachers and school plus the topic. (Of course, such discussions need prime opportunity for panels related to religion. systems. It was felt that these might be appropri- not require aformal group apparatus, as the Several people volunteered to work on panel pro- ate for the group to undertake at alater stage in its recent lively exchange on East Asian religiosity posals for next year,asfollows: American reli- development. demonstrates!) To facilitate the process, anumber gious history in global perspective—Phil Discussion then turned to the most effective of people have volunteered to submit periodical Sinitiere; The AP world history curriculum and venue for the electronic discussion group, in postings on particular geographical areas or religion—Dale Hueber; Eschatalogy in Sacred order to involve more people in the discussion approaches to religion in world history.The fol- Scriptures in World History—Ernest LeVos; and give the group (and the study of religion) lowing noble souls have agreed to volunteer: Mughal Government and Contemporary greater visibility.Several suggestions were put Medieval Europe—Corliss Slack (cslack@whit- Hinduism; confessionalization—Douglas forward: 1) merge the group into H-World, with a worth.edu); Modern Europe—Richard L. Streusand; Pluralism and World Religions—Alan designated tag in the subject line for religion in Gawthorp ([email protected]); Kramer; Quaker Missionaries, Women world history,sothat our exchanges wouldn’tget North America—Philip Sinitiere (sinitiere@sbc- Missionaries—-Carolyn Dorrance; Missions and lost in the multiple threads of discussions there; global.net); Latin America—Jason Dormady Politics in Contemporary World History— 2) establish aseparate address on H-Net; this ([email protected]); Middle East—John Charles Weller; Witchcraft and Witch-Trials: would preserve our identity but might be too iso- Curry ([email protected]); Africa—Al Cross-Cultural Comparisons—David Lindenfeld. lated; 3) have access to the discussion group Howard ([email protected]); South Lindenfeld agreed to circulate the names, through the WHA website. Lindenfeld suggested Asia—Isat Turner-Rahman (Lipi) email addresses, and subject interests of all the that each of these alternatives might present prac- ([email protected]); Central Asia—R. Charles members to facilitate the formation of panels. tical problems, depending on the policies of these Weller ([email protected]); East Finally,the question of anewsletter for the various other organizations. He agreed to look Asia—Gareth Fisher ([email protected]); Theory, group, proposed last year,was raised. No one has into each of them, and will report back via email general—Abdullah Al-Ahsan volunteered to take on the job of editor,which to the group. Meanwhile, we can continue to uti- ([email protected]); Pedagogy—Dale Hueber admittedly would require alot of work. As an lize the site that Charles Weller has provided. Its ([email protected]);Media and religion— alternative, Lindenfeld suggested utilizing the address, for those that are new,iswha- Donna Halper ([email protected]). list-serv mechanism, having people from differ- [email protected]. ent regions or specialties volunteer to post mate- From here, discussion turned to the types of To become amember of the Conference Group, rial on it designed to stimulate interest and dis- questions that might be aired in the electronic dis- or if you have any questions about the group, con- cussion. In this manner,noone person would cussion forum, and the meeting ended with an tact David Lindenfeld ([email protected]). shoulder too great aburden. Postings could exchange of views on the question “What is reli- include short book reviews, notices of meetings, gion?” On this broad finale, the meeting conclud- references to articles in other journals, more ed at app. 2:45. extended bibliographies, sample syllabi and cur- Respectfully submitted, ricula, thought-pieces or questions for discussion, links to other websites. Ideally,the volunteers David Lindenfeld 42 before the existence of written records, and 2) environmental history.Among the topics offered Report of the World History were: international business, travel, colonialism, U.S. History Network at the European Social international organizations, consumer patterns, Science History Conference 2008 migrant workers, slavery,foodstuffs in world trade, missionaries and responses to them. A From Afar The European Social Science History sequence of two panels on “critical historiogra- Conference is alarge and diverse gathering of phy of international history” revealed sharp dif- scholars using the methods of the social sciences, ferences in approach between the two sessions. The first dealt with historiography and discourse very broadly construed. It meets biennially.For Progress(ivism) and Its many years, world history was aregular offering of relations between nation-states, while the sec- in the program. ond dealt with other units of connectivity Discontents: In 2006, however,the World History between nations and regions, such as maritime The LimitsofHope and Optimism Network of ESSHC had become inactive and was history and global capitalism. th th in Modern America not listed on the program. Thanks to the organiz- Panels on the 18 and 19 century global- ing efforts made both by the ESSHC-secretary ization processes explored not only avariety of and by the two undersigning network chairs, the empirical cases from Asia to Africa and from network was revived for the 2008 conference in Europe to the Americas, but raised also several Tanfer Emin Tunc Lisbon. The network chairs, working together for fundamental methodological questions concern- Hacettepe University (Turkey) the first time, were able to present nine panels, ing the way comparison or network analysis selected from more than 100 proposals for papers should be used or how to apply insights from the and panels. Five of these panels were cross-listed so-called spatial turn to apoststructuralist world In The True and Only Heaven: Progress and its with other networks, namely Women and Gender, history. Critics,Christopher Lasch provides acompelling Theory and Historiography,Material Culture, At ameeting of the network itself on critique of progress, and searches for the reasons Rural, and Religion. This befits the broad and dif- Thursday afternoon with some 15 participants, why “serious people continue to believe in fuse state of the field of world history,which in there was aconsensus on the need for greater progress, in the face of massive evidence that fact overlaps with what many historians in other coherence within and among the panels. Many refutes the idea of progress once and for all.”1 fields are doing, regardless of whether or not they participants expressed some uncertainty about Lasch posits that it is a vision of hope, and not the consider themselves to be world historians. what is meant by world history,asked for theoret- superficial optimism of progressive thought, that Nevertheless we believe that the panels pro- ical debate at subsequent conferences and pro- is the driving force behind progress: “If we distin- grammed for the 2008 edition were acontribution posed to compare how world, transnational or guish hopefulness from the more conventional to the growing field of world history and were in global history are practiced in different places. attitude known today as optimism, we can see fact related to the very general goal of the ESSHC There was also an interest in reaching out to some why it serves us better,insteering the troubled to bring together mainly European and American of the area-studies networks (e.g. Africa, Asia, waters ahead, than abelief in progress.”2 scholars from awide range of disciplines dealing Latin America) to schedule one or more joint ses- According to Lasch, the hope for progress in the with social and cultural transformations through- sions at the next meeting. The level of interest, United States has been fueled by an unrestricted out the world. both in the number of papers submitted, and in capitalism that has democratized consumerism at The offerings further reflected the fact that the attendance at the sessions, suggests that world the expense of true class and racial equality. many participants in the network do not feel history has acontinuing place at ESSHC. From Lasch thus frames American progress as alimited entirely comfortable with the label “world histo- all the suggestions made by the participants at the expression of pecuniary hope, which, despite its ry”. There is, to be sure, ashared desire to break meeting and from the encouragement for further positivistic name, found little support in the away from the nation-state as the primary stage of cooperation got from other networks, we take the Progressive tradition of the past two centuries.3 historical narrative and analysis, to emphasize conclusion that awell structured network on For minority,immigrant, and working-class various sorts of connectivity across national world history will have its place at ESSHC-con- groups in the United States, this hope, which has boundaries, and to highlight broader worldwide ferences to come. It might develop in such away taken the form of the “American Dream” was, developments such us colonialism, the emer- that will allow us to connect efforts from various and continues to be, particularly limited. For gence of world markets or cultural encounters networks, but will have to include local initiatives some, it has even become an American across civilizational borders. But for some, at the places the conferences will be held as well. “Nightmare” –ananti-progressive tradition of “world history” implies an overly grandiose The network can become at the same time aplace democracy masked behind the illusion of finan- approach to such themes. Thus three panels had for amore intense debate between American and cial success. This limited vision of prosperity has the word “transnational” in their titles, implying a European scholars in the field of world history - been an underlying theme of the major political more modest scope and looking for relationships aforum that is missing to some extent until now. and cultural movements of the nineteenth and between European and non-European countries The next ESSHC conference will be in 2010 twentieth centuries, whose social and economic or regions. Three others were content to call in Ghent, Belgium, April 13-16. Acall for papers “improvements” have failed to provide the equal- themselves “international” and dealt with social will come probably within the next few months. ity and tangible “progress” they promised. phenomena transcending borders of continents The Conference website is: too. One may see in this terminological uncer- http://www.iisg.nl/esshc/ De Jure and De Facto: Racism and tainty ahint to ongoing debates on the status of Reconstruction - Thaddeus Stevens “fondly “world history in aglobal age” which might be David Lindenfeld dreamed” of a“fortunate chance [that] should also subject to further debates at the ESSHC in Louisiana State University,USA have broken up the foundation of our institutions, 2010. [and] would have so remodeled our institutions as The range of papers presented in the nine Matthias Middell to have freed them from every vestige of human panels was fairly representative of the current University of Leipzig, Germany oppression, of inequality of rights, of the recog- practice of world history,with notable omissions nized degradation of the poor,and the superior of: 1) “big history” which reaches back in time caste of the rich.”4 During the nineteenth century, 43 this “fortunate which reduced African-Americans to inferior cit- Americans equal access to leisure, cultivation, chance” was izens.7 Social segregation, which was upheld by and refinement, “or as populists would have it, embodied in the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), institutionalized their ‘competence,’ asmall piece of earth, ashop, or a Abolition move- second-class educational and recreational facili- calling,” in practice, progressivism fell short of ment, which was ties. “Race etiquette” dictated deference to whites its optimistic promises.13 According to Lasch, “a adriving force in all social and political matters, and supported great deal of ‘progressive’ economic, social, and behind the Civil depictions of blacks as “sambos,” “coons,” and political thought worked against the progressive War. However, “dandies.” The amendments were still law,how- grain.”14 Essentially,progressive reforms served despite the opti- ever,coercion, deceit, and aSouthern desire to as both apanacea to the nation’sillnesses (i.e., mism of social maintain the status quo continued to deprive for- urbanization, immigration, the decline in social activists such as mer slaves of hope, progress, and justice. and moral standards, inadequate education, etc.) Thaddeus and amixture of “anti-democratic initiatives.”15 Stevens, William Industrialization and the Rise of Capitalist Josephine Goldmark, Frances Kellor,Katharine Lloyd Garrison, Culture - As Lasch argues, the capitalist interpre- Thaddeus Stevens. Source: Bement Davis, Margaret Sanger,and ahost of Frederick U.S. Library of Congress. tation of progress rests on the belief that “human other white Anglo-Saxon middle-class progres- Douglass, and wants are insatiable, that new wants appear as sive intellectuals “benevolently” devoted them- the Grimké soon as old ones are satisfied, and that rising lev- selves to creating public and private agencies to Sisters, Reconstruction failed to fulfill these els of comfort will lead to an indefinite expansion manage problems like factory safety,immigra- hopeful expectations of reconciliation, equality, of the productive forces required to satisfy rising tion, child labor,delinquency,alcoholism, and and human progress. While legislation, such as expectations.”8 In Socializing Capital,William family planning. However,implicit in these the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Roy complicates the connection between human “progressive” attempts at improving the under- Amendments, were passed by Congress to protect wants and the expansion of productive forces by classes was arather sinister agenda: many of and ensure the rights of former slaves, these de examining the rise of the American corporation.9 these individuals sought to reinforce their own jure measures proved to be ineffective, for they Roy illustrates how “the corporation” originated authority by promoting “scientific solutions” to did little to discourage other methods of racial as aquasi-public device used by the government social problems. In other words, many progres- oppression, such as black codes and the Jim Crow to create and administer public services like turn- sives sought the elimination (or at least the reduc- laws. Although African-Americans gained partial pikes and canals. He also explains how it provid- tion) of the working class through eugenic pro- “freedom” during the post-Civil Warera, such as ed adistinctly interactive American social, politi- grams, birth control crusades, and the education, the rights to sell their labor and remain with their cal, and economic framework that addressed or rather “Americanization,” of ethnic groups and families, racial violence, random lynchings, and humanneeds and expectations: “corporations minorities.16 other acts of terror perpetrated by vigilante [were] constructed by the extensive and complex According to Lasch, “pseudo-progressives groups (e.g., the Ku Klux Klan), continued, espe- interaction between societies and advocated ‘education’ as asubstitute for social cially in the South. For ashort period of time, for- institutions...implicit in these interactions [were] change; this ‘education complex’ enabled the mer slaves were allowed to vote and participate in human wants, needs and desires…human expec- ‘anti-utopian’ to oppose change and yet appear the political process, and schools were opened for tations of corporations shaped, expanded and pro- progressive.”17 American educational reforms the purpose of educating black children. duced economic relations,” and undoubtedly, between 1870 and 1940 were thus closely linked However,bythe end of Reconstruction, former notions of hope and progress.10 to progressive politics and power.18 While elite slaveholders had regained political power Minorities and immigrants, however,were and professional progressive reformers stressed through alliances with Southern Democrats, and not apart of this optimistic corporate vision. stable, efficient, non-partisan, and secure educa- black schools lost their funding. The Civil Rights After the Panic of 1873, the United States experi- tion for all children, the actual result was amore Acts of 1875 was declared unconstitutional in enced aboom in building and commercial trade, pronounced delineation between the social class- 1883, and many of the rights guaranteed by the particularly in urban centers.11 This involved the es. Rigid curricula, vocational teaching, and Constitution could no longer be enforced, reduc- construction of expansive railroad networks, trimmed educational budgets “tracked” ethnic ing freed slaves to apowerless class of subsis- which required strong and reliable financial back- and immigrant students into low-paying, blue- tence laborers, and permanently indebted share- ing. Industrialists, such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, collar fields, almost from the outset. Because of croppers. looked to J.P.Morgan and other investment theirfinancial situations, many working-class Reconstruction was intended to rectify racial bankers for versatile funds and large sums of cap- children couldnot afford to attend college, which injustice in the United States. However,inprac- ital to back their ventures. Not only was this rela- only strengthened the progressive intelligentsia’s tice, it merely reconfigured the boundaries of tionship mutually-beneficial to both parties, but it hold on higher education. The establishment of oppression: slavery,with all its brutality,had also served as amodel for the partnership that required teaching credentials also perpetuated been replaced with the beginnings of aform of developed between business and government.12 this cycle of elitist control. While in 1870 most capitalist segregation. Thaddeus Stevens’ idealis- Under the guise of supporting the nation’sbest teachers were educated through normal schools tic hopes and “bright dreams of equality had van- interests, railroad companies supported racist or the apprenticeship system, by 1940, a ished...[Reconstruction became a] ‘patching up’ governmental regulations, such as the Chinese of the worst portions of an ancient edifice…leav- Exclusion Act of 1882, which, in effect, suspend- ing it, in its many parts, to be swept through ed Chinese immigration (and the influx of by...the storm of despotism.”5 Consequently, Chinese laborers) to the United States. The gov- “the idealism that had been aprime motivating ernment, on the other hand, welcomed the power force behind Reconstruction…by 1877 had lost and prestige that such an association with busi- 6 its relevance.” The Reconstruction that consoli- ness could bring. dated American industrial capitalism, and strengthened U.S. politics by reaffirming the two- The Sinister Underbelly of American party system, simultaneously transformed the Progressivism - While the progressives of the emancipation of slaves into an empty gesture. nineteenth and twentieth centuries maintained Slavery was replaced by an archaic caste system, that abundance would eventually give all The immigrant. Is he an acquisition or adetriment? 1903 lithograph. Source: U.S. Library of Congress. 44 Bachelors degree and ateaching license became classes, who did not belong to the “meritocracy” American social and political fabric. However, required of all instructors. Since the working of the progressives. this corporate subversion and resistance from class found it difficult to meet such requirements, Another “progressive” measure that was within the margins was short-lived. the educational establishment become grounded intended to benefit the marginalized was the reg- “Enlightened virtues [often] carry along with in, and restricted to, the middle class. As aresult, ulation of working-class, immigrant, and minori- them along list of enlightened vices,” and for teaching, as well as education, became coded and ty female sexuality.Those promoting reform, these Americans, one vice became conspicuous classified: the technical jargon of the profession- once again, consisted mainly of white Anglo- consumption.27 al middle class became “unintelligible to out- Saxon middle-class progressives, who sought to As luxuries became redefined as necessities siders but immediately recognizable, as abadge “protect” lower-class women from rape, predato- in the post-World WarTwo era, the immigrant, of status, to fellow specialists all over the ry men, and other dangers of their lifestyles.22 ethnic, and working-class communities of world.”19 While reformers maintained that policing female Chicago came to regard the acquisition of popu- As Lasch posits, “progressive programs sexuality would benefit women, as well as the lar “American” products as ameans of entering were not just instruments to achieve particular state (e.g., it would no longer have to finance the the social and cultural mainstream (i.e., assimilat- ends; they were also programs societies support of working-class mothers, and would not ing). While, at first, local neighborhoods resisted employed to determine the ‘virtuous social have to worry about their “unfit” children), “pro- large chains by continuing to patronize ethnic actor.’”20 Progressivism thus became acollective gressive” regulations had an adverse effect. groceries, minority groups soon began desiring means of social labeling; asystem of social inclu- Formerly “seduced” working-class girls were advertised chain-store products. The consump- sion and exclusion where political issues, such as suddenly transformed into “seductresses,” and tion of mass culture and “keeping up with the welfare and motherhood, were seen in moral, became “delinquents” who were in need of refor- Joneses,” suddenly became caché, and former rather than sociological, terms. As Theda Skocpol matories, juvenile courts, moral referees, and luxuries, such as automobiles, cosmetics, jewelry, elucidates, “the United States ...did not follow homes for unwed mothers. and furs, soon became “necessities.” Moviegoing other Western nations on the road toward apater- Working-class, minority,and immigrant also became an important indicator of progress, nalist welfare state in which male bureaucrats institutions, such as dance halls, social clubs, and “Americanization,” and social class; so much so administered regulations and social insurance ‘for unions, came under progressive scrutiny because that “even those fighting destitution made the the good’ of breadwinning industrial workers. they also did not conform to middle-class stan- motion picture apriority.”28 Instead, America came close to forging amater- dards of morality.Women who participated in However,while the appeal of consumerism nalist welfare state, with female-dominated pub- these institutions were often subjected to degrad- temporarily bridged class differences, the process lic agencies implementing regulations and bene- ing punishments, such as strip searches and vir- of acquiring these goods and the implications of fits for the good of women and their children.”21 ginity tests, all with the hope of eliminating such spending were far from homogenous: “those While at the turn of the century,abroad expressions of sexuality and agency that did not with low incomes automatically had less to put array of protective labor regulations and social conform to the rigid middle-class gender defini- toward the purchase of durables.”29 Moreover, benefits were enacted by state legislatures and tions, which required women to be submissive, mass consumption transformed the relationship Congress to help American mothers, such meas- pure, chaste, and sexually naive.23 Working- between consumer and supplier from afamily ures did not class, minority,and immigrant families who tried affair,into acapitalist relationship that centered prove to be truly to use the middle-class court system to “reform” on the cycle of supply and demand. As an A&P “progressive” in their daughters, also became victims of alien- supervisor stated, “there is an ethnic fruit store in nature. These ation, conflict, and discrimination. In the end, our block of stores which must go broke at any benefits and these “progressive” reforms, just like American cost. The great A&P will last longer than those regulations educational and welfare reforms, resulted in coer- people.”30 Moviegoing also had asimilar divisive resulted in the cion, decreased autonomy for the marginalized, effect: it segregated the working class into two protection of an increase in elitist authority,and the perpetua- groups –those who attended cinematic events, middle-class tion of the poverty of the underclasses.24 and those who did not.“Progressive” reforms, women and capitalism, and mass consumerism thus came to their children, The Promise of Prosperity: World WarTwo and dictate who constituted “America.” Immigrants, for members of the Rise of Consumer Culture - Even though the minorities, and the working class became the the middle class “benefits” of progressive reforms often did not unfortunate victims of this system, and were were able to reach working-class immigrants and ethnic placed in adifferential relationship with the polit- contribute, Margaret Sanger,1922. groups, these individuals did not lose hope in the ical, economic, and social institutions of the through their Source: U.S. Library of American Dream. As Lizabeth Cohen illustrates, nation. This inevitably placed limits on their wages, into the Congress. “Chicago workers’ experiences as citizens, immi- hope, prosperity,and progress. welfare system. grants, ethnic minorities, wage earners, and con- Working-class single mothers, minority women, sumers, all converged to transform them into The 1950s: Artificial Progress and Shattered and immigrants were often deliberately excluded New Deal Democrats and CIO unionists.”25 Dreams - For immigrants, minorities, and the from such programs, for they were deemed as While, at first, the immigrant, minority,and working class, the 1950s, with its artificial being “unfit” or “undeserving.” Many did not fit working-class communities were “isolated in “Donna Reed” families, racial segregation, rigid the requirements for welfare, for they were either local neighborhoods, fragmented by ethnicity and restrictions on sexual expression, and obsession unmarried, and/or had never held tax-contribut- race, and incapable of mounting the unified with “shiny new things,” became the epitome of ing occupations. Others did not have the action necessary for success,” these populations the American Nightmare. Nothing symbolized resources to access benefits provided by the were able to challenge the manipulation and divi- this unattainable goal of prosperity and progress Federal Children’sBureau or the Sheppard sive strategies of the corporate structure.26 They more than the American suburb, with its white Towner Act of 1921. As in the case of education- were able to withstand the effects of the picket-fenced homes and grassy yards.31 The al reform, the optimism inherent in maternal wel- Depression, which saw adecline in ethnic and social antagonism inherent in this lawn-centered fare reform was soon dispelled: these reforms immigrant-run welfare institutions, societies, conception of “the good life” actually began resulted in increased assistance to the virtuous banks, and stores, to renew their faith in asystem around the time of the Civil War, when “the first middle class at the expense of the ineligible under that had failed to accept them as part of the suburban communities, encouraged by the expan- 45 sion of the railroad, street car,and trolley lines, es into asociety of consumers, and to foster eco- 4 Eric Foner, Reconstruction 1863 –1877 (New York: were founded near East Coast cities. The public- nomic expansion [were merely] substitutes for Harper and Row Publishers, 1988), 254. parks movement directly influenced suburban social reform…these policies failed to create the 5 Ibid., 6. development. Late-nineteenth-century suburban kind of active, enterprising citizenry envisioned 6 Kenneth Stampp, The Era of Reconstruction 1865 –1877 communities were modeled after parks, and were by [New Deal] Democrats.”37 Starting in the mid- (New York: Vintage Books, 1965), 211. 7 Ibid., 214. frequently named ‘park’.”32 1960s, many New Dealers suddenly felt as if their 8 Lasch, 78. With this notion of the park-like home came party had betrayed them. Disillusioned by for- 9 William Roy, Socializing Capital (Princeton, N.J.: the aesthetic of the front lawn which, by the end eign-policy decisions in Vietnam, the feminist Princeton University Press, 1997). of the Second World War, had become synony- movement (which failed to gain complete gender 10 Ibid., 265 –266. mous with the conspicuous consumption of the equality,especially with respect to the wage gap), 11 Vincent Carosso, Investment Banking in America: A middle class. “Nostalgia for asimpler rural [and and major upheavals in race relations (e.g., the History (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1970), perhaps “whiter”] past, anew craving for spatial civil rights movement, which was accompanied Ch. 2. beauty,and ayearning for apiece of the aristo- by black militancy and urban riots), many immi- 12 Albro Martin, “The Troubled Subject of Railroad cratic lifestyle,” spurred middle-class Americans grant, minority,and working-class Democrats Regulation in the Guilded Age: AReappraisal,” in Journal of American History 61 (1974), 339 –371. to desire “the lawn,” which became symbolic of began to reconsider their political allegiances. 13 Lasch, 531. the “good life.” Thus, mass consumerism con- This social and political failure mobilized 14 Ibid., 360. structed “the lawn” as aproduct to be purchased, embittered ethnic, immigrant, and working-class 15 Robert Wiebe, The Search for Order 1877- 1920 (New especially by those individuals who wished to Democrats to seek aradical solution to their dis- York: Hill and Wang, 1967). distinguish themselves from immigrants, minori- content. According to Lasch, these groups 16 Ibid., see chapters 5and 6. ties, and the working class. Middle-class “deserted the Democrats, their former benefac- 17 Lasch, 454. Americans willingly bought the concept, as well tors, because they were prosperous enough to 18 Paul Peterson, The Politics of School Reform, 1870 – as the expensive accoutrements that were neces- resent high taxes and welfare programs, but still 1940 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985). sary to maintain it.33 insecure in their middle-class status. [Their] sta- 19 Lasch, 467. As standards of 1950s perfection became tus-anxiety reinforced their racism, and made 20 Ibid., 415. more pronounced, homes, cars and lawns also them irrationally jealous of the racial minorities 21 Theda Skocpol, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The 38 Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States became increasingly artificial and unnatural, pro- favored by liberal policy.” Feeling as if their (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992), 2. moting avicious cycle of consumerism based on hope for progress had been shattered by the 22 Mary Odem, Delinquent Daughters: Protecting and the sale of home-care, car-care, and lawn-care Democratic Party,these former liberals partici- Policing Adolescent Female Sexuality in the United States, supplies. This need for “bigger and better” prod- pated in the conservative backlash that began in 1885 –1920 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, ucts was defined by capitalist producers, who dic- the 1970s, many of them becoming supporters of 1995). 23 tated what constituted an acceptable home, car, the status quo which they had challenged for over Ibid., 3. 24 and front lawn, and linked their maintenance to acentury.Based on the troubled history of minor- Ibid., 183 –189. 25 comfortable and spacious living, property values, ity,ethnic and working class-groups in the United Lizabeth Cohen, Making aNew Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago 1919 –1939 (Cambridge, England: Cambridge good citizenship, and middle-class American States, it is highly unlikely that this ongoing polit- University Press, 1990). morals.34 However,this climate of suburban ical strategy will actually fulfill their interpreta- 26 Ibid., 13. comfort, artificially maintained by air condition- tion of the American Dream. 27 Lasch, 528. ers and central heaters, resulted in afalse sense of Since Reconstruction, marginalized citizens 28 Cohen, 120. hope and progress. While the suburbs provided have “hoped” that Federal efforts and reforms 29 Ibid., 103. the middle class with private home ownership, a would improve their lives and increase equality 30 Ibid., 117. division between work and leisure, superior edu- among individuals. However,inreality,this hope 31 Virginia Scott Jenkins, The Lawn: AHistory of an cational systems for their children, and security for progress has been sidetracked by political, American Obsession (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian from the crime and violence of the city,italso sociological, and ideological limits. As Lasch Institution Press, 1994). 32 encouraged economic exclusiveness, social con- illuminates, immigrants, minorities, and the eth- Ibid., 4. 33 formity,racial segregation, and ecological nic working class “were more often victims of Ibid., 2. 34 progress and progressive ‘improvement’ than Ibid., Ch. 5. destruction (e.g., “the lawn” stripped the suburbs 35 beneficiaries. [As aresult], they are unlikely to Kenneth Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier: The of valuable farmland, and infused chemicals into Suburbanization of the United States (New York: Oxford the environment). Thus, the suburbs became a mistake the promised land of progress for the true University Press, 1985), 272. 39 land of “codes and norms,” which discouraged and only heaven.” While “the expectation of 36 For more information, please see David Plotke, Building the building of communities, and promoted isola- indefinite, open-ended improvement [explains] aDemocratic Political Order (Cambridge, England: Cambridge tionism, insulation, and personal disillusion- the resilience of progressive ideology in the face University Press, 1996). 37 35 of discouraging events, [the result of this expec- Lasch, 224 –225. ment. 38 tation has been the] shattered illusion of utopia. Ibid., 476. 39 [As aresult], nothing is certain except the immi- Ibid., 17. Disenchantment and Progressive Backlash - 40 Even though immigrant, minority,and working- nent obsolescence of all our certainties.”40 Ibid., 47. class groups, through their union activism, liber- Despite the fact that in the contemporary world it alism, and participation in New Deal politics, is becoming increasingly difficult to defend the helped build a“democratic political order” in the limited idealism of progress, the hopeful opti- 1930s and 1940s, four decades later,these groups mism of human nature will forever ensnare us in were abandoning the Democratic Party for the aperpetual cycle of dreams and disillusionment. “hopeful and optimistic” neo-conservatism of the Reagan administration.36 The reasons for this NOTES Renew Your WHA political shift are as numerous as they are com- 1 Christopher Lasch, The True and Only Heaven: Progress plex. As Lasch posits, “attempts to achieve a and its Critics (New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1991), 13. Membership redistribution of income, to equalize opportunity 2 Ibid., 15. in various ways, to incorporate the working class- 3 Ibid., 532. 46 Book Reviews Peter Dykema Book Review Coordinator

Donald L. Fixico, ed. Treaties with with the federal government’sviolation of the nomics, and slave culture. Importantly,Bergad American Indians: An Encyclopedia of Treaty of Medicine Lodge of 1867. The second carefully contextualizes his comparisons of slave Rights, Conflicts, and Sovereignty.3vols. section largely consists of biographical sketches life in Brazil, Cuba, and the United States within ABC-CLIO, 2008. 1054 pp. of notable people involved in writing treaties or the unique histories of these politically,cultural- contesting treaty violations while the third section ly,and economically different societies. Indeed, is devoted to awide range of treaty-related issues. his work pays special attention to the “extraordi- Ray Miles In this section one would find entries on topics nary diversity of what it meant to be aslave at dif- McNeese State University such as aboriginal title, sovereignty,and trust ferent epochs and regions” (33). While stressing responsibility. the diverse experiences of slaves in three soci- This latest publication from ABC-CLIO is awel- The editor also provides three segments that eties over aperiod of three hundred years, come addition to the publisher’s numerous other are reprinted in all three volumes: Resources, Bergad, nevertheless, finds unique comparative works on American Indian topics. This title’sedi- Selected Bibliography,and Index. The resources commonalities. For example, although slave tor,Donald Fixico, has gathered an impressive section includes alternate tribal names and demographics diverged greatly in the three assortment of contributions from avariety of spellings, tribal name meanings, and alist of nations –slave populations in the United States, scholars covering just about every conceivable treaties signed by each tribe. for instance, were more self-sustaining than in angle on Indian treaties. This set will be useful to those looking for Brazil or Cuba where high death rates and imbal- Volume 1includes more than twenty essays, specific reference information in high school or anced sex ratios militated against natural repro- divided broadly along thematic and regional undergraduate settings, especially as astarting duction –Bergad notes that certain regions of lines. Thematic essays present views on treaties point for research projects. The essays provide a Brazil approximated the American model of nat- from both Indian and federal government per- rich context, the entries provide more direct ural increase. Moreover,the movement of slaves spectives. The changing nature of the treaty mak- information on the wide variety of topics, and the from northeastern Brazil to coffee and sugar plan- ing process is covered in essays examining differ- treaties provide primary documents that can serve tations in central and southern regions of the ent time periods. Still other thematic essays deal as points of discussion, writing prompts, or to country mirrored the simultaneous population with important topics such as land, water,and enrich research. shifts occurring as aresult of the U. S. cotton natural resource rights; hunting, fishing, and boom. Bergad also describes key demographic gathering rights; and jurisdictional issues. The six differences between the three societies. Most regional essays examine the differing histories Laird W. Bergad. The Comparative notably,heremarks on the small size of U. S. free and experiences of native peoples, including black populations in comparison to those in Cuba those of Canada and Hawaii. Histories of Slavery in Brazil, Cuba, and or Brazil. Volume 2isdivided into three distinct sec- the United States. New Approaches to the When comparing the economic aspects of tions. The first contains traditional encyclopedia Americas. Cambridge University Press, slavery,Bergad argues that slavery’seconomic style entries for all of the nearly 400 treaties con- 2007. ix +314 pp. $22.99 paper,$80.00 profitabilityinBrazil, Cuba, and the United cluded with both United States and Canadian cloth. States not only contributed to its longevity as a tribes and the entries are in chronological order. labor source in those nations but that it also facil- These entries range in usefulness as some of them Jacob M. Blosser itated the technological and infrastructural devel- are only brief paragraphs while many are extend- Texas Woman’sUniversity opment of all three nations. In all three countries, ed accounts that discuss the content and context profits realized from the ever-increasing prices of of the treaty under discussion. The second section At atime when scholarly frameworks such as the cotton, sugar,and coffee were invested by slave is an interesting examination of some of the Atlantic World have become indispensible peda- owners in the purchase of increased numbers of important treaty sites. It is refreshing to see this gogical tools in teaching New World slavery, slaves and in plantation technologies such as cot- consideration given because sites often held Laird W. Bergad’srecent comparative study of ton gins, sugar mills, railroads, and steamship strategic, economic, and even sacred significance slavery in Brazil, Cuba, and the United States lines. Bergad’slarger point is that regardless of to the tribes who negotiated there. The third sec- provides auseful textbook narrative of the slave the crops produced, slavery emerged in all three tion contains an assortment of forty treaties. This experience written from abroad, cross-cultural nations as aprofitable, economically viable sampling provides the reader some insight into perspective. Ideally suited for advanced under- source of labor. the range of matters covered in treaties, the com- graduate or first-year graduate students, Bergad’s Perhaps the most interesting aspect of plexities and nuances of language used, and the textbook complements the comparative pedagog- Bergad’scomparative study of slavery in Brazil, solemnity attached to these documents. ical approach that animates many current univer- Cuba, and the United States is his treatment of Volume 3isalso divided into three sections. sity courses in New World slavery. slave culture and agency.Inachapter that will Section one is designated as a“Historical Focusing upon three New World societies in likely capture students’ attention and promote Chronology” that provides entries on topics that which slavery held atenaciously long grasp – interesting classroom conversations, Bergad are of substantial significance to Indian people as Brazil, Cuba, and the United States did not abol- compares the lives of slaves in each of these they relate to treaty rights. For example the entry ish slavery until the last third of the nineteenth nations through the lenses of autobiographical on the Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock case of 1903 deals century –Bergad compares the slave experience accounts. Bergad’sanalysis of the life experi- not only with the legal framework of the case, but in these societies in terms of demographics, eco- ences of enslaved women on Louisiana sugar 47 plantations, Cuban men who worked in the sugar totalitarianism. This somewhat provocative peri- roles as keepers of the home and the farm. By fields and as domestic slaves, and an African man odization is divided around acompelling triple asserting that women played acentral role in both who survived the Middle Passage en route to concept –consciousness, moment, movement. the prosecution and the outcome of the conflict, Brazil, provide an intimate comparison of nine- The post-1850 communication and information editor Lisa Tendrich Frank presents an inclusive teenth-century slave life. While Bergad explains revolutions (global newspapers, the telegraph, the view of women’sAmerican Civil Warinvolve- the limitations inherent in the use of autobio- railroad, steamboats, standard world time, the ment. As an overview of women’swartime expe- graphical accounts as gauges of collective identi- Gregorian calendar) brought about global con- riences, the work discusses women’snumerous ty,his personalized examples clearly demonstrate sciousness, which in turn brought about global non-traditional nineteenth century activities such both the barbarity of slavery and the simultaneous moments (world fairs, the stock market crashes of as asoldiering and spying as well as working as cultural agency of slaves. In this sense, the auto- 1873 and 1929, the Russo-Japanese Warof1905, abolitionists, slavery apologists, writers, war pro- biographical accounts illustrate Bergad’slarger World WarI,the Russian Revolution, President testors, community volunteers, nurses, govern- point, argued throughout the book, that in all Wilson’s14points); in turn, these brought about ment employees, and the more traditional work three nations slaves carved out personal space global movements (migrations, pan-Africanism). women took responsibility for while men were and identity for themselves; they “struggled to be Twostrong points of the book are the absent from the home and community.While treated as human beings, not simply as objects to emphasis on China and the focus on race, both of encompassing astudy of diverse racial, class, eth- be bought and sold” (75). Beyond the fascinating which confirm the authors’ continuity thesis and nic, religious, geographic, and socio-economic use of autobiographical evidence, Bergad demon- legitimize their transcultural approach. Each of components, this two-volume encyclopedic work strates the cultural agency of slaves through a the book’snine chapters provides promising core affirms the obvious, that the American Civil War comparative study of slave family structures, reli- samples. Their case-studies approach inspires the affected women’slives, and the less obvious, that gious beliefs, and attempted rebellions in Brazil, reader to fully realize that yesteryear’s world was women affected American Civil Warevents. Cuba, and the United States. already pulled in opposite directions between Thus, by arguing that women were not simply As asynthetic introduction to key themes in globalization and polarization, between the “uni- acted upon by the events of the war,but that their the history of New World slavery presented from versal” and the “particular.” Seen in the paradox diverse activities affected significant civil war across-cultural, comparative perspective, Laird of colonial rule, the nation-state stage appears as results and outcomes, this work notes apowerful W. Bergad’swork will undoubtedly be useful in an uncomfortable Western monopoly that was women/civil war reciprocal relationship. The edi- the college classroom. Bergad’semphasis upon being bypassed by the coming of the global vil- tor’s acknowledgement of this reciprocity creates the many similarities and occasional differences lage. Identity and community were defined by amore accurate and complete historical analysis existing between “the last great slave societies in philanthropic and other international organiza- of both women’shistory and civil war history. the Americas” will encourage student apprecia- tions on the one hand, and by cultural and reli- This encyclopedic work consists of two vol- tion for the broad comparative constructs –such gious fundamentalism and regionalism on the umes primarily comprising fourteen introductory as the Atlantic World –that predominate in aca- other.The rise of new urban or plantation-style contextual essays and 300 individual alphabet- demic discussions of New World slavery (157). industrialized societies and global markets made ized entries presenting events, battles, and biogra- While the book is written in accessible prose and possible and required aglobally mobile work- phies which are cross referenced to other entries provides readers with an ample introduction to force which was fueled by aworldwide popula- and include abibliography.Additionally the work both slavery and its eventual abolition in each of tion increase. The responses to migration there- includes auseful wartime chronology which the three nations, occasionally the transitions fore were not just anti-globalization reactions. interlaces important events from women’shistory between paragraphs on Brazil, Cuba, and the The repression of the Civil Rights movement in with major civil war events and aselected docu- United States are not as pronounced as student the United States, Apartheid laws in South Africa, mentary section containing 23 entries replete with readers may want or need them to be. and the Holocaust, to name but these, were the summary introductory overviews for each pri- Nevertheless, in providing acomparative analysis growth pains of mass society. mary source document. An excellent index, bibli- of New World slave societies that clearly res- Published exactly thirty years after Mineke ography,and list of contributors complete the ele- onates with current trends in historiography and Shipper’s seminal The White Man Seen From ments of the work. This combination of materials pedagogy, The Comparative Histories of Slavery Africa (1977), Competing Visions of World Order offers the reader ahighly useful reference guide in Brazil, Cuba and the United States is awel- offers important transnational perspectives. This to the subject. come addition to textbooks on slavery in the reviewer hopes that in future studies, female Frank’swork encourages the reader to dis- Americas. scholars will no longer just “warm up the bench” card traditional, limited interpretations of civil (all nine present contributors are male scholars), war women’shistory as it promotes the adoption and that the primary contributions of women at a of amore realistic, broader understanding of the Sebastian Conrad and Dominic time when they were entering the profession of diversity of women’swartime activities. This Sachsenmaier,eds. Competing Visions of nurses,social workers, educators, lay church work provides sufficient analytical impetus espe- World Order.Global Momentsand workers, to mentiononly these, will be truly hon- cially with its sources for further research. Movements, 1880s-1930s.Palgrave ored. This is particularly important in light of the Mainly this work provides educators excellent avowed goal of the editors, to provide anon- materials from which to craft awomen’shistory Macmillan, 2007. 266 pp. exceptionalist, non-Euro-centered perspective. component for integration into civil war studies. Students will find the concise and cross refer- Alice-Catherine Carls enced entries replete with ample research materi- University of Tennessee at Martin Lisa Tendrich Frank, ed. Women in the als. Many entries, while presenting straight-for- American Civil War.ABC-CLIO, 2008. ward factual data, also contain appropriate histor- Written by German and American authors, xxviii +631 pp. $195.00. ical antidotes which amplify the entry’sfactual Competing Visions of World Order seeks to find value and offer asophisticated, more nuanced the origins of our migrating, transnational, multi- insight into the material. Therefore, this work Mildred Diane Gleason layered, complex post-modern world. could be of assistance to any educator attempting Arkansas Tech University Reexamining Enlightenment principles in the to enhance instructional materials as well as to light of Juergen Habermas, Hannah Arendt, and students striving to more fully comprehend the Women in the American Civil War moves beyond Aime Cesaire, the book covers aperiod stretching parameters of the American Civil Warorengage the traditional description of women’swartime from the height of colonialism to the height of in research. Reading the work reveals acertain 48 amount of redundancy and thematic repetitions. ter utilize their book money and reading time semi-nomads earlier identified as keeping hunter- This work is highly readable, well researched and with an introductory essay; advanced students gatherers free from disease (58) increased vulner- provides additional research assistance. While it seeking an introduction to the field would do bet- ability to smallpox. In this instance and several presents engaging and enlightening profiles of ter to read selections from other Big History texts. others, an additional paragraph or two could have civil war individuals, events and issues, the work Perhaps most significantly,Brown’sdescrip- greatly increased both the explanatory power and is able to intertwine these with major historical tion of science lacks precision and accuracy.For the level of connection among various parts of the themes that together form astrong historical pres- example, she mistakenly claims there was no narrative. Such omissions and their replacement entation of the era. matter before the formation of atoms (6); with non-integrated content contradict Brown’s By presenting afocused study of the interac- misidentifies “event horizon” as agravity field claims of succinctness and seamlessness and tion between women’shistory and civil war his- (9); and mislabels measles, smallpox, influenza, make what could have been auseful essay aless- tory, Women in the American Civil War affords a yellow fever,and malaria as diseases caused by useful book. new dimensional understanding of both. By its bacteria rather than viruses and aprotozoan, Big History is apromising and exciting field nature any encyclopedic presentation will inher- respectively (196). Other descriptions are more but Cynthia Stokes Brown’s Big History inade- ently have certain analytical limitations. This awkward than wrong: in common usage, quately introduces it. Enough of Big History’s work, however,successfully presents factual data nucleotides are components and not “precursors” scientific content is inaccurately or misleadingly clearly and affords the reader the opportunity to of nucleic acids and cells do not, in fact, “consti- portrayed to compromise the value of the remain- consider thematic synthesis through the cited tute” fossils, though cells can fossilize (20, 17). der.The relations of the various historical compo- research sources and self-contained ancillary ele- More problematic are the purposive and teleolog- nents among themselves or to the scientific comments. The primary value of Women in the ical words Brown uses to describe evolutionary ponents are unclear or underdeveloped. The American Civil War is its operational thesis that processes, such as the claims that “blue-green understandable, substantive overview of Big women played critical and diverse wartime roles bacteria invented away to breathe oxygen” and History described in the introduction does not which helped determine civil war outcomes. that monkey eyes “faced forward ... for more materialize; what Brown does deliver is enjoy- Therefore, this work expands the field of overlapping fields of vision” (22, 32-33, my ital- able at parts but is not worth assigning to stu- women’shistory while offering expanded dimen- ics). Such word choices pervade the text, obscur- dents. Brown promises, as it were, avegetarian sions to civil war studies. ing the scientific processes and weakening pot-pie but delivers awilted raw-vegetable plat- Brown’scredibility as acommentator. ter. Once Big History moves on to more tradi- Cynthia Stokes Brown. Big History: From tional history,the narrative wanders. Of necessi- the Big Bang to the Present.The New ty,any discussion of Big History deals with many Nick Smart, ed. The Second World War. Press, 2007. xvi +288 pp. cultures, but as Brown describes the various peo- Ashgate Publishing, 2006. 513 pp. ples, it becomes difficult to determine why some details are included and others not. For example, Edward H. Jeter Jason Morgan in the single page she devotes to Olmecs, she Sam Houston State University University of Texas -Austin spends awhole paragraph describing their ritual ball-game without connecting it to anything else Cynthia Stokes Brown introduces Big History as The Second World War edited by Nick Smart of in the narrative (150-51). Similarly perplexing is “the scientific creation story ... told in succinct, the University of Plymouth is the most recent why Brown informs us that Aztecs fermented understandable language” in which she has installment in The International Library of Essays “two kinds of cacti” into “ochtli and pulque” “woven many disciplines of human knowledge on Military History series edited by Jeremy (154) when they are not otherwise defined or together into asingle, seamless narrative” (xi). Black. As the title indicates, this particular vol- mentioned. (Typical of the fact-checking, the two “Big History” deals with the history of the uni- ume takes alook at the Second World War. This words refer to the same beverage, which is not verse from the Big Bang to the present and how is not atraditional survey of the war or adetailed made from cactus.) As interesting as such facts Earth, humans, and human histories fit into it. monograph, but acollection of essays that show- are in their own right, they,and many other such Brown’s Big History is organized chronological- cases the broad range of scholarship written over details, fit into the narrative only as random triv- ly,tracing the formation of the universe, the the most violent episode in the twentieth century. ia. emergence of Homo sapiens,the development of Smart went to great lengths to choose essays that More fundamentally, Big History does little agriculture and cities, the creation of local, conti- appeal to those who have spent agreat deal of to build on its scientific foundation, flawed nental, and global trade/cultural networks, and time studying World WarII. The essays, all previ- though it be. Though Brown points out progres- finally the rise of industrialization—all with an ously published in journals as varied as The sive deforestation and concludes with an environ- eye toward the ecological factors and conse- Journal of Modern History to The Economic mental analysis, she rarely mentions physics, quences of each change. Brown successfully cap- History Review,are representative of the newer chemistry,ormeteorology in the latter portion of tures the expanse and excitement of Big History. scholarship on the conflict. Smart purposefully the text. Genetics, evolution, and ecology occa- For the most part, the narrative moves briskly and chose articles that would challenge traditional sionally enter the later narrative, but with little the broad outlines of the scientific information interpretations and incorporated the new social elaboration or clear connection. For example, in she surveys and its relationships to history are history that has viewed the Second World Waras discussing smallpox’snear annihilation of the persuasive. However, Big History falters in mov- “a territory ripe for colonization” (xi). Native American population after Afro-Eurasian ing beyond broad outlines into detail and analy- Smart justifies his approach in moving away contact, Brown attributes the immigrants’ com- sis. It fails as an introductory book in that it is from traditional military histories in this volume parative immunity to their contact with domestic merely longer and not deeper than an introducto- by saying that “the relative absence of operation animals but omits to explain how the exposure ry article.Though Big History broaches most of studies is explained by the simple fact that not created immunity or how other factors played the appropriate topics and might be useful to many are written for the scholarly journals,” and roles (196). In addition, after earlier describing some portions of the popular market, its lack of so he must focus on the non-military aspects of genetic mutation, she does not refer back to those integration, depth, and accuracy make it unsuit- the conflict (xiv). Asimple glance at the articles processes to explain how continuous smallpox able for high school, undergraduate, and graduate would show that the only thing they have in com- mutation made particular strains even more lethal students. For the quantity of reliable information mon is some link to World WarII, and there is not among Native American populations. Finally,she in its 288 pages, lower-level students would bet- alogical pattern that one can see in the selection does not mention that the population genetics of 49 of articles. This diversity,however,iswhat come. The book under review is acollection of One of the most famous warlords to rise in makes this such an important collection. There articles that examine in great detail the period of the Balkans in the late 1700s was Osman have been hundreds of books written on World the Ottoman Empire’sso-called decline during Pasvantogulu and he is the focus of the article by WarIIcovering any topic that one can imagine, the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Iuse the Rossitsa Gradeva. She argues that Pasvantogulu and anumber of good surveys have also been term “so-called decline” deliberately because the did not simply exploit the turmoil of the 1790s for written that cover the operational aspects of the theme that unites the various essays is the ques- his own aggrandizement. Instead she portrays war.This volume offers afresh perspective on tion of exactly how much the empire’scontrol him as a“conservative reformer” who sought to many of the conflicts that have become familiar and legitimacy was weakened in the Balkans dur- restore the glory of the classical Ottoman state. to those all over the globe. ing this era. Not surprisingly,the individual His efforts to introduce reforms in his own terri- Articles range in topic from the treatment of authors have slightly different perspectives on tories and to court the support of various POWs, the German economy,German workers, this issue, but the overall picture is less dismal European powers were in some ways aprecursor gender,rural society,the Battle of Britain, the and clear-cut than is often portrayed in most sur- of those of the more well-known Muhammad Ali military capabilities of Italy,and the fall of vey texts. Each of the articles here argues that in Egypt. Gradeva also points out that France.Onthe stories that are familiar to many, many groups in the Balkans supported the Pasvantogulu often received support from various including the Battle of Britain and the fall of Ottoman state in the 1700s, albeit for different non-Muslim groups and individuals. Although France, the articles chosen fly in the face of tradi- reasons and with different levels of commitment, such support was guided primarily by pragmatic tional interpretations. The article on the Battle of and that at least until the early 1800s very few considerations about his ability to provide securi- Britain, written by H.W.Koch, argues that it was people rejected the empire in toto for nationalis- ty and reduce taxes, it again highlights the fact the British not the Germans who first began tic reasons. that people’sloyalties in unsettled border areas bombing civilian targets. James Sadkovich’sarti- One of the major functions of any pre-mod- frequently shifted and were not always dictated cle “Understanding Defeat: Reappraising Italy’s ern state, including the Ottoman, was to provide by simply their religious or ethnic identity, Role in World WarII,” argues that it was justice for its subjects and the first two articles by although these began to become more common Rommel’sforces not Italy’sthat led to the Axis Antonis Anastasopoulus and Michael Hickok with the rise of “nationalist” sentiment among the defeat in North Africa. deal specifically with the judicial system and the Serbs in the early 1800s (130-31, 134). The articles chosen are extremely well writ- application of law.Both authors describe acom- The unstable and tumultuous nature of life in ten and offer the reader amore nuanced interpre- plex system in which local and provincial author- the provinces also features prominently in tation than one given in traditional military histo- ities were expected to deal with most cases and Anscombe’sarticle on the rise and fall of “bandit- ries covering World WarII. Because of these new that was quite flexible because these authorities ry” in the Albanian regions of the Balkans in the interpretations, the volume is not intended for the had avariety of codes and approaches they could late 1700s. He emphasizes how this was the result general reader; the book assumes that the reader employ to resolve disputes or deal with crimes of several underlying economic, social, and polit- has abasic understanding of the Second World such as murder (13-14, 47-48). While this com- ical problems and how the Ottoman state had War. The detail and arguments in this volume plexity could create disputes and conflicts among only limited control over some of them. Although would make it inappropriate for use in anything the different types of officials that could be the Ottomans made repeated efforts to curtail but an upper level seminar on World WarII, and exploited by transgressors, Hickok argues it such lawlessness, he argues the state lacked the only then as asupplementary text, or in agradu- worked well enough to provide some kind of jus- military and fiscal resources to eliminate it com- ate course. As ateaching tool, this book would tice to Bosnia (56). Anastasopoulus’ article pletely or to solve the underlying problems (106). make agreat contribution to aclass after students points out that when local authorities failed to As in Askan’sarticle on Wallachia, one of the key acquire asolid knowledge of World WarII, other- resolve cases, people not only routinely appealed factors limiting the Ottoman’sefforts to restore wise they will be lost in the complexities of the to the central authorities for redress, indicating stability and justice in the region was their preoc- articles. they continued to see it as the ultimate source of cupation with military threats posed by neighbor- The Second World War is afine addition to justice, but that the state sought to respond to ing states, which provided both bandits and local Dr.Black’smilitary history series. The selection such appeals and thus reaffirm its ties to its sub- notables numerous opportunities to enrich them- of articles by Nick Smart give aunique and jects and their concerns (26). selves (89). intriguing view to what is otherwise avery famil- The other contributions by the other three The overriding impression one gains from iar and, some can argue, over-studied subject. It is authors Virginia Aksan, Frederick Anscombe, and these articles is that while the Ottomans were still refreshing to see avolume on military history Rossitsa Graveda present aless rosy picture. capable of providing amodicum of security and move away from operational studies and focus Askan’sarticle examines illegal usurpation of justice in parts of the empire, it was hard pressed upon the social, economic and intellectual aspects farmland in the “frontier” region of Wallachia in to do so in border regions, especially during a of war,and because of this, it is avaluable addi- the mid-1700s and the Ottoman government’s time of nearly constant warfare with increasingly tion to any serious scholars’ library. response to this problem as revealed in the reports powerful neighbors. This may be the most signif- by aspecial investigating commission. She icant feature of the book for teachers and students argues that while the Ottomans did make acon- of World History.Itprovides detailed examples Frederick F. Anscombe, ed. The Ottoman certed effort to restore order and legitimacy in the of the difficulties that imperial states have in con- Balkans, 1750-1830.Markus Wiener region, employing avariety of contractual prac- trolling and administering territories that are geo- Publishers, 2006. 174 pp. tices, the efforts failed and conditions worsened, graphically and culturally removed from the cen- ultimately leading to the rise of powerful local ter. While most of these articles are probably too Craig Patton warlords in the late 1700s. In the process of dis- detailed to be assigned in high school or even Alabama A&MUniversity cussing these points, though, she makes anumber of points important to keep in mind not only introductory college World History classes, they offer arich source of information for instructors The Ottoman Empire occupies aprominent place about the Ottomans but many empires. First, she to use in developing their own lectures or assign- in many World History courses and rightly so. stresses the porosity of the frontier and complex- ments. For example, many of the problems facing Unfortunately,itattracts far fewer scholars and ity of people’sidentity in such areas. Second, she the Ottomans such as geographic obstacles, recal- students than other more “glamorous” epochs or highlights the importance of military considera- citrant nobles, military and fiscal pressures, pop- civilizations such as Rome, China, India, and so tions in shaping the government’sresponse to ular rebellion, banditry,and so forth were hardly forth. Therefore new studies on it are always wel- reports of lawlessness on the frontier. unique and the information provided here could 50 fruitfully be used in comparisons with many other helpful addition for public and school libraries James Cone) and Black Nationalist writers (e.g., pre-modern states, especially those in Europe or and for various student programs in African- Marcus Garvey) who imagined ablack Christ at Asia. The articles also highlight the complexity, American, Latin-American and South American the center of salvation history,orwho found fluidity,and innovativeness often found in such study programs. Africa as the locus of God’swork in the world. border areas and it is not hard to imagine acom- The Nation of Islam fits into Kidd’sformulation parison of the Balkans with other regions at dif- of black counter-theologies as does his brief ferent periods of time. Similarly,since most Colin Kidd. The Forging of Races: Race attention to persons of African descent who empires are first acquired and then maintained, at and Scripture in the Protestant Atlantic embraced Judaism. Kidd fails to consider,how- least in part, by force, the way in which military World, 1600-2000.Cambridge University ever,that white theologians might adopt alibera- factors constrained the ability of the Ottomans to Press, 2006. 309 pp. $27.99 paper. tion perspective and offer ablack counter-theolo- halt decentralization and instability could easily gy,asisthe case with James Perkinson’s White be compared with similar problems faced by Theology: Outing Supremacy in Modernity other empires from ancient ones such as the Phillip Luke Sinitiere (2004), whose theological formulations against Assyrians up to very recent ones such as the University of Houston white supremacy adopt critical perspectives pro- Soviet Union. vided by James Cone. In The Forging of Races,Colin Kidd offers a To demonstrate the central role of Protestant probing study of where and how Protestant bibli- biblical interpretation and conceptions of race in Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: cal interpretations factored into conceptions of the Atlantic World, which he does quite convinc- race across the Atlantic World over afour hun- Origins, Experiences, and Culture.Carole ingly,Kidd marshals evidence from scientific dred year period, atime of multiple developments writers, cultural critics, theologians, economists, Boyce Davies, editor,3volumes, ABC- and major change. Situated alongside studies that CLIO, 2008. historians, journalists, ethnographers, and ahost examine scientific, cultural, and economic of other specialists. Kidd’simportant study is dimensions of race construction, Kidd argues that thick intellectual history,and he brilliantly and Georgena Duncan “scripture has been for much of the early modern carefully sifts through arguments and structures Arkansas Tech University and modern eras the primary cultural influence of of arguments with precise detail and clear articu- the forging of races. ‘Race-as-theology’ should be lation. As awork of intellectual history,Kidd’s This three volume encyclopedia contains entries an important constituent of the humanistic study analysis overlooks ordinary lives, and the ways on awide range of ethnic African activity across of racial constructs alongside accounts of ‘race- that ideas about race and scripture figured into the the globe, arranged in three alphabetical volumes. as-biology’, ‘race-as-ethnicity’ and ‘race-as-class social and cultural experiences of the people he It is the outcome of emerging university pro- or -caste’” (19). writes about. This is partly aminor quibble since grams centered on the African Diaspora of peo- Kidd begins making his case with ause- Kidd claims as much at the book’soutset, yet in ples, and several international meetings on the ful survey of how during the last four hundred this case the greatest strength of Forging of Races diaspora. The length of entries varies from fairly years scholars and writers have interpreted partic- –its deep engagement with ideas –proves to be a short half-page entries to multiple-page detailed ular biblical accounts through the prism of race: weakness as well. This should not deter those over-views of history within aparticular nation or discussions about the “race” of Adam and Jesus, interested, however,asthis book is amust read region. Each entry is contributed by aspecialist for instance, as well as whether or not the sons of for those who study social, cultural, political, or in that area. The encyclopedia contains an Noah, one “blessed” and the other “cursed,” led religious history. extremely broad range of information on ethnic to different races. These theological arguments, Historiographically,Kidd’swork makes a African activities, culture, and history for Africa, Kidd convincingly shows, led to particular social, signal contribution to the intricate ways that the Latin America, South America, North America cultural, and political claims about racial superi- history of theology figures into national and and Europe, as well as some information on Asia. ority,racial inferiority,and notions of chosenness transnational understanding, owing much to The entries also cover abroad array of geograph- among nations and between individuals. Kidd’sfine work on nationalism. World histori- ic, historical, cultural and biographical data on The Enlightenment plays acritical role in ans who study religion will find awealth of mate- prominent people of African descent, African Kidd’sformulation of racialized scripture inter- rial with which to engage, and as aresult one ideas, African music, culture, dance, languages, pretation across the Atlantic World, as he calls for hopes that in the future scholars may build upon religion, history and organizations across the amore nuanced reading of the movement since the arguments about race and scriptural interpre- world. Each entry also lists suggestions for fur- the “Enlightenment took place largely within tation Kidd explores and locate them in aglobal ther reading, giving the reader more options for churches” (83). And attendant to such claims, context. Although it fits neither an Atlantic World pursuing knowledge than can be contained in an Kidd points out, were ideas about monogenesis paradigm nor world history,those interested in encyclopedia article. The entries are written in and polygenesis, and he deftly shows how these the intersection of scripture and constructions of part from an Afro-centric viewpoint which will arguments impacted nineteenth century discus- race may wish to examine Kidd’swork alongside stretch the average reader’s perceptions. There is sions about slavery and abolitionism (particularly J. Kameron Carter’s Race: ATheological Account also alack of useful information on the current in the United States), for example, and about the (2008). political and economic history of Africa itself. contested claims of Jesus’ “race” and “ethnicity.” Despite the book’slimiting Atlantic scope, Colonialism, while creating the foundations for In addition, Kidd contextualizes the forms of Forging of Races is still useful for advanced many of the current political and economic sys- “racialised religion” (203) that emerged during undergraduate classes and certainly graduate tems of Africa, cannot be simply assigned respon- the nineteenth century (e.g., Mormonism and courses, both as away to understand yet another sibility for all current African social, political, Theosophy) and twentieth century (e.g., Christian chapter of the Atlantic world’sreligious history and economic problems. The encyclopedia is at Identity Movement), and locates these groups, (in this context it may be helpful for both schol- its best in giving information on various African not as independent Protestant offshoots necessar- ars and students to compare Kidd’swork to Allan cultural developments in music, art, literature, ily,but into the stream of biblical interpretation Greer and Kenneth Mills, “A Catholic Atlantic,” and religion on aworld-wide basis. It is also help- through racialized lenses. in Jorge Canizares-Esguerra and Erik R. Seeman, ful in giving biographical information on avery Kidd’sfinal chapter examines another form eds., The Atlantic in Global History,1500-2000 broad range of Africans world-wide. While the of racialized religion, what he terms “black [2007]) and to problematize notions of the cost and scope of the encyclopedia make it of counter-theologies” (247). This chapter surveys Atlantic world itself, with the aim of understand- limited appeal for class-room use, it would be a the arguments of some black theologians (e.g., ing race and scripture(s) in aworld history frame- 51 work. With whatever disciplinary angle one many readers, even before reading the volume, members played roles in the conference. approaches Forging of Races,itisworth the time would go to the index and look for it, just to test Professor Brett E. Whalen of UNC at Chapel Hill and effort to probe the history and the ideas Kidd how reliable the volume is. They will not find the organized and presided over the conference, examines; his work is sure to provoke discussion word genocide mentioned there. Instead the read- David M. Perry of Dominican University in and prompt questions for years to come. er will find the entry,“Armenians, deportation Chicago presented the paper "Eastern Objects from Anatolia” (544). Then, when one checks the and Venetian Identity: Before and After 1261." referenced pages, one finds statements in passive Lauren Arnold of the Ricci Institute, the Resat Kasaba, ed. The Cambridge History voice such as “The Armenia population had been University of San Francisco, spoke on "the of Turkey,vol. 4, Turkey in the Modern dislodged.” On the other hand, it is encouraging Heavenly Horse of 1342: How aGift from a World.Cambridge University Press, 2008. to see that the “deportation” is classified as a Medieval Pope Came to be Portrayed as aTribute xxvi +574 pp. “tragic event” or that the agency is clearly Horse in aChinese Painting," and Timothy May declared: “the Ottoman government decided to of North Georgia College and State University deport all Armenians affiliated with the Armenian offered the paper "The Mongols and Alexander Mirkovic Apostolic Church from the war zone …toSyria” Afghanistan." The conference's concluding Arkansas Tech University (96). keynote address, "The Cult of Santiago Iunderstand that those advocating the clas- Matamoros in Sixteenth-Century Mexico: The Students, both undergraduate and graduate, pro- sification of the events of 1915 as an act of geno- Adaptation of Reconquista Ideology by an fessors, teachers, doctoral candidates, and the cide have been and could be easily persecuted by Amerindian People," was presented by Alfred J. general public have come to rely on Cambridge the infamous article 301 of the republic’spenal Andrea, vice-president of the WHA and professor Histories as the best, most reliable, up-to-date code referring to “the insult to Turkishness.” emeritus at the University of Vermont. surveys of regional or national histories. In that However,Ifail to see how the republic’spenal sense, the latest Cambridge History of Turkey, code could have jurisdiction over the editorial edited by Resat Kasaba with contributions from offices of aCambridge History.The complaint Turkish and Anglo-American scholars, does not about the Armenian Genocide could be reiterated disappoint. The quality of each article could be with regard to the devastation of Smyrna in 1922. graded as excellent or,atleast, very good. The It is indicative that the Greek word Smyrna is not book begins with the Ottoman background of even listed in the index. One will find all the ref- SEWHA Business Meeting modern Turkey,continues with the Tanzimat peri- erences to the city under its Turkish name, Izmir. Minutes, 18 October 2008 od, the reign of Abdulhamid II, the Young Turk Etymologically,these two words are the same; to movement, and the Ataturk Revolution. It ends Little Rock, Arkansas include both would be acommon courtesy to the with the latest in aseries of promises of the reader and asign of the willingness to overcome European Union to open full membership to the Micheal Tarver (Arkansas Tech) opened the 2008 aparticular national bent. Parochialism has republic that spans two continents. The history of annual meeting of the Southeast World History always been anemesis of the history of Ottoman the Turkish Republic after Ataturk is covered the- Association with awelcome to attendees, intro- successor states, and in spite of trying to over- matically,rather than chronologically,with duced the officers (Rob Willingham [Roanoke come it, the editor has not managed to succeed essays on migration, political parties, ethnic College], President-Elect; Jared Poley [Georgia completely in this process. The volume, however, minorities, Islam, women, and the arts. The State University], Secretary; Masako Racel makes agood effort in that direction. Maybe the “icing on the cake” is the last essay,abrief histo- [Kennesaw State University], Webmaster; and selection of contributors should have been abit ry of the city of Istanbul, which rightly points out Jonathan Grant [Florida State University], more ethnically diverse? that the ancient Byzantine and Ottoman capital is Treasurer), and explained that future SEWHA The consequence of these editorial issues currently the largest city in Europe, emphasizing meetings would be held at Roanoke College in will be alack of confidence in the volume, which further the importance of Turkish history and the 2009 and Kennesaw State in 2010. He was asked is, in my opinion, very unfortunate and complete- importance of this volume. by Laura Cruz (Western Carolina) to explain the ly unnecessary.The volume really represents a Every volume of the Cambridge Histories mission and philosophy of SEWHA. Jared Poley large step forward in the historical scholarship on brings something new to the debate, especially in gave abrief financial report. modern Turkey.Inspite of the above mentioned the area of general historical concepts and the omissions, Iwarmly recommend this volume. words that we use to define them, and likewise New Business: The Cambridge History of Modern Turkey is far this volume requires its readers to re-think their A) Micheal Tarver suggested two amend- too important for world historians to overlook, basic definitions. For example, we learn that the ments to the SEWHA constitution. The first mod- even if it does not address the issue of Armenian Young Turk Revolution was neither liberal nor ification centers on the timetable for nominating really arevolution (63), or that the Ottoman Genocide. and electing officers. Tarver proposed accepting defeat in World WarIwas not really adefeat, but nominations from the floor at the annual meeting the beginning of the titanic “Struggle for with aballot to be mailed to all active members Independence” and atrue “Turkish Revolution” the following month that would also contain (112). Naturally,these provocative statements space for write-in candidates to be considered. will disappoint those used to traditional historical The officers-elect would then take office the fol- interpretation, but they will also open amuch WHA Members Participate in lowing January.The second amendment consist- needed debate. ed of adding the office of “webmaster (or -mis- Are there any problems with the volume? Global Encounters Conference tress)” to the slate of council members. These Unfortunately,yes. The most obvious is the issue proposed amendments will circulate to the active of the Armenian Genocide. Cambridge Histories The new Program in Medieval and Early Modern members and avote will be held in the near are considered authoritative and that is the reason Studies (MEMS) of the University of North future. why these problems are so obtrusive. One does Carolina at Chapel Hill held its inaugural inter- B) The prizes will be updated and the con- not expect glaring omissions in avolume such as disciplinary conference on the theme "Global tests modified to correspond more closely to a this. Since the issue of Armenian Genocide is so Encounters: Legacies of Exchange and Conflict, timetable that corresponds to the annual meeting. widely known and often debated, Iassume that 1000-1700," November 14-15, 2008. Five WHA C) Nominations for asingle open at-large 52 council member were solicited; Dorothea Martin Labor Party.Prime Minister Kevin Rudd immedi- the old left is out for its revenge on the triumphal- (Appalachian State University) nominated Chris ately mounted achallenge to the historical ortho- ists. Macintyre, was aone-time communist, so he Hill of Hamilton College. Ballots will be distrib- doxy of the Howard years: the members of a reminds us, and believer in “history from uted shortly. board to formulate the guidelines of anational below”.7 That discredits his opinions and tomes D) Maryville College (TN) issued apropos- curriculum were announced in April 2008. on any subject, or so Donnelly would have you al to host the SEWHA conference in 2011. The The history debates, through print, speech believe. More footnote bashing is in the pipeline. proposal was accepted. Acopy of the proposal is and footnote, continue to tap the barrel of uncer- Opposition frontbencher Tony Abbott, mem- available for review from the Secretary. tainties and suspicions with the release of the ber of the conservative Coalition and long time E) Dorothea Martin moved that Micheal National Curriculum Board paper by Professor critic of the ‘black armband’ view,sees the need Tarver and the local arrangements committee, as Stuart Macintyre on October 13.4 The foes, to flag the Union Jack over any history curricu- well as Arkansas Tech, University of Arkansas- whether they be “black armbanders”, or the hero- lum, an indication for some that it was never Little Rock, University of Central Arkansas, and ic, chest-thumping narrators, may have shifted taken down. The “modern world” was made in the Old State House be commended for their hos- chairs with Rudd’scoming to power,but not alle- England, though he never specifies what he pitality.The motion passed unanimously. giances. Anational apology to the indigenous means by that. “People have to know where we peoples, notably those of the “stolen genera- came from, and they’ve got to know about the Jared Poley tions”, may have been issued by the current Prime ideas that shaped the modern world”. Australians 19 October 2008 Minister but the trenches are again being occu- were “a product of western civilisation, in partic- pied by familiar combatants.5 Inevitably,the ular we are product of English-speaking civilisa- NCB paper is rapidly becoming an object of tion.”8 political disputation. If the NCB recommendations are followed, The initial advice has various leitmotifs. it’shard to see how Abbott could have any com- History Wars and School One is the influence of globalisation on the prac- plaints at all. Imperial history (read British), Curricula: The New History tice of historical pedagogy.Consider,the advice explains much of Australian settlement, but it argues, how aquarter of Australians were born would be nice for Aussies to realise that they Curriculum in Australia elsewhere. This had to be paired with an appreci- might be using Euros (or Francs) today were it ation of Aboriginal history.The gist of this argu- not for British suspicions of their colonial rivals Binoy Kampmark ment is simple: that “the restriction of the nation- in the Eighteenth Century.Empires, within asav- al curriculum to Australian history is inappropri- age hotchpotch of conquest and settlement joust- ate.” ed for ascendancy,and that story can hardly be In the Annals of the American Academy of Foundations for historical learning needed to missed. Abbott would just like to think the per- Political and Social Science,University of be broadened; migrant and indigenous histories fidious Albion did it all, in addition to doing it Queensland academics Andrew Bonnell and placed in context. Major civilizations needed to well. Martin Crotty put forth their case about how be understood. Australian history would remain, Putting Australia back into the world of his- Australian history had been represented by the anecessary curriculum fixture, but trimmed to tory is certainly better than keeping it out of it. conservative Prime Minister John Howard. Their accommodate amore international, “compara- While the frontier settlement (or invasion?) survey is another significant shot in what has tive” perspective. Studies in junior secondary should be studied with specific local references, been termed an Australian Historikestreit, abitter would feature discussion about the “earliest and aplace definitely exists for local histories, struggle on the meaning of history to anation.1 human communities” (60,000 B.C. –500 A.D.) specialisations can duly follow.Parochial history For the authors, the Prime Minister and his gov- and to the birth of the modern world (1750 A.D.). rarely does anybody any good, except those who ernment had minimised the suffering caused to Australian history comes in ahumble fourth carve aperilous niche in the hope that their views the Aboriginal populace in favour of an unblem- place, featuring from 1901 onwards. will win popular support. ished history favouring democratic uplift. Various “units” of learning will be incorpo- Disasters had become triumphs, or were less sig- rated. Global migrations “of the earliest commu- Binoy Kampmark was aCommonwealth Scholar at nificant than made out to be. nities”, in terms of economy,technology and Selwyn College, University of Cambridge and lecturer Australian history has never quite been same social structures, will be studied. Connections in history at the University of Queensland. since the distinguished historian Geoffrey between Africa, the Near East, Europe and Asia Blainey ventured into the hazardous waters of will be taught. The rise and fall of empires, along NOTES history as politics. His 1993 lecture posited two with the development of “global networks of key views of Australian history.One was “the 1Andrew Bonnell and Martin Crotty,“Australia’sHistory exchange” will feature, while the third unit will Three Cheers view of history” –Australian histo- under Howard, 1996-2007,” The Annals of the American examine the emergence of the global economy. Academy of Political and Social Science 617, 1(2008): 149- ry seen through apatriot’sgoggles. Then there Australian history will be acomposite covering 165; and by the same authors, “An Australian was the “Black Armband view of history” – ‘Historikerstreit’?” Australian Journal of Politics and History Aboriginal history and the imperial age, leading Australian history seen through the goggles of the 50, 3(2004): 425-433. to astudy of modern Australian politics.6 2G.A.Blainey,“The Balance On Our History,” Quadrant pessimist, gloomy and very much a“disgrace” It is hard to fault this, or reasoning that (July 1993): 10-15. marked by an appalling record in the treatment of allows children to be liberated from their labour- 3For asense of this endeavour,see Keith Windschuttle, The Indigenous peoples.2 While Blainey was unfair- Fabrication of Aboriginal History (Sydney: Macleay Press, ing immaturity,toparaphrase Immanuel Kant. ly vilified in subsequent debates, the battlelines 2003). That is another theme of the advice: Get them 4National Curriculum Board (NCB), National History had been drawn. early,inshort, and immerse them broadly,in Curriculum: Initial Advice,2008, available at Under Howard, the black arm-banders were children will have to pay homage to historia, and 5The reference to the state sponsored removal of children of Aboriginal history,amongst them Henry in its international guise. This is only to the good. Aboriginal and Torres Streait Islander descent that took place in 3 Reynolds, dethroned. The history of Australian The report, despite its sober,calm assess- the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. success, three cheers and all, returned with a 6NCB, National History Curriculum,12. ment, has riled various critics. Former education 7Kevin Donnelly,“My Worst Fears Have Been Realised,” vengeance. The pendulum is now set to go the advisor to John Howard, Kevin Donnelly,smells The Australian,September 10, 2008. other way: in November 2007, the Howard aprogressive rat, if not several, in the proposal: 8Quoted in Australian Associated Press, “New History Government was defeated by the opposition Curriculum Proposed,” The Age,October 13, 2008. 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

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