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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.

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