and
Issue 36 May 2020 ISSUE 36 | 2020
Contents Editor’s Note State Shinto and Nationalism in Meiji Japan 3 Welcome to Issue 36 of the Manchester Historian! Ideologies, James Baldwin’s Existential America 4 creeds, and belief systems have always played a key role in hu- The History of Eco-Socialism 5 us, and our place in it. Much of the twentieth century has un- til quite recently been perceived as a battleground between Mary Wolstencraft and Early Feminism 6 the competing forces of capitalism, fascism, and communism. With the fall of the fascist regimes in Italy and Germany in bell hooks and Intersectionality 7 1943 and 1945, and of most communist regimes in the Eastern block by 1991, the historian Francis Fukuyama proclaimed the Neitzsche, Modernity and Progress 8 end of history with the victory of capitalism. This is part of a long tradition in historiography, in which the lenses of ideol- 9 ogy are used in order to provide a framework to understand history. From such monoliths as capitalism and commu- Islamic Art 10 nism, feminism and race, to more modern approaches such as our relationship with our environment, ideologies have Holocaust Trauma and Israeli Identity 11 fundamentally transformed the world and the way we live.
History of Utopian Societies 12 Many ideas which had seemed radical only a few months ago, Interview with Katherine Clements 13 such as Universal Basic Income, rent strikes, and the semi-de- liberate collapse of airline companies around the world, have Legalist Ideology in China 14 come under serious consideration. The upending of how our societies have been organised until now has removed many Native American Environmentalism 15 of these lenses through which we have understood the world. Events like pandemics and revolutions might be catalysts for Zionism 16 ideological change, but belief systems have always governed human behaviour and have developed dramatically over time. Manifest Destiny - US expansionism 17 This is what we hope to explore in the articles in this issue.
Acid House and Tatcherism 18 In that spirit, in this issue we have articles on Japanese Na- tionalism (p.3), the history of feminism (p.6 and 7), on Bald- Jihadism 19 win’s existentialism and Nietzsche’s nihilism (p.4 and 8). Two articles explore Israeli identity and Zionism (p.11 and Whitechapel Victims 20 16), and two articles focus on environmentalism (p.5 and 15). The ideology of the Chinese state features in two articles on The Wilmington Massacre 21 - ics such as jihadism (p.19), US expansionism (p.17), and the The Racialised War on Drugs 22 history of the idea of utopia (p.12). Finally, do make sure to read our interview with Katherine Clements, an author of 23
Review of the Cheese and the Worms 23
Many thanks to Francesca Young Kaufman University of Manchester History Department University of Manchester Graphics Support Workshop
22 ISSUE 36 | 2020 State Shinto and Nationalism in Meiji Japan Lafcadio Hearn, a travel writer who lived tionalistic idea, ‘supporting and rallying’ from all religions in favour of strengthen- in Japan from 1890 until his death, like the cause instead of the top-down pro- ing Shinto principles and mythos which many other Western travellers, remarked cess of ideological assimilation that can was led by enlightened thinkers such as on the curious spectacles of Japanese cul- be witnessed in other nations’ histories. Fukuzawa. Furthermore, from the 1880s onwards school events and trips to Shin- from the outside world for over 200 years. The overall success of Shinto is contest- to shrines, rituals, and festivals calling What is embedded, somewhat unknow- ed by Fukuzawa Yukichi, a famous en- back to ancient Japanese traditions were ingly, is a narrative of intense social and lightened thinker of the Meiji period, organised for the purpose of revering religious upheaval. Indeed, Hearn wrote renowned for his views on Japan’s mod- the Emperor. The Rescript of Education extensively about the Shinto and Bud- ernisation and educational practices who was also implemented from 1890 and dhist practices of the Japanese population wrote about his suspicions of Shinto in the sent to every school in Japan, accom- modern world. He claims ‘Shinto was al- panied by a portrait of Emperor Meiji. writing “for in this most antique province ways a puppet of Buddhism’ (1883), and The image we can conjure of a Japanese of Japan all Buddhist and Shintoists like- thus used Buddhist principles instead of classroom post-1890 parallels those seen wise utter the Shinto prayer: Harai tamai having its own coherent set of beliefs. The in authoritarian states during the twen- kiyome tamai to kami imi tami”which Great Promulgation campaign (1870-84) tieth century such as the Soviet Union, when loosely translating Hearn’s roman- sought to overcome this issue by establish- Nazi Germany, and Communist China. ised transcription means “The distant ing a new modern doctrine, and under this gods, smile [upon us] we pray; drive out the “imperial edict on the promulgation of In combination with the divine provenance [evil], we pray; cleanse us; we pray”. And the Great Teachings” which sent mission- of the Emperor, he had become God in the while this may depict a harmonious re- aries across the country in order to prose- eyes of the Japanese, and this is highlight- lationship between the two religions it lytise Japan with a state-sponsored com- ed in classroom practice. These education- prehension of what Shinto actually was. al and religious reforms nurtured nation- Meiji period (1868-1912) Japan. These alism from an early age, and normalised dynamics of faith were carefully designed Another obstacle the Meiji government the reverent role of the Emperor within to support the rise of militant national- had to contend with in solidifying a mod- Japanese society - children now grew up ism which would come to a head on the with an intense awareness of their moral global stage of world war in the mid-twen- local shrines and their relationship with duty to the Emperor and the state by proxy. local governance. During the restorative - This process developed a new “modern” After the Meiji Restoration in 1868 in cade of the twentieth century the state Japanese national identity characterised which the Shogunate was overthrown recognised that centralisation in religious by an ideological shift towards radical, mil- institutions was necessary for an adoption itaristic nationalism. This would also later restored, there was a reorganisation of of State Shinto, and began to invest sig- encompass Japan’s national image during Japanese society. A powerful tool used by the Meiji government was the reas- for national initiatives’. Consequently, the of Japan’s modern history on the global sertion of Shinto rites and beliefs, espe- government had further reaching control stage. For example, even today the phrase cially when concerned with the divine that could overcome the historic fragment- “Tenno heika banzai” evokes images of status of the Imperial family and Emper- ed and localised nature of the country. Japanese soldiers running towards the or. Buddhist temples were targeted in a enemy on a suicide mission, completely movement historically called haibutsu Additionally, with any ideological move- hypnotised by the rhetoric asserted during kishaku where nearly eighteen thousand ment, education was an institution that the Meiji period of the divine provenance temples were destroyed as a symbol of a was necessary to intercept and signpost- of the Emperor. As expressed by Helen wider transition that aimed to separate ed ideological change in the morals and Hardacre, the history of State Shinto is an Shinto and Buddhist divinities complete- ethics of the population. The Meiji period uneasy concept to approach in contempo- ly, shinbutsu bunri. However, one thing rary Japan as it attempts to re-contextu- to consider when analysing this subject which placed Shinto and thus the Emper- alise national values in a modern world. is the Japanese understanding of reli- or at the heart of Japanese life. Nation- gion. Shinto was fundamentally a belief al Learning (Kokugaku) was a school of Emma Donington Kiey system that informed the Japanese worl- dview and allowed its followers to com- prehend their realities of life (eg. natural disasters, sickness, and the divine rule of the Imperial family). The Meiji govern- ment implemented laws allowing for reli- gious freedom, but created a loophole of faux-secularisation where Shinto was con- verted into an ideology instead of being comparable to religion. Hence, the adop- tion of Murakami Shigeyoshi’s theory, “State Shinto”. Murakami argues that this term also means that the Japanese popu- lace were also active members of this na-
33 ISSUE 36 | 2020 James Baldwin’s Existential America James Baldwin was born in Harlem in existence and perpetuated oppression in - 1924, raised by his mother Berdis Jones American society. The fractured nature tions of colour. and step father Reverend David Baldwin. of Badwin’s identity transposed into his Leaving the church, and America, Baldwin Baldwin’s relationship with his step father work, as he developed an approach to began a cosmopolitan expatriate lifestyle would shape his understanding of life as - that would last for the rest of his life. His an African-American in the twentieth cen- ical existential phenomenology, encour- formative years had exposed him to the tury; his biological and emotional distance aging his readers to escape and transcend peculiar relationship between Christiani- structures of oppression and ideas that ty and the African American. Then, in his identity and to observe the conditions suf- encouraged mauvaise foi, and to embold- European travels, Baldwin was exposed fered in American society as epitomised en the autonomous lived experiences of to the peculiarity of ‘race.’ In ‘The Discov- by his step father. African Americans. ery of What It Means to Be An American’ Baldwin most explicitly shows his existen- David Baldwin would not hide the fact that Religion was a principal focus for Bald- James was illegitimate, often bullying him win, and a central obstacle to black liber- for his looks and calling him ugly, but this ation. Baldwin’s involvement in the Black what way the specialness of my experience became a useful metaphor for Baldwin, Pentecostal Church as a young preacher could be made to connect me with other who would describe himself as a ‘bastard is a central theme of his work. Based on people instead of dividing me from them.’ of the West.’ The metaphor of illegitima- Baldwin describes what is essentially an cy would lead Baldwin to the conclusion critique which highlighted the misguided existential crisis during his convalescence that there was a shared struggle amongst and restrictive elements of the church; the in Switzerland: ‘I began to try to re-create white America and African-Americans, an bloodless theatre and ritualistic illusion endemic crisis of identity. From this po- which severed the African American ex- from which I had spent so many years in sition, Baldwin captured the essence of perience from reality and instilled an in- what W.E.B. DuBois referred to as ‘twon- authentic existence. Baldwin linked these drawing upon his experiences to under- ess’; church practices to an inherent form of stand who he is today. For Baldwin, this black self-hatred, inspired by the curse ‘One ever feels his two-ness,—an for dealing with what he would describe American, a Negro; two souls, was merely ‘a mask for hatred and self-ha- as ‘the White problem.’ By drawing a line two thoughts, two unreconciled tred and despair.’ Baldwin also criticised under the paradigm of ‘race’ Baldwin was strivings; two warring ideals in the more radical growth of religion. The beginning to clarify that the White Amer- one dark body, whose dogged Nation of Islam, which was perceived by strength alone keeps it from be- many as a radical departure from con- his essenceas a ‘negro’, but as Sartre says ing torn asunder.’ sevative, and repressive Christianity, was - existence precedes essence. Through this criticised by Baldwin. In Baldwin’s view, For Baldwin, it may well have been four- the binary fallacy of Elijah Muhammad’s problem’ re-evaluated perceptions of race ness; as a black, illegitimate, queer Amer- position that espoused the white man as ican he was especially isolated from the devil only enforced a rigid, and racial- developing the philosophical notion that society he found himself in. Insisting that ly exclusive dichotomy of black versus race is an arbitrary concept, originally de- he was ‘not merely a Negrowriter’, Bald- white existence. Baldwin believed that to - - enforce this dichotomy was to perpetuate win’s saw philosophical ‘color-blindness’ tialist and holistic views that limited his an essentialist idea of race that was built as the best way to, not only combat rac- in order to oppress. In his critique of the ism within America, but to overcome the Nation, Baldwin stipulates that the ‘negro’ shortcomings of apparent developments was created by white people, built solely to in race relations. in relation to ‘the white man’, was to pre- Baldwin’s fractured queer identity, and serve the oppressive dichotomy, tanta- complex relationship with American so- mount to remaining within that original ciet placed him in a unique to assess the problem of race in America. Throughout and embolden the white man in America, liberation which emboldens the lived ex- as the ‘negro’s’ diametric opponent, and perience of African Americans, while si- that there is an almost symbiotic relation- multaneously exposes the deep-set roots ship between the two concepts reduced of structural oppression in America solely to an obsession with ‘race’ or colour. Wilf Kenning it is important to focus on the phenome- nological experience of Black people rath- 44 ISSUE 36 | 2020 The Origins and Rise of Eco-Socialism Kapital, Vol. 3. And much like modern not uncommon in the history of the world. eco-socialism, he blamed the worsening Political leaders have always twisted, environmental degradation all on capital- blended, and combined many ideas to im- ism, the exploitative system that ruins hu- pose their own schemes on their citizens. man lives and nature. Marx demonstrates This is often done through the revamping this mutual belief that capitalism must be of Marxist thought into some new variant dismantled, and replaced with a system of of socialism. Perhaps one of the most sig- common ownership of the means of pro- duction. Therefore, the so-called ‘origins with its relevance and novelty posing the of the origins’ demonstrate how tradition- biggest threat to mainstream political ide- al Marxist thought has contributed to the ologies. In terms of the metaphorical polit- rise of eco-socialism in the late twentieth ical colour spectrum, eco-socialism blends century, namely the 1970s. the green with the red – not to produce a murky brown colour, but rather a refresh- But before we move on to the most pivotal ing and cutting-edge ideology combining decade in eco-socialist and environmen- two prevalent schools of thought. Essen- ing environmental health. Thus, the red tially its main premise is that the expand- given to another so-called “early prophet” and green ‘blend’ only originated in the ing capitalist system is the sole cause of of eco-socialism - William Morris. Morris 1970s, with the term ‘eco-socialism’ itself environmental damage to the world and, was a British anti-imperialist, revolution- coined in the following decade - notably in order to save the planet, we must rid ary, and socialist of the latter part of the used in the key 1980 pamphlet ‘Eco-so- ourselves of it once and for all – to ensure nineteenth century. His special and once cialism in a Nutshell’. This became an ‘system change, not climate change’. This unparalleled socialist mentality plays a important and central work in the history mirrors socialism’s ingrained condemna- central part in the origins of eco-socialism of the ideology, one that provided an al- tion of the destructive capitalist system, and some historians argue that he helped ternative to the ‘doomster’ image that this but equally represents the ‘green’ political to construct the ideology altogether. Mor- new environmentalism had generated, view that heavily prioritizes the preserva- ris’ view was ahead of his time as, even in and subsequently popularised the school tion of Mother Earth, above all other so- the 1880s and 1890s, he consistently ac- of thought. From here, scholars began to cial justice or economic issues. And in the knowledged how damaging the impact of pay attention to studying eco-socialism modern world, where catastrophic weath- industrialised capitalism was on the en- as a serious political theory; in 2001, Joel vironment, even before the recognition of Kovel and Michael Löwy wrote “An Ecoso- escalating, the green-and-red concoction the present ecological crisis. His 1884 lec- cialist Manifesto”, and the following year, that eco-socialism provides is becoming ture, ‘Art and Socialism’, shone a new light Kovel published the renowned book “The even more attractive. But when did this all on this impact and ominously warned us Enemy of Nature: The End of Capitalism begin? that we would eventually be “choked by or the End of the World?” – a seemingly - self-explanatory work, but nonetheless The ecological movement reached its cli- ist system and how it ravages nature. His advocating for transformation of the en- bleak attitudes mimic the rhetoric of to- tire capitalist system so that the human socialism. The establishment of Inter- day, over one hundred years later, show- race could actually survive the threat of national Mother Earth Day in 2009, the ing just how radical his thinking was – climate change. Since this, eco-socialism worldwide climate strikes that took place radical, but indeed right. has continued to ascend even higher, and throughout 2019, and a general increase gain more and more popularity world- in environmental awareness worldwide, Thus, William Morris was an important wide. This is years after the prime of socialism, as was Karl Marx himself. But the rise of which historians say peaked in the mid is the future of eco-socialism? What will nineteenth up to the early twentieth cen- happen, and when – is an ecological rev- tury. The true origins of eco-socialism lie of the 1970s. The formation of both the olution even likely? There are many ques- somewhere in the middle of all this, but Environmental Protection Agency in the tions like this to be asked, but generally some historians give credit to the father of United States, and Greenpeace in this dec- speaking, its remarkably unique history, socialism, Karl Marx, for sowing the seeds ade, represent a new surge in the strength clear message and promising progress of eco-socialism long before this. Despite of ecological engagement, due to a grow- being focused primarily on revolution and ing concern about the health of the envi- ideology not to be dismissed. seizing the means of production, Marx ronment. Yet most socialist movements did point out the “metabolic rift” between throughout the nineteenth century, such Emily Hunt man and nature, and discussed how soci- as Soviet communism and the Labour ety should take care of the planet for fu- movement in the West, had largely over- ture generations, as was elucidated in Das looked these newfound issues surround- 55 ISSUE 36 | 2020 Mary Wolstencra! and Early Feminism Mary Wollenscraft is one of the most nature of her father. Perhaps her ability famous people you’ve never heard of. More, now viewed by some scholars Her presence in the school curriculum is politics owed something to this sense of as a ‘conservative feminist’, actually minimal; her only appearance comes as undetermined identity. Her work writing responded to the book by arguing that a contextual note for ‘Frankenstein’ – the for the ‘Analytical Review’ gave her a women were in fact the animal which popular book written by Mary Shelley, platform in which she could contribute was most ‘indebted to subordination’. to the literary genre and expand her Clearly, the idea of gender equality London, Wollenscraft’s early life was knowledge, without appearing to be acting complicated by an erratic family. Her outside of her sex. In 1790, ‘A Vindication father was a violent drunk, who was said of the Rights of Men’ was published; Wollstonecraft’s branch of feminism to have been abusive towards her mother. Wollenscraft’s infamous rebuttal of may seem somewhat unimpressive to a He constantly moved the family around Edmund Burke’s negative analysis of the modern audience. Amongst the pragmatic England in pursuit of entrepreneurial and eloquent phrases appeared to be a success, once notoriously trying to responses, a privilege gained through darker, almost misogynistic undertone. establish himself as a farmer in Epping. her position at the ‘Analytical Review’. She continually condemns her sex, This erratic behaviour had an economic Evidently, Wollenscraft was able to use calling women ‘weak beings’ who more impact: the sizeable fortune inherited her literary skill to access the highest often than not are found to be ‘irrational, by the Wollenscraft family was steadily levels of academic society, something indolent and superstitious’. To this splurged, reducing their status and rank. not previously seen. Writing over 200 end, accepting Wollstonecraft as the articles for the review proved her strength ‘Founder of Feminism’ is problematic. To this end, Wollenscraft’s brother was as a writer, irrespective of her sex. Wollstonecraft, through her fortune and the only member of the seven siblings Wollenscraft published her most overt privilege, was able to access the male- to receive a formal education. Mary feminist work, ‘A Vindication of the dominated political sphere, usually Wollenscraft had received only a few through her close connections, unlike the days of proper education during a short vast majority of women she criticised. stint in Yorkshire; just enough time It is interesting that Wollstonecraft’s for her to learn how to read and write. However, it is important to note that following her death; instead of being Wollenscraft’s education, albeit largely remembered as a pioneer of equal informal, was beyond many other education, contemporary audiences women of her age. She had an extensive were hasty to reprimand her as someone knowledge of Shakespeare and Milton who transgressed gender norms. The through her own love of reading, yet publication of her husband’s Memoirs in by the time she was a teenager she was 1798 did nothing to improve her image set to enter a respectable profession. posthumously, instead portraying her as irreligious and erratic. We should be being the ideology of equality for men and cautious to award Wollstonecraft the title of women – was something Wollenscraft Rights of Women’, in 1791. Immediately, ‘Founder of Feminism’; indeed, feminism seemed to comply with in part, her entire the tract was very popular: selling out should be regarded as a movement towards life. For example, Wollstonecraft’s earliest three times over. By further emphasising gender equality that certainly predates feminist tract was ‘Thoughts on the the importance of education in ensuring Wollstonecraft. However, it is true that Education of Daughter’s’, published in equality for women, Wollenscraft directly European feminists have continually 1786 by the radical Joseph Johnson. The opposed popular philosophers of the been inspired by Wollstonecraft’s tract promoted Wollstonecraft’s idea that day such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, penetration of the male political sphere. women’s oppression stemmed from a poor who believed that women should be education system. Joseph Johnson was educated for the ‘pleasure of men’. We will never know whether also instrumental in aiding Wollenscraft’s Perhaps Wollenscraft took inspiration Wollstonecraft’s writings intended move into the male-dominated political from the jumbled education she had to draw attention to women’s social sphere. Whilst political activity was received, concluding that women were oppression, or instead solely were a something incompatible with 18th not incapable of reason, yet were simply product of her philosophical education. Century ideals of women as elegant and disadvantaged by a society which However, Wollstonecraft’s early passive, female literary authors were prioritised literate and privileged males. emphasis on an education system ultimately able to exhibit some creativity. which was fundamentally equal is an Wollstonecraft’s tract seemed radically unequivocally important part of feminist Wollstonecraft explored her identity progressive during the late 18th Century, history, and more generally the history and was rapidly translated into both of women’s struggle against oppression. ‘Mary: A Fiction’ (1788) she explored German and French, whilst also becoming Natasha Parsons the obstacles faced by women who were a hit across the Atlantic. Contemporary self-made and orphaned. This drew from reactions to the book varied: esteemed her own experiences with the death of male authors such as Horace Warpole her mother in 1782, and the ever-absent condemned the book, as did female
66 ISSUE 36 | 2020 Intersectionality in Western Feminism First wave feminism, which was and women’s rights by giving around 8.4 million women the vote, only claimed in the UK; similarly in the US, the Nineteenth Amendment of 1920 brought the vote for only white women. First wave feminism therefore largely ignored social cross-sections by focusing almost exclusively on middle class white women. work has been pivotal in discussions into view’. The goal of intersectionality The second wave feminism of the 1960’s of power, exclusion and diversity; but is not exclusively to understand relations what does this mean for the feminism of of power but to bring these dynamics systematic social sexism in the West now and for the feminism of the future? forward in order to reshape them. including that which was rooted in the anti-racist and anti-capitalist civil It is often argued we are in a fourth rights movements. However, women of wave of feminism, characterised by its colour were largely alienated from the digital nature. However, this wave is not could be seen as largely inclusive with an central, mainstream platforms of the homogenous, just as previous waves have awareness of intersectionality. Indeed, movement. It was this movement that not been homogenous and just as women in 2011, one third of the population of spurred the writing of bell hooks, born are not homogenous. Abrahams claims Greater Manchester was non-white, with in segregated Kentucky, who published that ‘as the target has moved from legal a higher percentage of LGBT+ people parity to real social equality, debates than the English national average and a Women and Feminism in 1981. She about what justice for women means and near equal proportion of men and women. was one of the earliest voices within the how to achieve it have become ever more However, lack of awareness surrounding second wave to critique the racism in the intersectionality continues to pervade this feminist movement and the sexism in Steiner’s claim that ‘we cannot say diverse city, as can be seen in hate crime the civil rights movement. hooks sought there is only one feminism’ becomes legislation. While Greater Manchester apparent; feminism is splintered. Police acknowledge hate crime categories women into feminist practices, claiming such as ‘disability, race, religion, sexual that ‘people can be fully aware of one form Zimmerman argues that fourth wave orientation, transgender identity and of domination and then be completely feminism is deeply entrenched in alternative sub-cultures’, they make little the values of intersectionality and reference to how these intersect, and paving the way for intersectional feminist while evident online, such as in the entirely omit gender and misogyny from thought and the third wave of feminism. hashtag #solidarityisforwhitewomen, these categories. It is therefore clear it could be seen as exclusionary to focus that, as a society, intersectional feminism It was the discussion popularised by predominantly on the fourth wave as needs to continue to permeate Western hooks that led to the coining of the term the current form of feminism due to it ideas of disadvantage and discrimination. ‘intersectionality’ by Kimberlé Crenshaw being predominantly online. Perhaps TIME argues that the ‘core of in 1989 to address the marginalisation instead we should focus on the ‘multiple intersectionality then…is coming to of black women within feminist and feminisms’ named by Sizemore- appreciate that all women do not share the Barber, acknowledging that there are same levels of discrimination just because intersectionality as a framework to interconnected movements in the they are women’. It can therefore be seen understand the interconnected nature 21stcentury. Indeed, hooks asserted that that, historically, intersectionality is hugely of social and political identities and the ‘we [cannot] see gains for feminism distinct symbolic in a movement towards the way in which these create interdependent and separate from other struggles’ and systems of discrimination, a ‘many ‘we have to look at things more globally’. of power within Western society and layered blanket of oppression’ – this, remains to be symbolic due to its never- like the work of hooks, stemmed Therefore, true intersectionality within exhausted nature. In our discussions of from a lack of acknowledged diversity current Western feminism is linked more the past and our actions of the present it within Western feminist movements. greatly to movements that bring to light the is necessary that we are aware of the role coexistence of social identities as creating that intersectionality plays, in order to Both hooks and Crenshaw continue layers of discrimination, such as the promote true social and political equity. to write on intersectional feminism, #WhyWeCantWait campaign, rather than with Crenshaw acknowledging that a focus on women as a homogenous group. Hannah Baldwin scholars and activists have ‘broadened Currently, intersectionality needs to be an intersectionality to engage a range ‘international movement within and across of issues, social identities, power disciplines’, always with a new direction dynamics, legal and political systems for concern, in order to bring inaudible and discursive structures’. The scholars’ voices into earshot, and ‘invisible bodies
77 ISSUE 36 | 2020 “God is Dead!” There are few bigger questions than that of the meaning of life. Why do we exist, possess aspiration, and abide by certain ethics? For centuries, the answers to these questions have been provided by some- thing many now regard as simplistic and irrational: religion. In 1882, this ortho- doxy was challenged by a new philosoph- ical movement symbolised by Frederich Neitzsche’s exclamation, ‘God is Dead!’. This article will explore the foundation of Existential Nihilism in a historical frame- work. It will argue that Marxism, Capital- ism and Modernisation led to the erosion of historically accepted values, principally religious determinism, which led to a cri- sis in morality. Nietzsche began to formu- ture and content of morality to become a day life of citizens, slowly began to replace late an answer to this problem, and work - was then developed by Jean-Paul Sartre. istence. Capitalism involved itself in indi- The decline of religion and the ensuing viduals lives to such an extent, that a new Nietzche’s (often-misinterpreted) dra- moral debate was and remains prevalent form of societal morality was required. matic hypothesis was an expression of across the western world. In the 40 years a fundamentally moral argument which following the turn of the 19th century, the If we accept Nietzsche’s diagnosis - the characterised public debate for the fol- number of registered Christians in Britain view of Capitalism and Modernisation cre- lowing decades. A central concern for dropped by 12%. However, even in 1851, ating a new foundation of society, which in thinkers at the time was whether or not 40% of the population still regularly at- turn eroded the role of religion - we arrive a society could peacefully operate with- tended church. According to the latest at Jean-Paul Sartre to provide an existen- out Christian morals. For Nietzsche, in census, only 722,000 do today. Moreo- tial analysis. For Sartre, Marx’s theory line with Hobbes and Locke, the signif- ver, this is nothing compared to the crisis resonated. The ‘Ideology of existence’, was icance of religion did not derive from its in religion seen in states such as Russia, merely an alienated form of the deeper virtues and spiritual teachings, but rath- a traditionally more spiritually orientat- social and historical reality provided by er from the role of consoling hearts and ed society. Russia has produced some of Marx’s dialectic approach. However, Sar- minds in a period in which the govern- the greatest writers across all societies. tre did not fully accept Marx’s writing and ment was powerless, or otherwise failed, Yet even the most ardently religious such viewed aspects of his work as historically as Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, - found themselves writing about a quest tion of life possessing no abstract meaning. The rise of Nihilism, popularised in Ivan for morality within society. In both Anna Accepting Nietzsche’s diagnosis, Sartre Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons, further in- Karenina and Resurrection, the main then argued that there was no moral solu- protagonists, Levin and Nekhydov attack tion: ‘existence precedes essence’. That is asserted that Christianity was life-denying traditional social values. There appears to say that there can be no formal account and placed a heavy burden of guilt upon of what it means to live, as life can only individuals who sought levels of perfection in an ardently religious society, are writ- be given meaning, through existing itself. they could not possibly reach. At the same ing about a quest for morality, something time, Nietzsche seems to be paradoxically which one would assume God provided The dominance of Existentialist thought arguing for the value of religion in hold- to them. Perhaps then, Nietzsche’s diag- in philosophy today must be traced back ing society together. However, these two nosis of a crisis in morality resonated in to the work of Nietzsche and the develop- positions are not as paradoxical as they countries that remained heavily theist, ment provided by Sartre. Moreover, these may seem. It is true to say that Nietzsche as well as in places with rising levels of ideas would not have such resonance if it saw the value of religion in holding soci- atheism. Having said that, it is striking were not for dramatic historical changes ety together, yet central to his argument - resulting from the development of capi- is the idea that the bonds provided by es remained across Soviet territory. talism. The growing acceptance of the idea religion had unjust grounds. Nietzsche’s that there is no abstract meaning to life view developed from religious ideas such Yet, larger historical and political forces should be viewed in conjunction with the as evil, which distorts human behaviour. must be involved to provoke such a pro- mass decline of religion and the emergence This is derived from an overarching Kan- found change in religious observance and of capitalism, which held the lives of indi- tian view of morality in which morals are moral and spiritual understanding. Vital viduals in a vice-like grip. Viewing moral- not naturally possessed by individuals. to understanding this is to recognise the ity and religion in a historical perspective fact that the emergence of mass capital- leads us to the conclusion that perhaps However, Nietzsche saw himself as a mor- ism created a new form of mass morality. Nietzsche’s dramatic hypothesis is not as a alist: in rejecting traditional forms of mo- Max Weber argues that capitalism led to rality, he was creating an ethical system the Bureaucratization of society. That is to which was in the process of overcoming say, that new questions were asked of gov- Oscar Tapper morality and its societal value. Conse- erning institutions, which religion could quently, much of his thought was dedi- no longer answer. Karl Marx’s damning insight into religion being the ’opium of the masses’, has clear resonance here. for the declining force of religion and its The emergence of a radically new system, moral binding of society allowed the na- which transformed and shaped the every- 88 ISSUE 36 | 2020 Mao and the Sini"cation of Marxism Mao was deeply Marxist in his convictions of the productive powers, following which a corresponding moral, political and applying it to the Chinese situation and social superstructure is formed. A move adapting it from a European context. from one stage to the next is characterised by a change in the formation of this inquiry called dialectical materialism, superstructure, but never caused by it. according to this framework. Insofar as In a society with capitalist powers of production, capitalism’s inherent it represents a crucial characteristic of characteristics create the potential for dialectical materialism that arises out of a socialist revolution. However, Marx its emphasis on the authority of reality. process, in which the foreordained has In his book Karl Marx’s Theory of Ideas only to be acted out’. Furthermore, while the causal relationship between realist’, someone with the belief that productive powers and the arising ‘if observation is to yield new truths it superstructure is a general derivation holding true for universal situations, ‘in conviction demands an inductive method of law derivation, whereby new opinions govern the precise nature of this general are formed from real life observations, derivation’, granting some variability longer addresses the characteristics of which are then checked against existing of connection and interdependence one’s particular reality. What follows from between the two. Within this lie both the this analysis is that Mao and Marx both not integrate into the framework of existing utility and need to ‘sinify’: by adapting valued reality’s authority above all else, theory, the theory has to be changed in out of which came Mao’s need to adapt accordance with the new observations. Mao can align theory with practice his theory to it, to ‘sinify’ it according Marxist materialism not only ensures the satisfying his materialist convictions to Chinese reality. While accepting the accuracy of one’s observations, but also and, in doing so, become a better universal truth of Marxist ideology, his the accuracy of the laws against which Marxist leader whose actions are more dialectical materialist nature prohibited they are tested, with empirical reality him from blindly accepting all of it in being the ultimate authority of truth. of history’ and usher in a Socialist utopia. the formulation of his own policies. This allowed him to create a form of Marxism From this follows the fact that alterations The above analysis aims to show that that was true to itself, while still possessing nature, are not only deeply embedded in Let us now examine Mao’s take on this. Marxist theory, but due to the importance placed on the need for correspondence materialism. For him, it starts with between theory and reality, even perception, the process of experiencing term coined for a phenomenon very demanded. When Marx applied his the world and observing phenomena. fundamental to Marxist ideology. In a dialectical materialism to historical After the initial observation, it is of the Marxist framework, it describes nothing utmost importance to make sense of the powers as the most fundamental driver experiences by putting them in order led by dialectical materialism leading to of advancement, which is inevitable as and collecting further evidence. To put deviations from general theory due to ‘implied by the very nature of human observations in order, one needs to test productive activity’. How it occurs will not them against existing theories. Should It is deeply Marxist in essence and would existing theories not coincide with new occur in any situation where Marxist moves in stages driven by the development observations, one needs to return to ideology is applied to a national situation. the ultimate testing ground of reality ‘draws[s] his lessons, correct[s] his Matthaeus Laml ideas to make them correspond to the laws of the external world’, he argues.
Just like Marx, Mao gave reality ultimate justifying this with the conviction that ‘all genuine knowledge originates in direct experience’. This conviction did not only include the derivation of theory, but also its purpose. Theory is of no use if it does not make ‘the leap from rational knowledge to revolutionary practice’ and, in doing so, achieves to change reality according to the theory’s desires. He maintains that during this revolutionary theory to achieve desired outcomes should never be taken for granted but remain Chinese Poster stressing the roots of Mao Zedong Thought under constant scrutiny, remaining 99 ISSUE 36 | 2020 Iconoclasts and Iconophiles - Representation and cultural practices within Islam. This ar- tive art within Islam. When looking at - the splendid buildings and palaces of Rejection of the Di- ities in the approach to art within Islam. the Umayyad caliphs, one can see an abundance of images decorated in the vine in Islamic Art Islamic art is a rich tapestry of representa- style of Christian Late Antiquity. Moor- tions of the divine. The conventional ish caliphs, similarly, utilised paintings, line tends to reject the use of idols (any emperor Constantine XI entered the depiction of sentient beings) based on in the adoration of buildings. It is im- “Church of the Divine Wisdom”, Constan- the teachings of the prophet laid out in portant to note however, that these were tinople was under siege. Perhaps the em- the Hadith – the traditions of the words rarely used for the purpose of worship. peror knelt to pray before the Apse Mosaic and deeds of the prophet Muhammad. of the Virgin and Child. Looking up at the Still, it is in Persianate manuscript depic- gloriously gilded icon of one of Christiani- “He who creates pictures in tions where the religious worship of icons ty’s most famous images – a young moth- is made more complex. The private medi- er sitting on a throne holding a child upon this world will be ordered um of Persian and other miniature book her lap; the saviour of mankind. What to breathe life into them on illustrations is a small yet rich source of would this mortal man at the feet of the the Day of Judgment, but rare depictions of the prophet Muham- almighty have felt? Perhaps, it was hope, he will be unable to do so.” mad. Depictions have been found to be the relief of salvation in Christ, or may- Hadith, Sahih Muslim (818-875) ranging from Medieval Persian, Timu- be it was fear. Fearful of what the fate of The purpose of prohibition was initially to These images complicate the tradition- avoid idolatry. Yet the Quran provides no al view that Muslim societies pursued a strict iconoclastic stance. Made for both and iconoclastic practice was never uni- Sunni and Shia worshippers, manuscripts must have been touched when kneeling at form. The conventional prohibition has discovered from the 13thcentury show the feet of this beautiful Byzantine icon. been interpreted in various ways. Conse- almost every episode of Muhammad’s quently, Islamic art has been typically char- life as recounted in the Quran and other That is the power of religious imagery, its acterized by extensive use of calligraphy, texts. These images laid the foundation ability to evoke an array of emotions, to for a minor tradition of devotional im- touch the soul and mind. For the icono- ages which exist to this day, from icons phile, the lovers of sacred imagery, re- - ligious imagery serves to enlighten the ment-commissioned mural in the heart of beauties of God’s creation. For an icon- Tehran and even to revolutionary street oclast however, depicting the divine is art in Cairo – although the prophet’s face an act of idolatry and sin, arguing that is obscured in both those public drawings. no earthly materials or artists can ade- quately depict the divine. Iconoclastic Just as Constantinople straddles East and disputes have run deeply within both the West, so too the Hagia Sophia connects Christian and Islamic faiths for centuries. the Islamic world with that of the Chris-
tian. When Constantinople fell to Sultan As the youngest faith within the Abrahamic fold, Islam and its artistic movements were 1453, Mehmed immediately went to the Muslim artists used geometrical shapes Hagia Sophia. He bent to pick up a hand- Muslim attitude towards religious image- and calligraphy to make repeated patterns ful of earth and proceeded to pour the ry mostly stemmed from the teachings and as a form of decorative art. Geometric soil over his turban as an act of humility practice of the prophet Muhammad. In patterns in Islamic art and architecture before God. The basilica of Hagia Sophia 630 CE, when the prophet entered Mecca, are regarded as a manifestation of di- became the mosque of Aya Sofya. Yet he expelled from the Kaaba all pagan idols. vine and rational thought. In the Islamic the beautiful Byzantine icons were not
worldview the sanctity of mathematics destroyed. Instead ornate Islamic callig- “There were three hundred has been more apparent in art than many raphy and geometric art were added to and sixty idols around the other things. It is in art that substance of the wall, beside the Christian art. Today, Ka’ba. He began to thrust them the divine may be found, sacred spaces if you go to Istanbul and visit the Hagia with the stick that was in his are created with the aid of geometry and Sophia, you can still see a splendid coex- hand saying: “Truth has come arithmetic in which the complete presence istence of Christian and Islamic art, unit- and falsehood has vanished.” ed in the purpose of worshipping God. [Quran 17:81] the greatest architects and engineers of Piotr Kardynal This act of iconoclasm birthed for many core values. His masterpiece, the Suley- historians and art critics the conventional manie mosque, is a grand example of ge- ometric synchronisation. For example, the form of idols (known as aniconism). The mimbar, the platform used by the Imam traditional Western historiographical in- to deliver sermons, is adorned by delicate terpretation of Islam’s approach to idols in patterns that run on both sides, originat- religious art focuses on Islam as a primari- ing from eightfold stars in the middle. ly iconoclastic religion, which aggressively pushes the removal of idols. Yet, this eludes The removal of idolatrous images, how-
1010 ISSUE 36 | 2020 Trauma and Israeli Identity The state of Israel was founded in 1948 to provide a home for a people who had - sion, but had just survived one of the worst genocides in history. It is no sur- prise then, that at the core of Israeli iden- tity is an unresolved sense of trauma, in particular, Holocaust-induced trauma. Israeli identity has formed around two, at times contradictory, responses to this - nessed the unimaginable horrors of the innate duty to uphold the highest mor- “one should also recognise the The contradictions in this particular questionable ways in which nar- atrocity were captured in the tactful ani- faced a meticulously and dedicated plan ratives of Israeli identity, vic- mated documentary Waltz with Bashir. By to eradicate all Jewish people from the timhood, and purpose have op- shifting through multiple states of being face of the earth, Israel maintains an un- erated in the geopolitical arena” - memory, hallucination, and real life - in derstandable desire to survive at any cost. An obsession with masculinity combined director Ari Folman’s confrontation with Not surprisingly, these two principles fre- with the subduing of the traumatised his personal role in the massacre. The key quently clash as Israel attempts to uphold voice has meant that subsequent genera- Western human rights standards while si- tions of Israelis have, at times, interpreted between Folman’s contradictory role as multaneously defending itself from multi- their parent’s trauma in particular ways. both the descendant of a Holocaust survi- ple hostile neighbours. This article is going Within Israeli politics and the zionist my- vor and his complicity in the violence. His to look in more depth at the latter aspect thology of the modern Israeli state, there awareness of the victim-victimiser par- of this potentially unsolvable dichotomy: is an emphasis on rectifying past wrongs, adox is made even more powerful when the sometimes irrationally manifested and an acceptace of violence as neces- his friend Sivan states “you see yourself in desire to avoid what many have tried, sary. While this was initially targeted at the Nazis who perpetrated your parents”. and luckily failed, to do for centuries. Nazi perpetrators (as was the case with the capture and trial of Adolf Eichmann As thousands of traumatised Jewish peo- in 1960), more hard-line Zionists have as Sivan reminds Folman that he could ple migrated to Israel in the wake of the targeted anyone who might, in theory, not have known the massacre was taking Holocaust, they were greeted by a new pose a threat to the state. While it is im- place. Films like Waltz with Bashir pres- state intent on building a modern and portant to recognise the immense threat ent glimmers of hope that Israeli society prosperous society safe for its people. The Israelis still face, one should also recog- is becoming increasingly self-aware of the Zionist vision for Israel focused on work- nise the questionable ways in which nar- contradictions in its trauma related legacy. ing the land and re-constructing Jewish ratives of Israeli identity, victimhood, and identity around a new hyper-masculin- purpose have operated in the geopolitical Israel’s history throws up interesting ity. The orientation to a reformed mas- questions about trauma, and its relation- culinity, generally focused on ‘Sabras’ the historic treatment of Palestinians. ship with identity and politics. National narratives are shaped by traumatic events overcome centuries of medical stigmati- I am sympathetic to both sides in the Is- - sation about the weakness of the Jewish - male body as well as the self-perceived tention of asserting the moral legitimacy for years to come. Recent national trau- failure to protect Jews from the Nazis. of one side over the other. That said, it is mas, including 9/11, indicate that we have hard to deny that at times Israeli actions learnt little from history. As we strive to The problem with this blind commit- have presented a serious contradiction. - ment to a homogenous vision was that ghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan, Somalia, the traumatised voices of those who had the complex blurring of the boundaries Nigeria, Mexico, and Colombia, we must directly survived Nazi oppression were between victim and victimiser status. Put be prepared to implement the necessary often muted. The traumatised refugees more bluntly, there lies a concerning hy- peacetime measures to help people pro- were forced to either conform or become - cess what has occurred and therefore mit- outcasts. In many ways, trauma came to timhood and at times morally contentious igate the long-term implications of their represent a reminder of a perceived weak- trauma. This can only be achieved with ness that Israelis, particularly Sabras, instantly comes to mind is the 1982 Sabra a nuanced understanding of history, and were keen to forget. What is particularly and Shatila massacre in which Israeli sol- an acceptance of the labyrinthine mor- interesting was the utilisation of cultural diers not only allowed, but potentially aid- al dilemmas in the international arena. tools such as cinema (an example being Tomorrow is Another Day, 1948) to help massacring Palestinian refugees in Beirut. Frankie Vetch formulate the image of the ‘New Jew’. 1111 ISSUE 36 | 2020 Utopian Theories of Society Ideals of a ‘utopia’ occur frequently - ernments appears ironic when in today’s throughout recorded history, with traces ciency guarantee, which he expanded to society, the most similar political ideolo- even seen in a variety of myths and leg- all workers for society such as bankers gy (democratic socialism) calls for state and scientists. He suggested that utopia intervention to reach an equal society, ways of reaching a utopian society, and yet required a meritocracy, whilst calling for whilst the concept of higher taxation on there is no real consensus on this perfect the reduction of military and hereditary property has had decreasing public trac- world, except, perhaps, from the common society, challenging the Church doctrine, tion recently, as seen in election results. focus of mass happiness and prosperity. and attacking ‘idleness’ of the ‘under- Even this is contested - arguably, are not class’ as a moral fault. These proposals, Furthermore, in historical perspective however, suggest a society arguably not - campaigns equally presenting ideologies als, rather than long-lasting social founda- of striving towards a utopian society - oth- rearranged but still retaining hierarchy, erwise, after all, what do we have to believe acted in response to the increasing ex- - ploitation of workers during the Indus- tive, are all these utopian ideologies mere- Charles Fourier, an advocate not of trial Revolution, including child labour, ly temporary knee-jerk reactions to more - which we have since both adjusted to and frequent instances of dystopian reality? ural cooperation as the secret to social legislated for within our capitalist system. success, based utopia upon utilising Similarly, Saint-Simon was inspired by With the peak of utopian theorists exist- and allowing natural passion to dictate the acceleration of science and technolo- ing in the 18th and 19th centuries, many us, prominently our innate passions for gy, advocating its replacement of organ- surprisingly promoted societies free of work, creating a personalised, attractive ised religion, which has similarly occurred labouring society. He attacked the very without utopian principles - indeed, argu- the British mill owner, also criticised or- existence of civilisation vehemently as ably technology has contributed to social ganised religion and rejected all forms the cause of all inequality and unhappi- decline. Finally, Fourier, popularly uti- of authority. He vehemently argued for ness. Indeed, he even created the ques- lised in the 1848 Revolutions, clearly rep- tionable idea of social indexes of person- resents tensions within certain regimes, - ality types to choose casual sex partners! whilst Henry George’s early 19th century its, and were provided for in education work responded to the mass movement and social protection from childhood, all linked by unions. However, his New thinkers was Henry George, an American York), and subsequent mass inequality Lanark Mill, which ensured 8 hour day political economist, who proposed that visible in smaller spaces, one of the great- maximums, youth education, reduced ille- a single tax on land, alongside anti-mo- est phenomena of industrialisation, which gitimacy, limited alcohol, and formed the nopoly reforms, would solve all problems is now our typical geopolitical background. basis of co-operative shops and nursery of inequality by slowing the exorbitant schools, all of which to many of us sounds, accumulation of wealth by land owners Notwithstanding the prominence of these literally, utopian, failed economically. In- via rents. He also envisioned an uncon- utopian thinkers, inspiring countless po- terestingly, union power since the 20th ditional basic income from land surplus, litical and cultural movements and philos- century has decreased to almost negligi- as a universal right, which, based on the ophers, witnessing them through society bility, and the state overwhelmingly con- huge debate even over minimum wages today places a down-heartening lens on trols (and increasingly withholds) welfare. and opposition to welfare schemes, ap- utopian possibilities. With similar polit- Henri de Saint-Simon advocated for the pears years away from our current society. and our lives increasingly ruled by banks and corporations rather than govern- seen as utopian revolutionaries in hind- ments and welfare benefactors, the recent sight? All their philosophies, despite their fascination with dystopian literature and appeal, have either failed when applied, or did not address issues of inequality death of utopia in a modernised world. to a ‘utopian’ extent. All of them, equal- We have no famed equivalent spokespeo- ly, had an underlying deistic approach, ple in our society, perhaps emphasising and therefore ‘utopias’ have often been the theorised ‘end of history’ and new, based on a ‘divine social order’ concept. unknown era we are entering. Nonethe- However, since industrialisation, socie- less, important concepts of happiness ties have become more and more secu- lar, demonstrating the reduction of the be drawn from them which, I believe, spiritual certainty in ‘something better’, should be applied timelessly to humanity. whilst equally, despite these thinkers’ ab- olitionist stances to organised religion, Connie Lane the Churches in England and America still hold a large sector of national wealth, and - ing the planet, while ISIS has declared a borderless Islamic State over all Muslims globally. Similarly, opposition to gov- 1212 ISSUE 36 | 2020 Interview with Katherine
Katherine was born in Lancashire and to me to visit the places I write about, if studied Ancient History and Archaeology Clements - at Manchester University. Her debut nov- tails that enrich the book. The best bit is el, The Crimson Ribbon, was published in characters is what draws us in, regardless what I call ‘method research’: visiting the of time or place. Fiction writers are free archives at the Royal Armouries to handle was nominated for the HWA Gold Crown to imagine our way into places that his- 17th century pistols, because I needed to Award and The Guardian's Not the Booker torians cannot, especially in the realm of know what that felt like; spending a week- Prize. Katherine was editor of Historia, the - end birthing lambs at a North Yorkshire online magazine of the Historical Writers’ tion ‘can sit alongside the work of histo- Association, and recently led the develop- kayak trip through the Louisiana swamp- - lands, for my next book, set in the early fering insight’. a Royal Literary Fund Fellow currently taken me to some unexpected places. based at the University of Manchester’s TMH: Do you think that writing historical School of Arts, Languages and Cultures. - TMH: Do you have any advice for history tively, does having a historical framework - inspire you and enhance your writing? ested in pursuing creative writing?
KC: It does both! When dealing with real KC: Read. Read a lot. And don’t be afraid events or people, you’re sometimes con- strained by the historical record, but I’ve writing is actually editing. found it can work the opposite way too. History can provide the ‘hooks in the wall’ TMH: As the Royal Literary Fund Writing from which to hang a story. For example, Fellow, can you describe your role at the my second novel, , is university? What writing services do you based on the legend of female highway thief, ‘The Wicked Lady’. This folklore is most often associated with a real person KC: The Royal Literary Fund places writ- – Lady Katherine Ferrers, who lived dur- ers in universities around the country, to ing the English Civil Wars. I researched the lives of Katherine and her prominent writing skills. I’m available for one-to-one family and pieced together a story that appointments, during which we’ll discuss whatever aspect of writing you’re con- total fabrication, but based on a historical cerned about. It might be anything from planning and structure, to grammar and The Manchester Historian: What do out. punctuation, or how to create an argu- you think is the connection between his- ment or make your writing more engag- I do believe novelists have a responsibility ing. I can help with any kind of writing, at study? to be respectful with the historical record, any stage, so long as it’s relevant to your and be clear when facts have been altered, university career. It’s a chance for people Katherine Clements: I think the clue from a professional writer. It’s not scary (I create stories to make sense of the world TMH: promise) and it’s completely free. and our place in it. In simple terms, part play a role in giving a voice to marginal- of a historian’s job is to use evidence and ised groups throughout history? For in- context to create historical narratives. No stance, The Crimson Ribbon focuses on matter what the origin – primary sources, the narratives of women in a very male dominated period of history. – a historian makes choices about which evidence to use and how to contextualize KC: Attempting to give a voice to margin- it to best communicate its meaning. This alised people can be a major motivator. I - set out to tell stories that I wasn’t reading in the history books. Kings and queens we are all creating stories, aiming to better have been done to death – I think there understand the people of the past. is a hunger now for stories of ordinary people, and minority voices is a big part TMH: of that. There has been such progress in more accessible to people? social history over the past few decades that such stories are easier to trace and KC: Absolutely. My own interest in his- easier to imagine, but they also contain a lot of blank spaces – that’s gold dust for a been told countless times that my work novelist. has sparked an interest in a certain period or subject for readers. Those who would TMH: How do you go about researching for a historical novel? KC: I read as widely as possible. I start - with secondary sources to get a sense of the big picture and establish the areas I is most people’s window into history. It’s need to focus on. After that it gets more human stories that connect with modern specialised. I’ve visited plenty of archives audiences. The emotional resonance with and rare book collections. It’s important 1313 ISSUE 36 | 2020 Li Kui and Legalism in China Legalism has had a somewhat celebrated of the rulers of the regional states. It was history given its place in the lineages of from this that the state of Wei in mod- pre-Han philosophy. The ideas espoused ern Shanxi emerged, with the aristocratic by the paradigmatic legalists of the Qin houses of Wei, Han and Zhao partitioning dynasty such as Shang Yang (390-338) the regional state of Jin after annihilating and Han Fei (280-233) were the subject of the ruling Zhi clan in 453, which had been vitriolic attack by the Confucian orientat- the hegemonic force of the Zhou world in ed scholars of the Han era. Lu Jia (d.170 the middle of the Chunqiu period. Intent BC), for instance, saw the short-lived Qin to avoid the same crisis, Marquis Wen dynasty’s (221-206) adherence to these (445-396) recognised the need for reform and appointed Li Kui as chief minister. its collapse and a model of what not to be The reforms of Li Kui would transform the followed. However, this criticism takes the state of Wei and create a model of drastic doctrine the Qin followed out of its con- socio-political reform that were then fol- text, ignoring the reality of the chaos of the lowed by the majority of the other states. Warring States. Legalist reform was often an answer to the question of how to estab- His reforms covered three main areas. lish order in an age of constant political First, he established a bureaucracy, where upheaval and warfare. This article aims to - establish the pervasive nature of the legal- eage, and promoted/demoted based on ism of the Zhanguo Era and how the of- ten ignored Li Kui was fundamental in the such as Wu Qi, who would lead the mili- foundation of the legalist doctrine which tary expansion of Wei and later engineer transformed the era. Despite contempo- similar reforms in the state of Chu, and rary recognition of confucianism as the Ximen Bao. The titles they held were not purpose of territorial gain. By the end of philosophical basis of the imperial Chinese the fourth century, all states had under- state, legalism is arguably more important - taken legalist reform based on the model as a philosophy to understand the era. ond, he established a comprehensive pe- created by Li Kui, and legalist philoso- nal law system known as the Fa Jing (Can- phy had truly engulfed the Zhou world. Before discussing Li Kui’s reforms and on of Laws), which everyone was subject - to, regardless of social status. Finally, he Li Kui had systematically brought about a tablish what can be conceived as the prin- strengthened the military, introducing new era. Legalism became the modus op- ciples of legalist philosophy. Whereas mandatory military service for all males, erandi for the states, with the death of the Confucius saw the construction of a hier- and rewarding soldiers based on mili- old elite and the rise of new bureaucratic archical moral order, and a return to the state apparatus revolving around a ruth- days of the Western Zhou (1045-771 BC) about a drastic transformation in Wei, less legalist doctrine. His Fa Jing served as a solution to the chaos the collapse of with the demise of the old aristocracy, and as the foundation for the paradigmatic Zhou royal authority, the legalists took a the rise of a bureaucratic state that would reforms of Shang Yang in Qin that eventu- more pragmatic, forward thinking view, - wishing not to be ‘shackled’ by antiqui- ring States era. His measures established imperial dynasty. It also contributed to ty. For them, morality and humaneness - the death of the interstate order. No state, wasn't the way to bring about order, in- ulation through restrictive laws, and max- in its new form of self-perceived primacy stead stern law was. For legalists, people following the reforms, would be willing were naturally self-serving and licentious, of personnel at all levels of society. In to acknowledge the superiority of anoth- needing punishment and incentive to the immediate aftermath, Wei expanded er state and form an alliance unifying the control them. In this way they opposed, drastically, invading Qin and creating the Zhou world, as had been the case in the Mencius who thought that all people were Xihe commandery. It remained the pre- Spring and Autumn period. This was the naturally good. Their rhetoric is perhaps dominant superpower in the region until most aptly summed up in the third cen- its defeat at Maling to the Qi in 342 BC. statesman and the ideology he espoused: tury BC legalist text the Shang Jun Shu an ideology revolving around a highly cen- The impact of these reforms was not just tralised state; one able to exert huge polit- under Heaven, nothing is better than or- in Wei, Li Kui had created a model of ical power over its people; able to summon derly rule’ and ‘The way of establishing the socio-political reform that would be fol- fearful military power over its neigh- ruler is nowhere broader than in relying lowed by the entirety of the Zhou world. bours; a ruthless doctrine of socio-politi- on laws… and eradicating the licentious ’. Li Kui’s reforms created a pattern of ge- opolitics that was followed by the majori- time, law was the binding force of society. When Li Kui was appointed chief minister ty of polities of the Warring States era, in by Marquess Wen of Wei (445-396), the - James Carlin Zhou world was at an important crossroads taken, and then military expansion took of history, entering the Warring States era place. This resulted in an era of escalating (475-221). The states were searching for warfare, with bureaucratic states which a solution to the crisis of leadership that were able - because of the reforms - were had emerged in the preceding Spring and - Autumn era. This was the result of the en- tions, raise massed armies of hundreds of thousands of people and wage devastat- whose power eventually superseded that ing wars against their neighbours for the
1414 ISSUE 36 | 2020 #e First Environmentalists? The trope that Native Americans were the Natural environments needed to be left alone and they would prosper predominantly by non-Native people independently. This directly contrasted and is constructed on the idea that the with Native American practices such as indigenous tribes of North America are in and seed production for medicinal use cultural burning. What environmentalists some way closer to nature. Today, referring and help sustain diverse landscapes of to someone as an ‘environmentalist’ is not grasslands, savannas and shrublands. In processes of land management that had considered an insult. Broadly speaking, an the Sierra Nevada, cultural burns have gone into sustaining the landscapes environmentalist is a person committed to not been permitted for 120 years, and of North America by Native American preventing - or at the very least stalling - as a result the region has experienced rapid environmental degradation caused severe droughts that have led to the loss for environmental justice, and without by global warming and climate change. of large quantities of vegetation. The realizing the importance of indigenous Environmentalists are determined high density of the forests in these areas voices, they suppressed the rights activists who stand up and expose global means that without cultural burning there and sovereignty of Native Americans. hegemonic powers for the damage they are is a higher risk of large, uncontrollable doing to the planet. They are considered In 1933 President Hoover declared Death admirable. If environmentalists are National Park, people from the North Valley, the homeland of the Timbisha benevolent, why would it be problematic Folk Mono Tribe and the Cold Springs Shoshone, a National Park, ending the to brand Native Americans as the Rancheria of Mono Indians have been Native management of the landscape. In 2000, when the Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act granted some areas of Firstly, the idea that Native Americans It was in 1850 that the US government Death Valley back into the hands of the are closer to nature has its roots in passed the Act for the Government and Timbisha Shoshone tribe, they were colonialism. At the turn of the sixteenth Protection of Indians, which outlawed met with opposition from groups of intentional burning in California believing environmentalists. This was due, again, to their attack on american soil and its it to be a primitive and brutal cultural their practice of controlled burns, which inhabitants through the dehumanisation tradition that destroyed the land. Then the environmentalists took issue with. The of its indigenous peoples. The presentation in 1968, with the realisation that no of Native Americans as fearsome savages new sequoias - an endangered species of of dead vegetation and increased water living wildly amongst nature legitimised redwood trees - had grown in the unburned colonial projects of dispossession and forests, the National Park Service changed genocide. It was the relationship that is to leave it as an untouched wilderness Native Americans had with their natural central feature of their land management meant that they objected to Native environment, starkly contrasted with the strategies. In 1978, the Forest Service Americans managing their own land, violent one Europeans had with theirs, followed in their footsteps. Before 1968, in particular to the practice of cultural that the colonialists used to categorise the policies of both the National Park burning, despite them having done so them as animals. It is true that Native Service and the Forest Service had been for thousands of years before 1933. informed by the dominant voices in the relationship with the earth compared conservationist and ecological movement, It is important to recognise how harmful to western populations. Whilst the who maintained that cultural burns were stereotypes can be, even if we connote former’s involved complex, sophisticated unnatural and warranted suppression. positive ideas with them. Whilst the and sustainable practices of land Fire, from their point of view, was a management, the latter’s was centered dangerous, destructive force that was harmless on the surface, it is a stereotype on what could be extracted to fuel rapid to be eliminated rather than utilised for grounded in a lazy and colonialist industrialisation and imperialism. Even mentality, which generalises and knowledge was overridden by western carelessly misinterprets Native American environmentalists’ is to, on the one hand, theories and academics: a continued form cultures. As we move forward with misunderstand the core principles of of modern colonialism. This is where the environmental struggles, many of which environmentalism, and on the other, to do involve Native American activists, misrepresent Native American cultural trope lies: it is deeply contradictory. we must take into account the history of traditions with regards to the land. Native Americans and environmentalists colonialism and indegenous anti-colonial struggle, and the role that ideas about the environment have played in this. land management practice is cultural Francesca McGregor thousand years by the Yurok, Kurak, environmentalists at the beginning Hupa, Miwok tribes, as well as hundreds of the 1960s was that of conservation of others in California. It has, until and preservation of the land. For the recently, been misunderstood by the US environmentalist movement, any human government and environmentalist groups, interference with the land was unnatural which has led to its suppression. There and made it vulnerable to degradation.
1515 ISSUE 36 | 2020 Zionism: #e Divisive History Of Israel For over 100 years, the concept of Zionism and 1949, over 750,000 Palestinians were has sparked heated international debate, nouveau-colonialism and aggressive displaced into neighbouring states, almost which shows no indication of diminishing. expansion. It is likely that their half the population at the time. Zionists Now-a-days, most people are somewhat failure to defend the Jews from recent justify these actions by manipulating familiar with the concept of Zionism – the persecution – such as the pogroms in Jewish trauma, particularly the movement which seeks to unify the Jewish 19th century Russia and the devastating Holocaust, justifying aggression towards race into one nation and return them back Holocaust – led to disproportionate what they perceive as second-class to the Holy Land of Israel. However, Jewish support for Zionism fuelled by guilt. citizens living on land which rightfully control of the region did not exist until belongs to the Jewish race. This exploits relatively recently for nearly 2000 years, For Zionist scholars, the Jewish race were the Jewish faith to condone the same thus the full implementation of Zionism eternally unsettled, serving as the primary type of targeted violence which forced the Jews out of Europe in the 1940s. all the movements of the 20th century, needed protection through having their Zionism remains one of the most divisive. own nation. These ideas, derived from Palestinians refer to this time as ‘Al ancient Judaism, were catalysed by the Nakba’, or ‘The Catastrophe’, whilst their The late 19th century saw the emergence persecution of Jews during the Holocaust. backlash to aggression is deemed unjust of the modern Zionist movement. and responded to with stronger invasion. Popularised in Theodor Herzl’s 1896 Since the Middle East became the arena for book, Der Judenstaat (The State of the the Cold War, there has been continuous Jews), Zionism has always argued that disregard for indigenous populations, of Jewish protection from persecution can only be attained if Jews took action to be targeted. The Israeli occupation of themselves, without relying on outside Gaza has been labelled by Human Rights help. Herzl argued for a nation for Jewish Watch as an ‘open-air prison’, with 1.6 people but did not suggest where. Israel million Arabs in need of humanitarian was quickly adopted due to its religious aid. These present day struggles are rooted in Zionist thought, as consecutive Arab-Palestinians that already lived there. Secular nations supported Zionists as they Israeli governments pursue bloodshed Whilst Jews had been migrating back to feared the blood of another six million in order to secure ‘their’ homeland. Israel and reviving the Hebrew language Jews on their hands. Support for Israel since the mid-1800s, the end of the century became synonymous with support for As Zionism continues to be a hot topic in granted Zionism the recognition it desired. Zionism, as many Zionist institutions the media, it is crucial to remember its became part of Israel’s infrastructure origins in violence. Ultimately, the Zionist The 20th century changed the discourse during its creation. This includes the movement is successful where it needed for Zionism, as it moved from a Israel Defence Forces which combined to be, at the international level, gaining grassroots movement to a nationalist three Zionist militias into a new army. assistance whilst conducting brutal one, that received increasing support Thus, support for Israel was continually policies against the indigenous people. internationally, particularly from driven by guilt, and the new Jewish European states. The Balfour Declaration state had unwavering Western allies. The founder of modern Zionism, Theodor issued by the British government in 1917 Herzl, once said that the solution of supported Palestine as a home for the Israel’s relationship with the West, the Jewish question would normalise Jewish people. This exacerbated Arab- however, would not always be perfect. them and remove them from the pages Israeli tensions, as increasing Jewish Support for Israel – and therefore implied of history. The ideas that he helped to immigration into Israel, with British support for Zionism – had become popularise would, ironically, continue assistance, appropriated Arab land. the norm for Western politicians. It is to make headline news over 100 years therefore surprising that in 1975, the United Nations adopted a resolution which Hannah Speller This eventually paved the way for the declared ‘Zionism a form of racism and racial discrimination’. It is unsurprising state of Israel in their 1947 Partition Plan, that most large Western powers, such as which suggested splitting the region. This the USA, France and the UK, voted against plan was accepted by the Jews but rejected this resolution and then spear-headed its by the Arab communities. The end of the repeal nearly twenty years later, no doubt Civil War, which erupted during this seeking to assist its strong ally in the region. time, led to the establishment of Israel in 1948 with 26% more land than the UN The resolution, declaring Zionism Resolution suggested and left ongoing as racism, was sponsored by Middle tensions even further from being resolved. Eastern states, opposing the illegal military occupation which the indigenous tension, it is important to question its Palestinian population had been subjected acceptance amongst Western nations to for nearly thirty years. Between 1947
1616 ISSUE 36 | 2020 #e Acid Rave Revolution vs. #atcher united one ecstatic generation of young igins. Inversely, young people were trying With Britain gripped people whilst triggering a moral pan- ic in the police, politicians and parents. spiral of politics present at the time. No- by !atcherism, the Although Thatcher infamously stated tions of political activism were initially re- that there is “no such thing as society”, a growing rave sub-cul- merely a commune for the pilled up pub- who could all come together, regardless lic who were looking for a way out from ture of the 1980s was of social background or position, in being the chaos around them. Yet, this social treated poorly by the government, seems wave once rooted in pro-hedonist foun- an expression of alien- like a community to me. The raves had an dations quickly transformed into an an- inherent binding factor, acting as a bubble ti-authority based political protest by the ation and youth oppo- of unity in an otherwise hostile and divid- default of police brutality. Fun lovers and ed social setting. Regardless of race, class, thrill-seekers looking for a place to dance sition gender or football loyalty, the ravers em- and unite were treated as rioters, with braced each other with an ecstasy-induced state violence acting as the catalyst for When Thatcher came to leadership on the togetherness. Due to this unity amongst converting a group of hedonists into here- 4th of May 1979, she said “where there is the ravers, media and press outlets found tics. Some of the last people in Britain who discord, may we bring harmony;” in her weren’t completely disenfranchised with leadership speech. Although it wasn’t in on or condemn a singular scapegoat politics, the white middle-class high on exactly the ‘harmony’ she had in mind, or demographic of society, as the sheer drugs, were eventually politically galva- the British public grouped together to volume of ravers allowed for anonymity; nised. A push back from Thatcherism was form their own, home-made ‘harmony’ they were an all-inclusive faceless mass. sparked, and every rave was a testament to in the form of illegal raves backdropped the youth’s resistance. The battle between by the genre of acid house. Any pre-ex- The right-wing press didn’t seem interest- the blaring police sirens and the champi- isting ‘discord’ present in the UK deep- ed in covering the war on unemployment, oning 120BPM music alone demonstrat- ened immensely following Thatcher’s ed the redundancy of the government. ghost towns, most notably Toxteth, where Is it fair to say that rave culture was class relations came to a boiling point in merely a vehicle for young people to en- the 1981 riots, in which the town was left gage in cheap thrills and exercise their to rot and burn. This economic and so- cial upheaval led to a deprived, rejected, and poverty-stricken Britain. Amongst a unifying heartbeat back to the dispa- the political turmoil of the endless riots, rate and disenfranchised youth of Brit- the miners’ strikes of ‘84 and ‘85, the ain, who were otherwise struggling to - ball hooliganism, and mass unemploy- and decay brought about by the Thatcher ment, the British public were desperate government? Regardless of your stance, the Second Summer of Love and the of national identity created a vacuum, Acid Rave Revolution pretty much re- vived youth culture in an otherwise bleak of a burgeoning youth revolution, qui- and uninspiring social climate. Its legacy etly blossoming amidst the mayhem. has set up the joyful hedonism which we still indulge in and witness in contem- The mid-80s saw the second Summer of porary British youth culture to this day. Love blossom as the UK embraced, with open arms, a new hypnotic, trance-like Rhiannon Ingle - houses and basement locations. There was outside of pubs to a hub of peace and unity on the war on acid. The right-wing press that allowed for a new type of peace, as whipped up an anti-ecstasy hysteria, yet it disinhibited ravers from any ability to they were so far removed from the rave perform a violent or aggressive act. In- scene, their comments didn’t go beyond stead, blows were swapped out for frater- a moral condemnation, a call for an in- nal hugs, regardless of football allegiance. creased police force, and the complete Suits and heels were ditched for dunga- rees and trainers. Everyone was equal and a Thatcher-fuelled unity amongst ravers conspicuous consumption was no longer yet it simultaneously created a divide necessary as class no longer mattered between the youth and the older gener- inside the raves. This equality allowed ation, which had not been as prevalent acid house and rave culture to transcend since the Sexual Revolution in the 1960s. above, previously rigid, divisions based on the lines of black and white, north Unlike its 1970s predecessor, Punk, Acid and south, rich and poor. It successfully House was completely depoliticised in or-
1717 ISSUE 36 | 2020 ‘Manifest Destiny’ land led to the Indian Removal Act of 1830 How US expansionism - the authorisation of the forced relocation of Native American tribes from their ances- shaped borders and tral lands to a designated ‘Indian territory’ west of the Mississippi river. Though at the the people living with- beginning of the 1830s the south-eastern states were home to nearly 125,000 Native in them Americans, by the end of the decade all but a few had been forced to relocate outside of The 1783 Treaty of Paris concluded the the US border. 19th century political opin- American Revolutionary War between the British Empire and the United States of yet necessary, measure to allow for white America. Stretching from colonial settle- expansion into desirable territory – or al- ments along the Atlantic Coast in the east, ternatively as a ‘sincere’ attempt to preserve to the banks of the Mississippi river in the Native American cultures by preventing West, the borders of the new republic ex- the assimilation of indigenous tribes into tended across a vast expanse of land. The European settlements. Native American boundaries, however, did not remain static attitudes towards the earth, which revolve for long; over the course of the next centu- around the collective ownership of land ry the expansion of the American frontier and appreciation of seasonal produce, were followed a pattern of migration, settlement, swept aside in favour of western monocul- and displacement. These changing borders tures and land privatisation as indigenous forced people from their ancestral lands, people were forced further west. The trek and re-determined national identities. By of the Cherokee, who were forced to relo- the 1820s the boundaries had extended they were often not honoured as the land far beyond their original limits, as the US known as the infamous ‘Trail of Tears’, became assimilated into US settlements. amassed territory across the continent. This because of the loss of life on this devastat- Identities and cultures were transformed expansionist yearning became a principal ing journey, and the relinquishment of a as the land moved into the ownership of feature of American foreign policy, and was home that would never be reclaimed. The the United States, and the residents became articulated in the popular 19th century con- expansion of white US settlers into Native Americans. Though communities remained cept of ‘Manifest Destiny’ - the belief that American land, and the subsequent forced on their ancestral homelands, the border - relocation of these groups across the US pansion of the USA across the North Amer- border, irrevocably altered indigenous the popular slogan maintains: ‘We didn’t ican continent. The extension of American communities and their ties to the land. The cross the border, the border crossed us’. borders throughout the century was not Mississippi river wasn’t just the westerly merely the adjustment of lines on a map: it border, it was a reminder of incredible loss. had an indelible impact on cultures, identi- US continued until 1848 when the dream ties, and experiences for entire populations. In 1848, along the southern border of the - US, the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo end- ised and the territory of the United States ed the American-Mexican war, abruptly stretched from the east coast to the west, changing the geography of North Amer- from the 49th parallel to the Rio Grande. ica once again. Mexico relinquished all The borders of the country had been solid- claims to Texas, which had been annexed by the United States in 1845 after a rebel- their experiences and perceptions of this lion of American colonists had succeeded expansionism. Within the land that the in breaking the state away from Mexico. United States had assumed, discord was The treaty gave the US the Rio Grande as a rife. The innumerable experiences, cul- new border for Texas, and 525,000 square tures, and languages that had been shaped miles of land that had previously belonged by the United States’ expansionist policies to Mexico – which now makes up consid- correspondingly created a country with erable portions of California, Arizona, and - Colorado, amongst other western states. porary America attempts to understand This changing border displaced almost its own national identity, it is important to 100,000 indigenous people on the Mexican side of the border, who were now swept up into the expanding territory of the United the persistence of these memories today. States. Entire communities became im- migrants on the soil upon which they had
always lived. These displaced people were given a year to decide whether to retreat to Throughout the 19th century, sprawling the new border of Mexico, and retain their - Mexican citizenship, or stay on their land, ed into the lower south, as arable land in Georgia, Alabama, and other southern 90% chose to stay where they were: where states became increasingly coveted for the the community and culture was known to production of cotton. Pressure on the gov- them. Though the treaty promised that the ernment to facilitate the acquisition of this property rights of Mexicans living in these transferred territories would be respected,
1818 ISSUE 36 | 2020 Understanding Jihad Jihad is practiced by Muslims every day recorded. The loud nature of lesser jihad ulema (scholars) volunteering to jihad across the world. It translates as striving and gaining an increasingly militarily in the way of Allah and represents a deeply modern day understanding of the concept. interpreted version of the concept. Despite their claims of righteous militant jihad, one’s ego to get closer to God. Islam has There are conditions and limitations it never appealed to the wider ummah overwhelmingly gained the reputation of that apply to even the most violent (community), ‘where the frontier was a the ‘Religion of the Sword’ in the West due interpretations of jihad. The Quran states distant reality almsgiving and solicitude to the media’s presentation of jihad being “Fight in the cause of Allah those who for the poor were still seen as the most a wholly militaristic concept. However, important form of jihad’. During the Islam varies greatly from its often violent for truly Allah loves not transgressors” Abbasid Period there was greater emphasis western interpretation. Although both on greater jihad, than its lesser form. these notions of jihad have their roots in is acceptable presuming it is in the cause truth the reality is far more complex as “the conditions for jihad, they are emphasised and played down However, it may not even be a reference as stated in the Qur’an, are to jihad at all, as it did not mention it by that it must be in self-defence name. The conditions for jihad, as stated against an oppressing force” in the Qur’an, are that it must be in self- “striving with one’s self and one’s money defence against an oppressing force but A modern day misconception of jihad in the cause of Allah’’ allowing the extent others argue that the ‘sword verses’ of the is its potential to rally Muslims in order one strives and the true cause of Allah Qur’an have abrogated these conditions. jihad is exploited to be left to interpretation. Viewing and ‘political actors use religion for their how jihad has been practiced through The Sultan, Saladin, is perhaps the most purposes’. However, this was not the case the lenses of history gives a pragmatic notable protector of Islam against foreign understanding of the ambiguous concept. aggression. Saladin’s mostly peaceful crusade successfully captured Jerusalem capture of Jerusalem in 1187 against the in 1099, preacher and scholar al-Sulami Crusader forces of Guy of Lusignan, King wrote his ‘kitab al-jihad’ (call to jihad), greater, spiritual jihad Consort of Jerusalem, and Raymond III of in which he attempted to rouse Muslims in its historical context is to righteous anger in order to drive out the subtlety and intimate as it was done within the conditions and in the Franks, but it was in vain. It was only nature of the concept” the name of jihad. Saladin’s repossession one hundred years later when Saladin, an of Jerusalem came at the end of a brutal established ruler with considerable power, The distinction between spiritual and military expedition of the Levant, modern made use of jihad that it was successful militaristic jihad dates back to a passage in day Palestine, which saw mass casualties in mobilising large numbers of Muslims. the Hadith, Islam’s second holist book after of Saladin’s men. The successful recapture the Quran, where Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi of Jerusalem was expected to be ensued The danger of historical interpretations quoted the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by a massacre of the Franks inside the of jihad is that societal standards change returning from one of his battles saying city, as vengeance to the 1099 massacre; over time, as does religion, hence why “We have returned from the lesser jihad however Saladin did not kill a single contemporary scholars and Imams present (al-jihad al-asghar) to strive in the greater Christian inhabitant and many were given Islam in a peaceful light. Whether lesser or jihad (al-jihad al-akbar).” Interestingly, safe passage to the coastal enclave of Tyre. greater, jihad is a struggle for all Muslims. the lesser form is the combative and greater is the personal. This has continued The Abbasid period is referred to in Islam Jack Moon as the ‘Golden age of Islam’ as Islamic a majority of Muslims. Nonetheless, art and literature thrived and Islamic Muslim groups continue to disagree on the meaning, from the Ahmadiyya whom believe intimate, personal and internal this time period are still respected in the struggle is the essential ingredient to jihad Muslim community today. Viewing how whereas Wahhabis believe a violent armed jihad was practiced in this period of time struggle is the primary function, showing gives a more legitimate understanding of the concept today. Caliph Harun Al- examining greater, spiritual jihad in its Rashid was defending early Abbasid historical context is the subtlety and territory against the Byzantines. As the intimate nature of the concept. The study casualties of Harun’s army increased, of lesser is contained in record as an overt he reached out to civilians to defend sometimes murderous event which can be their land. This resulted in the Islamic
1919 ISSUE 36 | 2020 #e Whitechapel Victims The infamous murders of Jack Ripper murders. However, the creation of a cri- have dominated the criminal landscape teria, adds an element of unwarranted of the police investigation. The police were since the 1880s and have sparked the privilege to Martha’s potential as a Rip- only able to identify Mary Nichols from imagination of many budding sleuths. So per victim. Modern popular culture and the mark on her petticoat and the main much so, that in 1931 the journalist Fred the wider historical debate has failed to suspect in the case of Annie Chapman, was Best forged letters supposedly signed by explore the lack of justice for vulnerable arrested based upon a clean leather apron. Jack the Ripper, to maintain interest for women like Martha. Vulnerability, which However, this level of incompetence only his readers. This saw a continuum of in- was exacerbated by the everyday battle of grew as the Ripper continued his reign of terest and one that reached its pinnacle severe poverty and the judgemental socie- terror. Chief Inspector Swanson ordered in 2015, through the opening of the Jack ty in which she lived. Her murder simply the Ripper Museum in East London. Its after the murder of Elizabeth Stride, show- creation thus cemented the Ripper’s place masculine controlled Victorian society. ing a clear mismanagement of manpower. within modern popular culture and cele- However, to judge the extent to which A mismanagement which facilitated the brates his brutal crimes rather than con- - murder of Catherine Eddowes and the tion of prostitution we need to revisit the brutal mutilation of Mary Jane Kelly. This Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary as events of her murder. I will begin with placed blame not only upon the murderer the Ripper’s victims. Not as women who Mrs Hewitt, a fellow resident, who was himself, but the Victorian justice system. struggled to survive in a patriarchal, Victo- woken by ‘screams of murder’ but failed rian society. The murders of the canonical to be alarmed because of the commonal- “a fellow resident was woken by ity of domestic violence. It was not until ‘screams of murder’ but failed to be taken seriously by the male dominated John Reeves on his way to work on an ear- be alarmed because of the com- justice system and highlights the system’s ly 1888 morning that Martha’s mutilat- monality of domestic violence” failure in protecting the most vulnerable within society. Therefore, the murder of landing. As the inquest revealed, and the Therefore, in the space of just four months Martha Tabram, who failed to present initial examination of her body by Dr Tim- eight vulnerable women had been mur- all the trademarks of a Ripper victim be- othy Roberts, her body had been lying on dered and the Victorian police had failed comes symbolic of masculine prejudice the landing unnoticed for three hours. The to bring anyone to justice. These were a towards prostitution in the late 1880s. idea that a severely mutilated body, with series of crimes committed by a man and Martha Tabram was the earliest victim thirty-nine stab wounds, could lay unno- investigated by men. The assertion of mas- ticed in such a public place seems unim- culine dominance is evident through the aginable. However, the idea that murder murders and the police themselves who and violence became such a common were intrigued by the new methodological practice highlights not only societies fail- approach to murder rather than the acts ings in protecting vulnerable women like of violence that had been committed. The Martha, but an inherit societal ignorance Victorian justice system was rife with prej- towards domestic and sexual violence. udice towards the most vulnerable women of society and it took the ritualistic dis- An ignorance which is mirrored within memberment of eight women for the police the injuries of Martha to her stomach and to consider domestic violence seriously. genitals, where she was stabbed six times. Sian Jones also present within the Rippers ‘Canonical Five’ and became symbolic of the wider so- cietal acceptance of masculine dominance and control. However, this wider societal acceptance was also present within the male dominated Victorian justice system, who were driven by the thrill of the chase. in a wave of violence towards prostitutes Jack the Ripper, a term coined by the in Victorian Whitechapel. Brutally mur- press in the 1880s, intrigued the police dered at the age of thirty-nine, Martha is with his new methods of murder. The - Ripper’s methodological dissection of his nition which is made increasingly promi- victims added a professional and strategic nent by a historical debate, which judges element which had never been seen in the whether Martha meets the criteria of the East End. So much so, that a twisted level Ripper’s Canonical Five. Historians like of excitement arose from this new specta- Philip Sugden and Sean Day view Martha cle as new Scotland Yard Detectives like as a victim of the Ripper because of the Abberline and Moore were introduced. similarities shown to the Ripper’s later This led to the formation of a cult around
2020 ISSUE 36 | 2020 #e Wilmington Massacre In the late autumn of 1898, the city of farmers abandoned the Democrats in fa- Wilmington in North Carolina witnessed vour of the newly-formed People’s Party. for white supremacists in Wilmington, the only coup d’état in the history of the The populist movement had made elector- where Fusionist politicians retained con- United States. The massacre of Afri- al gains in the 1892 elections, standing on can-Americans and removal of elected a platform of nationalization, progressive and future mayor Alfred Waddell called income taxation, and democratic account- a meeting at which a ‘White Declaration 10thof November was the culmination of ability. In North Carolina, the Populists had of Independence’ was revealed, and read four years of deliberate planning on the gone a step further than their comrades in - part of white supremacists, and led ulti- other states; co-operating with black Re- nity in Wilmington, demanding resig- mately to the institution of the racial caste nations and admissions of subordinacy. system of Jim Crow. Despite the unprece- 1894 elections. This new ‘Fusionist’ move- dented nature of the events in Wilmington, ment successfully merged Populist eco- The following day, a large organized the coup remains a strangely under-ex- nomic policies with African-Americans’ crowd of white farmers, soldiers, busi- plored stain on the American pursuit of search for fair political representation. nessmen, and political leaders marched the ideals of freedom and democracy. The alliance proved to be a winning one, Yet in many ways Wilmington, and not the and 1894 saw the party win a majority in set it ablaze. Whipped into a frenzy, the - es of prominent black members of the - cian Daniel Wright were located, beaten and murdered. What started as organised militia activity descended into indiscrim- inate killing and violence. Reports on the exact number of deaths vary, from nine to three-hundred, but over a thousand African-Americans were forced to per- - corted out of the city by armed soldiers. history political leaders were violently - ganizer of the violence, was selected as the new mayor. In a pattern to be repeated Plessy vs. Ferguson court ruling of 1896, the state legislature, as well as the elec- legislature immediately disenfranchised truly marked the beginning of racial seg- tion of Fusionist governor Daniel Russel. most African-Americans via the introduc- regation and black disenfranchisement in tion of a poll tax and literacy tests - mea- The success of the Fusionists presented an sures that whites were excluded from. such as Charles Aycock, were consulted by existential threat to white supremacists white supremacist leaders in other states and Democrats - who began a concerted Amid the shattered glass of store fronts, on how best to ensure the suppression of the swinging hinges of front doors forced the black vote. Looking to Wilmington as coordinating meetings of business lead- a model, by 1910 every state in the south ers, newspaper editors, and political ac- Record, rose Jim Crow. The main histor- had disenfranchised African-Americans tivists. Predicated as it was on a delicate ical importance of the massacre was that and ensured the unrivalled dominance of alliance, anxieties about relationships be- tween black men and white women in par- spheres passed in 1896 now possessed ticular were used to form a wedge in the an underlying warning to African-Ameri- Fusionist movement. Democrat campaign cans about the consequence of any acts of is the tantalising prospect of what could posters stoked fear regarding the rise of self-assertion. This symbiotic relationship have been. With a prosperous black mid- ‘Negro Rule’, and the free pass supposed- between black agency and white resent- dle-class, higher literacy rates than their ly being given to African-American men ment in America remains pertinent today white counterparts, and a bustling port to attack white women. The campaign shipping cotton to the rest of the world, supremacists to defeat a working-class al- the largest city in the south-eastern state of the Daily Record, wrote an article con- liance via the weaponization of anxieties of North Carolina stood as a testament to demning the lynching of African-Amer- about identity, be they based on race or on the advancement and achievement of Af- icans, and arguing that the vast majority gender. The history of Wilmington needs rican-Americans since emancipation. As of sexual relations between white women - well as being a centre of economic pros- and black men were consensual. Coupled tion, however the innocent victims whose - with this weaponization of gender, armed lives were destroyed on the 10thof Novem- tural and intellectual importance due to its militias organised by the Democrats pa- ber should always remain at the centre of it. being home to the Daily Record– the only trolled the streets of Wilmington and oth- black-owned newspaper in the country. er cities in North Carolina in the run-up to the state elections of 1898. This divide- The massacre in Wilmington also marked and-rule campaign, sustained by violence the end of a relatively successful period of - inter-racial democracy in North Carolina. Shifts in political allegiances had begun victories on the 9thof November 1898. after the recession of 1893, as poor white 2121 ISSUE 36 | 2020 #e Racialised War on Drugs - ‘Crack’ cocaine is the street name given to The Anti-Drug Abuse Act was implicitly ald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan cocaine that has been processed with sodi- racialised: Reagan’s methods didn’t tack- made a national address to declare a ‘war um bicarbonate or ammonia, allowing it to le the issue of drug abuse itself, instead, on drugs’ within America. This declara- be smoked rather than snorted (the most it sought to punish those who took drugs, tion and the initiatives implemented as a popular mode of consumption). Due to its and if you police the drugs more frequent- result has directly impacted communities relatively inexpensive nature and ability ly taken by Black and Latino populations, heavily populated with working-class eth- to be sold in small quantities as ‘rocks’, they predominantly face this punishment nic minorities, the results of which we are crack cocaine was seen as a more lucrative and come to embody this societal issue. still seeing. In this address, the Reagan’s drugs in comparison to powder cocaine Furthermore, the Reagan administration the extent of drug use in society. By stat- that was comparably more expensive. It is ing that drug use is ‘killing our children’, - in neighbourhoods and an increase in ‘threatening our communities’ and ‘un- caine and powder cocaine have the same police powers to use extended force. This dercutting our institutions’, the Reagans physiological composition, rendering - - trusive methods to arrest people, such as rounding issues of drug abuse. Those who crack cocaine was policed far more heav- raiding people’s homes and using physical were for the wellbeing of American society ily during the 1980’s: its presence in in- violence against civilians in the name of were anti-drug use and anyone who disa- ner-city communities and association with suspicion of drug possession. These tough greed with their sentiment was pro-drug ethnic minorities stigmatised its usage in on crime policies escalated racial tensions use and complicit in the demise of Amer- a way that powder cocaine users did not. within neighbourhoods, as the escalation ican values. Following this speech, public of violence saw people resisting arrest and concern about drug use skyrocketed: poll- Reagan’s introduction of the Anti-Drug - ing of the American public listed drug use Abuse Act (1986) legalised more severe types to arrest people they believed were as the country’s biggest problem, when, sentences for the possession of crack co- more likely to be carrying drugs without at the same time, poverty was steadily caine when compared to powder cocaine. any established evidence. In one particu- increasing, and Reagan was drastically It introduced the 100:1 ratio, meaning lar instance in 1985, a SWAT team used cutting funds to inner-city communities. a battering ram to tear into a house they Reagan’s strict political rhetoric through- cocaine was given the same mandatory believed people were selling drugs out of. When they entered the house how- ever, they only found two women and three children inside, eating ice cream. Rates of drug acquisition were often quite low (only 35% of raids actually seized drugs) proving that most of Reagan’s at- tempts to solve this war on drugs were fruitless. Indeed, many of the practices were scaled down towards the end of his presidency in 1989. The impact of the Reagan era is still felt throughout Amer- ica, and the overrepresentation of ethnic minorities in American prisons is now at an all-time high. By labelling drug use as detrimental to the fabric of American so- ciety, Reagan instigated a national moral panic, one that called for swift, remorse- less solutions to a problem caused by - out his presidency consistently demonised tation to drug abusers. Race relations in hundred grams of powder cocaine. If you America have always been fraught and groups as the perpetrators of the prob- are caught with one gram of crack cocaine contentious, and the Reagan era is no you will be subject to the same penalisa- exception to this. Disproportionate po- inner-city communities, who were subject tion as if you were carrying one hundred to increased police presence on the streets grams of powder cocaine. As use of crack as sentencing disparities have heavily and coercive methods of state interven- cocaine was far more prevalent in areas contributed to this and remains a lead- tion. The arrival of the new drug ‘crack with high populations of ethnic minori- ing factor in mass incarceration today. cocaine’ in the mid-80’s caused a national ties, this sentencing disparity resulted in epidemic, and its association with work- a rapid increase in the number of black Dara Coker men in particular in the American crim- those of Black and Latino descent) saw a inal justice system. By 1990, the average sharp change in the way drug use was per- drug sentence for African Americans was ceived and controlled in American society. 49% higher than their white counterparts.
2222 ISSUE 36 | 2020 Dietrich Bonhoe$er: “#e will of God will only be clear in the moment of action.” - ocaust, did little to oppose the actions of an emphasis on action, drawing on his estant theologian who lived and taught the Nazi Party. In 1932 the German Chris- understanding of the teachings of Jesus within Germany under the Nazi dictator- tian group was founded, with the aim of Christ in the New Testament, and declar- ship of Hitler. His teachings questioned pushing protestant doctrine to conform to ing, in The Cost of Discipleship, that de- the position of religion within a secular Nazi principles of racial purity, and their votion to God came with an expectation of society, which he used to oppose political treatment of Jewish people. In response authority in favour of devotion to God. He along with numerous other theologians, established the Confessing Church to are too often overlooked due to their de- of freedom and human rights even in a create systemic opposition to the anti- pendence on Christian teachings. How- society that was overtaken by fascism, semitism shown by the German Church. ever, his work overcomes the limits of and continued to teach such messages, After considerable oppression from the religious belief, and is applicable to all even when doing so risked his life. He Nazis, the Confessing Church turned to individuals in the event that political au- was executed by the Nazis in 1945 after underground seminaries to continue the thority transcends its moral boundaries his involvement in a plot to overthrow teachings of resistance and preserve tra- and intervenes too far into the lives of Hitler, which was based around his belief ditional Christian beliefs and practices. individuals. His life should be remem- that damnation of an individual through bered as one lived with the purpose of - expressing his devotion to his ideology for the protection of innocent people. pose Adolf Hitler is amongst his most fa- and human rights, through the prac- mous acts, and ultimately led to his exe- tice of civil disobedience and resistance. cution. Even in the extremities of this act, the church to outwardly oppose Nazism he was able to justify violence as “the will in Germany. In Catholicism, Pope Pius of God will only be clear in the moment XII attempted to maintain the neutrality of action”. He united the concepts of re- of the Vatican in political matters, and ligious devotion with civil disobedience despite expressing concern over the Hol- and resistance to corrupt authorities with #e Cheese and the Worms: #e Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller ‘Everybody has his calling, some to plow, of the Catholic church. His charges were been neglected by ecclesiastical histori- some to hoe, and I have mine which is multiple: that the ‘Holy Scripture has been - to blaspheme.’ Thus spake Dominico invented to deceive men’, that all were lies found challenge to established views of Scandella, also known as Menocchio, the designed to oppress, and that indulgences the conformity, and homogeneity of reli- and sacraments represented mere gious thought in this area of Italy, in this work of early modern microhistory The merchandise. Menocchio’s most famous period of time. Ginzburg assesses Menoc- Cheese and the Worms. Menocchio was claim, however, was his radical cosmogony chio’s esteemed and networked position a Friulian miller, a guitar player, and a which promoted a belief in materialism school master in the 16th century village and a religious tolerance deemed heretical spheres of early modern Italy, making im- of Montereale. Despite his apparently by his Inquisitors. It is to this cosmogony portant conclusions about the processes that we owe the title of Ginzburg’s work; of popular consciousness, and the dom- ination of and resistance to the church. “I have said that, in my opinion, insight into the nature of early modern all was chaos, that is, earth, air, Since its publication and translation, society, in an especially tumultuous era - Ginzburg’s work has provoked widespread of religious upheaval. For Ginzburg, the er; and out of that bulk a mass reaction - both positive and negative - with story of his protagonist is able to reveal formed-just as cheese is made more general claims about popular out of milk-and worms appeared Ginzburg’s methods and his conclusions. consciousness in pre-industrial Europe. in it, and these were the angels” Regardless, this widespread discussion of and critical interaction with Ginzburg’s In 1584 and 1599, Menocchio faced trial for Ginzburg uses the records of the inquisi- work is a testament to his intriguing and his blasphemy by the Roman Inquisition, tion to investigate the origins of the so- exciting text. Regardless of whether you and it is the records of these inquisitions, cial construction of his knowledge and agree with his conclusions, this seminal held at the Vatican Library, that provide world-view. For early modern histori- of great methodological value to all schol- the central focus for Ginzburg’s essay. ans, Menocchio’s views are fascinating: ars of the early modern period, and beyond. Menocchio had attracted the attention where did he get them from? And how widely held were his views? This era, of the Inquisitors for his radical and Wilf Kenning scathing views on the organized religion and this region of Italy, have previously 2323 Editors Copy Editing team Daniel Johnson Ayesha Patel Reuben Williamson India-Rose Channon Savannah Holmes Head of Design Kristen MacDonald Will Kerrs Marton Jasz Design Team Wilf Kenning Francesca Bradley Georgia Dey Beatriz Da Costa Honrado Natasha Tai Rebecca Knight Amy Dwyer
Head of Copy Editing Head of Marketing Kate Jackson Polly Pye