DOCSLIB.ORG

Oxford in Comparative Perspective 104 Robert E

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Oxford in Comparative Perspective 104 Robert E FORGING A DISCIPLINE OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 10/2/2014, SPi Forging a Discipline A Critical Assessment of Oxford’s Development of the Study of Politics and International Relations in Comparative Perspective EDITED BY CHRISTOPHER HOOD, DESMOND KING, AND GILLIAN PEELE 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries # the several contributors 2014 The moral rights of the authors have been asserted First Edition published in 2014 Impression: 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Control Number: 2014931014 ISBN 978–0–19–968221–8 Printed in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY Contents List of Contributors vii Preface ix Acknowledgements xi Part I. Setting the Scene 1. Introduction 3 The Editors Part II. Origins and Overview: The Academic Study of Politics in Oxford and Elsewhere 2. A Tale of Three Cities: The Early Years of Political Science in Oxford, London, and Manchester 26 Rodney Barker 3. Warden Anson, All Souls College, and the Curious Creation of the Gladstone Chair of Political Theory and Institutions at Oxford, c.1908–1912 46 S. J. D. Green 4. The Role of Specialist Graduate Colleges in Disciplinary Development 67 Laurence Whitehead 5. Paradigms Lost: How Oxford Escaped the Paradigm Wars of the 1960s and 1970s 86 Alan Ryan 6. Political Science and Institution Building: Oxford in Comparative Perspective 104 Robert E. Goodin Part III. Developments: What it Led to, in Disciplines and Discoveries 7. Elections 124 John Curtice 8. Constitutionalism since Dicey 144 Iain McLean vi Contents 9. Political Theory, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences: Five Chichele Professors 165 David Miller 10. The Academic Normalization of International Relations at Oxford, 1920–2012: Structures Transcended 184 Martin Ceadel 11. The Study of War at Oxford 1909–2009 204 Hew Strachan 12. Beyond Zanzibar: The Road to Comparative Inductive Institutionalism 224 Jack Hayward 13. The Study of Communist and Post-Communist Politics 246 Archie Brown and Stephen Whitefield Part IV. An Assessment 14. Conclusion: What Can be Learned from the Oxford Politics Story? 267 The Editors Select Bibliography 281 Index 285 List of Contributors Rodney Barker is Emeritus Professor of Government at the London School of Economics and Emeritus Gresham Professor of Rhetoric at Gresham College, London. Archie Brown, CMG, FBA, is Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow of St Antony’s College, Oxford. Martin Ceadel is Professor of Politics at the University of Oxford and Politics Tutor at New College, Oxford. John Curtice, FRSE, is Professor of Politics at the University of Strathclyde and has co-edited the annual British Social Attitudes Reports of the National Centre for Social Research since 1994. Robert E. Goodin, FBA, is Professor of Government at the University of Essex and Distinguished Professor of Social and Political Theory and Philosophy at the Australian National University. S. J. D. Green, FRHistS, FSA, is Professor of Modern British History at the University of Leeds and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. Jack Hayward, FBA, is Research Professor in Politics and International Studies at the University of Hull and Vice-President of the Political Studies Association of the UK. Christopher Hood, CBE, FBA, is Gladstone Professor of Government at the University of Oxford and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. Desmond King, FBA, is Andrew W. Mellon Professor of American Govern- ment at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford. Iain McLean, FBA, FRSE, is Professor of Politics at the University of Oxford and Official Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford. David Miller, FBA, is Professor of Political Theory at the University of Oxford and Official Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford. Gillian Peele, FRHistS, is University Lecturer in Politics at the University of Oxford and Tutorial Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Alan Ryan, FBA, is Lecturer with the Rank of Professor at Princeton University and was Warden of New College, Oxford from 1996 to 2009. viii List of Contributors Sir Hew Strachan, FRSE, FRHistS, is Chichele Professor of the History of War at the University of Oxford and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. Stephen Whitefield is Professor of Politics at the University of Oxford and Rhodes Pelczynski Tutorial Fellow in Politics, Pembroke College, Oxford. Laurence Whitehead is Official Fellow in Politics of Nuffield College, Oxford. Preface Although the history of political thought is a well-established field of study, the history of political science—or whatever other aliases the academic study of politics, government, and international relations goes under—tends to be much more fragmentary. But no one who has been involved in this academic field over the past thirty or forty years, as we all have, can fail to be struck by its remarkable growth, its march towards ever more ‘professionalism’ in style and methods, and by the rise and fall of different ‘paradigms’ or analytic ABCs. Some of those changes have been prompted by events in the world outside— such as the collapse of the Soviet empire in the 1990s or unanticipated waves of democratization—and some by developments within the discipline itself, such as the rise of the ‘median voter theorem’. Observations of this changing intellectual scene prompt a number of questions. For example, where exactly did this ‘discipline’ come from, and what sort of a ‘discipline’ is it? How has it been shaped by politics in the world outside, and by the micro-politics of academic institutions? What have been the big changes in academic ap- proaches and in the ‘examinable corpus’ which students have to master? And where does it all go from here? Such questions are easier to ask than to answer, and as this volume shows, different answers can be given to many of them. Sociology has been jokingly described as a discipline in search of a subject matter, and public administra- tion as a subject matter in search of a discipline,1 and modern political science arguably faces a mixture of both problems, dependent on subfield or analytic approach. In this volume, we set out to provide perspectives on the develop- ment of the academic study of politics over a century in a single university, the University of Oxford, tracing out how it started in its modern form, the institutional elements that aided its development or held it back, some of the subfields that it divided into, and some of the big discoveries or intellectual landmarks that occurred along the way. Given that the academic study of politics today has proliferated into multiple subfields, we have explored its development by commissioning chap- ters from expert specialists on a sample (by no means a full set) of those subfields. But we have also commissioned two historical chapters to look at the beginnings of modern political science in the early twentieth century, long 1 See D. Waldo, ‘Scope of the Theory of Public Administration’, ch. 1 in J. C. Charlesworth (ed.), Theory and Practice of Public Administration: Scope, Objectives, and Methods (Philadel- phia: American Academy of Political and Social Science/American Society for Public Adminis- tration, 1968), 2. x Preface before there were specialist professional associations in the field, and also a set of chapters to consider how the development of the subject was shaped by institutional and social factors for which Oxford seems to present a critical case, as we argue in the introduction. And, as we argue in the conclusion, the story seems to present some intriguing challenges to some received views about how to organize academic teaching and research. This volume, like the activity of politics itself, reflects a mixture of collab- oration, communication, and contestation, and a lot of all of those elements have gone into its production (we have at least 1,000 emails apiece in our mailboxes to mark the various drafts and discussions that went into writing and editing this book). And also, as with the activity of politics itself, there are issues of credit and blame to be considered. As editors, our general advice to our contributors was to pay rather more attention to detailed assessments of the work of the dead than of those living and still active, on the grounds that it is easier to arrive at definitive assessments of the former than the latter. In some cases, as will be seen, applying that rule strictly would have got in the way of an adequate account of the development of some important subfields, but where it has been applied, it reflects our advice. Also, to make a volume of reasonable length, we had to insist on fairly tight length limits for each of the chapters, presenting most of our contributors with difficult choices as to what to include, and we therefore take responsibility for some of the omissions that necessarily occur in such conditions.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The London School of Economics and Political Science
    The London School of Economics and Political Science Mercenaries and the State: How the hybridisation of the armed forces is changing the face of national security Caroline Varin A thesis submitted to the Department of International Relations of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, September 2012 ii Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of <83,157> words. iii Abstract The military has been a symbol of nationhood and state control for the past two hundred years. As representatives of a society’s cultural values and political ambitions, the armed forces have traditionally been held within the confines of the modern state. Today, however, soldiers are expected to operate in the shadows of conflicts, drawing little attention to themselves and to their actions; they are physically and emotionally secluded from a civilian population whose governments, especially in the ‘West’, are proceeding to an unprecedented wave of demilitarisation and military budget cuts.
    [Show full text]
  • US Military Officers and the Intellectual Origins Of
    Managing Men and Machines: U.S. Military Officers and the Intellectual Origins of Scientific Management in the Early Twentieth Century By Copyright 2016 David W. Holden Submitted to the graduate degree program in History and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ________________________________ Chairperson Jeffery Moran ________________________________ Co-Chair Ted Wilson ________________________________ Beth Bailey ________________________________ John Kuehn ________________________________ Paul Atchley Date Defended: February 8, 2016 The Dissertation Committee for David Holden certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Managing Men and Machines: U.S. Military Officers and the Intellectual Origins of Scientific Management in the Early Twentieth Century ____________________________________________ Chairperson Jeffery Moran Date approved: February 8, 2016 ii Abstract Managing Men and Machines: U.S. Military Officers and the Intellectual Origins of Scientific Management in the Early Twentieth Century. By David Holden Professor Theodore A. Wilson, Advisor The U.S. Army officer corps experienced an intellectual revolution following the experience of WWI that fundamental altered the relationship between man and machines in war. As a result, officers failed to develop the technology gene and began to think of war as being inherently quantitatively and technological based. This dissertation examines the relationship between technology and the U.S. Army and Navy officers specifically between 1900-1925. Furthermore, the treatise addresses the role of Frederick Taylor and the rise of scientific management within the U.S. Army and Navy. iii Acknowledgements In writing this dissertation, I received invaluable assistance and support from a number of people and organizations.
    [Show full text]
  • The Purpose of the First World War War Aims and Military Strategies Schriften Des Historischen Kollegs
    The Purpose of the First World War War Aims and Military Strategies Schriften des Historischen Kollegs Herausgegeben von Andreas Wirsching Kolloquien 91 The Purpose of the First World War War Aims and Military Strategies Herausgegeben von Holger Afflerbach An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libra- ries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access. More information about the initiative can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org Schriften des Historischen Kollegs herausgegeben von Andreas Wirsching in Verbindung mit Georg Brun, Peter Funke, Karl-Heinz Hoffmann, Martin Jehne, Susanne Lepsius, Helmut Neuhaus, Frank Rexroth, Martin Schulze Wessel, Willibald Steinmetz und Gerrit Walther Das Historische Kolleg fördert im Bereich der historisch orientierten Wissenschaften Gelehrte, die sich durch herausragende Leistungen in Forschung und Lehre ausgewiesen haben. Es vergibt zu diesem Zweck jährlich bis zu drei Forschungsstipendien und zwei Förderstipendien sowie alle drei Jahre den „Preis des Historischen Kollegs“. Die Forschungsstipendien, deren Verleihung zugleich eine Auszeichnung für die bisherigen Leis- tungen darstellt, sollen den berufenen Wissenschaftlern während eines Kollegjahres die Möglich- keit bieten, frei von anderen Verpflichtungen eine größere Arbeit abzuschließen. Professor Dr. Hol- ger Afflerbach (Leeds/UK) war – zusammen mit Professor Dr. Paul Nolte (Berlin), Dr. Martina Steber (London/UK) und Juniorprofessor Simon Wendt (Frankfurt am Main) – Stipendiat des Historischen Kollegs im Kollegjahr 2012/2013. Den Obliegenheiten der Stipendiaten gemäß hat Holger Afflerbach aus seinem Arbeitsbereich ein Kolloquium zum Thema „Der Sinn des Krieges. Politische Ziele und militärische Instrumente der kriegführenden Parteien von 1914–1918“ vom 21.
    [Show full text]
  • THE BRITISH ARMY in the LOW COUNTRIES, 1793-1814 By
    ‘FAIRLY OUT-GENERALLED AND DISGRACEFULLY BEATEN’: THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE LOW COUNTRIES, 1793-1814 by ANDREW ROBERT LIMM A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY. University of Birmingham School of History and Cultures College of Arts and Law October, 2014. University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT The history of the British Army in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars is generally associated with stories of British military victory and the campaigns of the Duke of Wellington. An intrinsic aspect of the historiography is the argument that, following British defeat in the Low Countries in 1795, the Army was transformed by the military reforms of His Royal Highness, Frederick Duke of York. This thesis provides a critical appraisal of the reform process with reference to the organisation, structure, ethos and learning capabilities of the British Army and evaluates the impact of the reforms upon British military performance in the Low Countries, in the period 1793 to 1814, via a series of narrative reconstructions. This thesis directly challenges the transformation argument and provides a re-evaluation of British military competency in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
    [Show full text]
  • To Play the King Ebook
    TO PLAY THE KING PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Michael Dobbs | 356 pages | 03 Jun 2014 | Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781492606642 | English | Naperville, United States To Play the King PDF Book Mycroft eventually decides to come out to the King's press corps, at the same time announcing his resignation. The King, however, refuses to be blackmailed. External Reviews. Male Secretary 1 episode, David Neville A very good one, perhaps the best from the entire book Read more Choir 1 episode, The Best Horror Movies on Netflix. Trailers and Videos. David Mycroft 4 episodes, Editor 1 episode, Add episode. Where is my magnificent bastard? BBC Official 1 episode, The Lady 4 episodes, Both the PM and HRH have their own ideas as to how the United Kingdom ought to forge ahead, neither seeing the other one's position as viable. Ending reminded me of "Omen" and it's sequel. Yeah, you read it completely right that this book is the highest ever rating I have given to any Fiction book and yet I would say that this book deserved it at its best. Average rating 3. In the USA he attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, which he funded by a job as feature writer for the Boston Globe, where he worked as an editorial assistant and political feature writer from to Waitress 1 episode, Declan Skeete Francis Urquhart 4 episodes, Michael Kitchen Prostitute 1 episode, Everything in this book series so beautifully weaved that it stands apart from the rest. Second, there is a failing in the treatment of the woman Francis was having an affair with.
    [Show full text]
  • Rethinking the French Liberal Moment: Some Thoughts on the Heterogeneous Origins of Lefort and Gauchet's Social Philosophy
    CHAPTER 3 Rethinking the French Liberal Moment: Some Thoughts on the Heterogeneous Origins of Lefort and Gauchet’s Social Philosophy Noah Rosenblum ecent scholarship has taken an interest in the renaissance of French liberal thought in the second half of the twentieth century. This R“French liberal revival” has swept up scholars and commentators alike, and is often thought to include the important French philosophers Claude Lefort and Marcel Gauchet. But, as work in intellectual history has shown,1 the term sits uneasily on at least these two. On close examination, we see that some of their mature thought is only ambiguously committed to liberal goals and rests on complex philosophical premises that are incompatible with some traditional liberal arguments. Tracing aspects of their social thought back to its roots reveals how deeply opposed to liberalism some of their premises were and helps us see how they carried illiberal ideas forward into new contexts. This forces us to take a new perspective on at least this piece of the twentieth century’s French liberal moment, revising accepted stories of its origins and meaning. Recognizing the heterogeneous sources of their argument leads us to appreciate Lefort and Gauchet’s creative work of reconstruction and resist the urge to canalize their powerful social philosophy. Conceptualizing the “French Liberal Revival” In a purely analytic sense, we can understand the idea of a “French liberal revival” in two different ways. The phrase describes, first, a new or renewed interest in traditional liberal themes by thinkers writing in French. We can S. W. Sawyer et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Civil-Military Relations: a Comparative Analysis of the Role of the Military in the Political Transformation of Post-War Turkey and Greece: 1980-1995
    CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF THE MILITARY IN THE POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION OF POST-WAR TURKEY AND GREECE: 1980-1995 Dr. Gerassimos Karabelias Final Report submitted to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in June 1998 1 ABSTRACT This report attempts to determine the evolution of civil-military relations in Turkey and Greece during the 1980-1995 period through an examination of the role of the military in the political transformation of both countries. Since the mid-1970s and especially after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the struggle for spreading the winds of democracy around the globe has been the goal of all western states and particularly the United States of America. However, taking into consideration the volatility in the Balkans and in Central Asia, the military institution of Turkey and Greece which gave the impression that it withdrew in the barracks after their last intervention in 1980-83 and 1967-74 respectively, could easily be forced or even tempted to assume a greater responsibility in the conduct of each country’s domestic and foreign affairs. Only through a better understanding of its role during the 1980-95 period, we would be able to determine the feasibility of such scenarios. Using a multi-factorial model as a protection from the short- sighted results which the majority of mono-factorial approaches produce, this report starts with the analysis of the distinct role which the Armed Forces of each country have had in the historical evolution of their respective civil-military relations up to 1980 (Part One of Chapters Two and Three).
    [Show full text]
  • 2017 Magdalen College Record
    Magdalen College Record Magdalen College Record 2017 2017 Conference Facilities at Magdalen¢ We are delighted that many members come back to Magdalen for their wedding (exclusive to members), celebration dinner or to hold a conference. We play host to associations and organizations as well as commercial conferences, whilst also accommodating summer schools. The Grove Auditorium seats 160 and has full (HD) projection fa- cilities, and events are supported by our audio-visual technician. We also cater for a similar number in Hall for meals and special banquets. The New Room is available throughout the year for private dining for The cover photograph a minimum of 20, and maximum of 44. was taken by Marcin Sliwa Catherine Hughes or Penny Johnson would be pleased to discuss your requirements, available dates and charges. Please contact the Conference and Accommodation Office at [email protected] Further information is also available at www.magd.ox.ac.uk/conferences For general enquiries on Alumni Events, please contact the Devel- opment Office at [email protected] Magdalen College Record 2017 he Magdalen College Record is published annually, and is circu- Tlated to all members of the College, past and present. If your contact details have changed, please let us know either by writ- ing to the Development Office, Magdalen College, Oxford, OX1 4AU, or by emailing [email protected] General correspondence concerning the Record should be sent to the Editor, Magdalen College Record, Magdalen College, Ox- ford, OX1 4AU, or, preferably, by email to [email protected].
    [Show full text]
  • Togas Gradui Et Facultati Competentes: the Creation of New Doctoral Robes at Oxford, 1895–1920
    Transactions of the Burgon Society Volume 10 Article 4 1-1-2010 Togas gradui et facultati competentes: The Creation of New Doctoral Robes at Oxford, 1895–1920 Alan J. Ross Wolfson College Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/burgonsociety Recommended Citation Ross, Alan J. (2010) "Togas gradui et facultati competentes: The Creation of New Doctoral Robes at Oxford, 1895–1920," Transactions of the Burgon Society: Vol. 10. https://doi.org/10.4148/ 2475-7799.1084 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Transactions of the Burgon Society by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Transactions of the Burgon Society, 10 (2010), pages 47–70 Togas gradui et facultati competentes: The Creation of New Doctoral Robes at Oxford, 1895–1920 by Alan J. Ross 1. Introduction During the academic year 2009/10, 18,755 students in the United Kingdom completed a doctoral degree after either full- or part-time study.1 The vast majority of these doctorates were obtained by young researchers immediately after the completion of a first degree or master’s programme, and were undertaken in many cases as an entry qualification into the academic profession. Indeed, the PhD today is the sine qua non for embarkation upon an academic career, yet within the United Kingdom the degree itself and the concept of professionalized academia are less than a hundred years old. The Doctorate of Philosophy was first awarded in Oxford in 1920, having been established by statute at that university in 1917.
    [Show full text]
  • PRISM Vol 3, No 1
    PRISM❖ Vol. 3, no. 1 12/2011 PRISM Vol. 3, no. 1 3, no. Vol. ❖ 12/2011 www.ndu.edu A JOURNAL OF THE CENTER FOR COMPLEX OPERATIONS PRISM ABOUT CENTER FOR COMPLEX OPERATIONS (CCO) CCO WAS ESTABLISHED TO: PRISM is published by the National Defense University Press for the Center for ❖❖ Serve as an information clearinghouse and knowledge Enhancing the U.S. Government’s Ability to manager for complex operations training and education, PUBLISHER Complex Operations. PRISM is a security studies journal chartered to inform members of U.S. Federal agencies, allies, and other partners on complex and Prepare for Complex Operations acting as a central repository for information on areas Dr. Hans Binnendijk integrated national security operations; reconstruction and nation-building; such as training and curricula, training and education pro- CCO, a center within the Institute for National Strategic relevant policy and strategy; lessons learned; and developments in training and vider institutions, complex operations events, and subject EDITOR AND RESEARCH DIRECTOR Studies at National Defense University, links U.S. education to transform America’s security and development apparatus to meet matter experts Government education and training institutions, including Michael Miklaucic tomorrow’s challenges better while promoting freedom today. related centers of excellence, lessons learned programs, ❖❖ Develop a complex operations training and education com- and academia, to foster unity of effort in reconstruction munity of practice to catalyze innovation and development DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR and stability operations, counterinsurgency, and irregular of new knowledge, connect members for networking, share Melanne A. Civic, Esq. COMMUNICATIONS warfare—collectively called “complex operations.” existing knowledge, and cultivate foundations of trust and The Department of Defense, with support from the habits of collaboration across the community Constructive comments and contributions are important to us.
    [Show full text]
  • Download the Annual Review PDF 2016-17
    Annual Review 2016/17 Pushing at the frontiers of Knowledge Portrait of Dr Henry Odili Nwume (Brasenose) by Sarah Jane Moon – see The Full Picture, page 17. FOREWORD 2016/17 has been a memorable year for the country and for our University. In the ever-changing and deeply uncertain world around us, the University of Oxford continues to attract the most talented students and the most talented academics from across the globe. They convene here, as they have always done, to learn, to push at the frontiers of knowledge and to improve the world in which we find ourselves. One of the highlights of the past twelve months was that for the second consecutive year we were named the top university in the world by the Times Higher Education Global Rankings. While it is reasonable to be sceptical of the precise placements in these rankings, it is incontrovertible that we are universally acknowledged to be one of the greatest universities in the world. This is a privilege, a responsibility and a challenge. Other highlights include the opening of the world’s largest health big data institute, the Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Information and Discovery, and the launch of OSCAR – the Oxford Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research – a major new research centre in Suzhou near Shanghai. In addition, the Ashmolean’s success in raising £1.35 million to purchase King Alfred’s coins, which included support from over 800 members of the public, was a cause for celebration. The pages that follow detail just some of the extraordinary research being conducted here on perovskite solar cells, indestructible tardigrades and driverless cars.
    [Show full text]
  • AFTER BERLIN the Literature 2002–2020 George Crowder
    AFTER BERLIN The Literature 2002–2020 George Crowder The Isaiah Berlin Virtual Library aims to post, in the fullness of time, PDFs of all Berlin’s uncollected and unpublished work, including lectures, interviews and broadcasts, so that it is conveniently readable and searchable online. Occasional articles by other authors about Berlin, such as this one, will also be included. All enquiries, including those concerning rights, should be directed to the Isaiah Berlin Legacy Fellow at Wolfson College, [email protected] AFTER BERLIN The Literature 2002–2020 George Crowder This essay was first posted (in the Isaiah Berlin Virtual Library) in March 2016. It is intended to complement and update Ian Harris’s ‘Berlin and His Critics’, in Isaiah Berlin, Liberty, ed. Henry Hardy (Oxford, 2002: Oxford University Press), 349–64. Later impressions of that volume include a postscript, most recently updated as ‘Postscript September 2016’ (365–74), which may be read in conjunction with George Crowder’s treatment of recent developments below. Some corrections, updatings and additions were made in 2020. ‘AMONG ALL FORMS OF MISTAKE,’ wrote George Eliot, ‘prophecy is the most gratuitous’ (Eliot 1871–2: 84). About fifteen years ago an eminent political theorist told me that the work of Isaiah Berlin would attract little attention in twenty years’ time. That prophecy has another few years to run, but at this stage it shows no sign of being vindicated. As a rough measure one might look at The Isaiah Berlin Virtual Library (IBVL: Hardy 2000– ), the primary online site for Berlin studies. The section entitled ‘Articles on Berlin, and other publications that discuss him’, lists approximately 320 items for the 1990s, but over 600 for the period 2000–20.
    [Show full text]