Abstracts
Interview über die Globalgeschichte mit Prof. Dr. Sebastian Conrad (Berlin), in: zeitenblicke 12 (2013), Nr. 1.
The interview with one of the leading global historians in the German-speaking world, the Berlin-based Professor Sebastian Conrad, deals with the history, analytical innovations, and also problems of writing 'global history'. More specifically, Conrad compares this perspective with other competing approaches beyond the national framework (like transnational history), and critically analyses the potential of global history to overcome the historiographically established dichotomy between the 'west and the rest'. Here, he addresses pitfalls and problems of the still unsettled 'great divergence' debate, and also critically reflects on the question how globally is global history actually written today, and to what extent is it informed through the Anglo-Saxon cultural and lingual dominance. Lastly, Sebastian Conrad points to those fields that in his opinion will attract much attention in the coming years – such as the discussion of 'early modernities' in other world regions, which are not understood as a diffusion of European norms and values. Here, according to Conrad, the main problem will be not to construct parallel paths of historical progress, which are then ultimately culminating in a (previously defined) 'modernity'. Otherwise, processes of rationalisation, individualisation, and 'disenchantment' would remain the implicit categories of analysis, thus preventing the analysis of autochthonous processes of 'modernisation' in different parts of the world.
Frank Gerits: An International Approach to The Cultural Cold War. French Public Diplomacy towards Africa (1945-1965), in: zeitenblicke 12 (2013), Nr. 1.
This article analyzes how the tactics behind French public diplomacy in West-Africa and Congo-Leopoldville/Kinshasa evolved between 1945 and 1965. To overcome the low appeal that French propaganda had for Africans, the French gradually integrated the successful methods that their competitors in Africa employed into their own strategy. It shows that the battle for African hearts and minds was global, that Ghana and Egypt were active, and that intercultural, propaganda agencies adopted and adapted each other's successful strategies. In doing so, it hopes to emphasize the explanatory potential of a genuine international approach to diplomatic history.
Kaarlo Johannes Havu: Erasmus on Sovereignty. Politics and Rhetoric in Institutio principis Christiani, in: zeitenblicke 12 (2013), Nr. 1.
The main aim of the article is to try to understand Erasmus's Institutio principis Christiani both as a contribution the particular debates of the Netherlands of the 1510s and to the more general Erasmian program of the time. The more general program provides Erasmus with the discursive tools to participate in the debate and to reflect at the same time on how politics and sovereignty are to be seen as part of his Philosophia Christiana. The paper will also argue that the rhetorical activity of the intellectual builds a bridge from Erasmus's political philosophy to actual political participation. It is the intellectual who should try to direct and control the use of monarchical power with the right use of words and reason.
Carolina Obradors Suazo: From Citizenship to Citizenry. Towards a Cultural Approach to the Figure of the Citizen in 15th Century Barcelona, in: zeitenblicke 12 (2013), Nr. 1.
The aim of this paper is to approach medieval citizenship from a cultural perspective, which has been somehow neglected by historiography. More specifically, the article will focus on the daily life of the citizen, recreating the acts and behaviors the citizen was supposed to perform regularly in order to show his belonging and commitment to the city where he was living. In so doing, I will focus on 15th century Barcelona, for which a long series of citizenship reports have been conserved. The Informes de la Ciutadania were ordered by the authorities of the city but give us a fascinating inside into the opinions of contemporary Barcelonians and, more particularly, on their perception of citizenship. This is a set of long and complete sources from which I intent to show that medieval citizenship should not only be approached as a legal statute but also as cultural phenomenon that needs to be taken into consideration in order to reach a better understanding of the structures of medieval urban society, its hierarchies and fluidity.
Brian Kjær Olesen: Entangled Positions. From Comparative and Transnational History to Histories of Possible Meaning, in: zeitenblicke 12 (2013), Nr. 1.
In this essay I present a critical reassessment of comparative and transnational history. Drawing our attention to the problem of meaning and historicity, I argue that reconsidering the theoretical underpinnings of these approaches provide us the opportunity to rethink central aspects of our vocation. The structure of the argument is threefold. First I present an empirical case study focusing on the reception of Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws in eighteenth century Denmark-Norway. Secondly, I discuss the theoretical implications of classical positions within comparative and transnational history, placing some emphasis on their inherent tensions and frictions. Applying these approaches to the empirical example, I point out a number of problems particular to each perspective. Finally, introducing a concept of what I shall call 'histories of possible meaning', I attempt to overcome some of the most pressing theoretical problems inherent in comparative and transnational history.
Jan-Hendrik Schulz: Kontinuität und Scheitern sozialrevolutionärer Terrorismen in den 1980er Jahren. Die französische Action Directe (AD) und die westdeutsche Rote Armee Fraktion (RAF) im Vergleich, in: zeitenblicke 12 (2013), Nr. 1.
Die vorliegende Projektskizze erwägt zentrale Aspekte eines sozialhistorischen Vergleichs der sozialrevolutionären Stadtguerillagruppen Action Directe (AD) und Rote Armee Fraktion (RAF) in Frankreich und in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland nach der Zäsur des "Deutschen Herbstes" 1977. Anhand der analytischen Bezugspunkte der jeweiligen terroristischen Karrieren, weiterführender terroristischer Strategien, internationaler Kontakte sowie der Neukonstituierung des RAF-Umfelds seit Ende der 1970er Jahre sollen Erklärungsansätze, Hypothesen und Fragen zur Kontinuität bzw. des Neuaufkommens des bewaffneten Kampfes in der Bundesrepublik und in Frankreich vorgestellt werden.