The Christian Socialist Movement in Scotland C. 1850–1930

Abstract

This essay reads Politics and Passion as a philosophical complement to theological projects that see no innate conflict between Christianity and liberalism and considers the significance of Waltzer's "more egalitarian liberalism" from the perspective of one who believes there to be compelling theological, ethical and political grounds for "making common cause" with liberalism. Liberal human rights discourse provides the lens through which this case is argued. This essay endorses the revisions proposed in Politics and Passion and suggests that developments in human rights discourse since the early twentieth century allows one to regard this discourse as a still unfinished version of Waltzer's more egalitarian liberalism. I argue that it is precisely because of the pressures identified by Waltzer that a thicker, more contextually varied conceptualization of rights has been generated. Moreover, when human rights language is understood as a discourse of egalitarian rather than emancipatory liberalism, then the claims that it is irredeemably secular, individualistic and voluntaristic, and that its adoption will result in the marginalization of Christian narrative traditions, are no longer tenable.     

THE POLITICS OF DISINTEREST: THE WHIGS AND THE LIBERAL PARTY IN THE WEST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE, 1830–1850

Abstract

Having entered the 1960s in a mood of confident expansion epitomized by the Robbins Report of 1963, British universities found their budgets ravaged by inflation in the early 1970s and struggled for financial equilibrium over the next three decades. While the 'unit of resource' halved between 1976 and the end of the century, the very nature of a university came into question as renewed growth succeeded cuts in the 1980s, and institutions were required to balance their books by supplementing the traditional functions of teaching and research with a contribution to 'knowledge transfer', local regeneration, and the search for social inclusiveness. In this increasingly competitive system, the 'big civics' faced the spectre of relative decline in the 1990s, as the State continued to support the elite 'golden triangle' and diverted further funds to support struggling 'new' universities, while smaller 'plate glass' institutions were swifter to respond to a new culture of public league tables. This article examines the University of Leeds's changing responses to these challenges, comparing the 'political' leadership of Vice-Chancellors Lord Boyle and Sir Edward Parkes with the managerial approach of Professor Sir Alan Wilson.     

LETTER WRITING AND ELITE IDENTITY IN THE NETHERLANDS, 1770–1850

This essay argues that correspondence was an important means for the Dutch elite in the period 1770–1850 to develop, consolidate and express an elite identity. Children were taught a “natural” epistolary style, which often meant “decent” or “as fits an elite child”. In line with Bourdieu's thesis that elites are so confident of their leading position that they feel free to deviate from language norms, adolescents diverged from decent language, whereas lower‐class correspondents composed humble letters to their superiors. Daily correspondence and ceremonial letters served to keep upper‐class values in mind and to hold the elite together.     

The Neuropathology of Morality: Germany 1930–1960

This article analyzes brain scientists’ attempts to trace morality in the brain in Germany from 1930 to 1960. The debate around Karl Kleist's localization of the Gemeinschafts-Ich [community-I] in the 1930s is depicted in order to illustrate the central arguments for and against localizations of morality. The focus of this article is on the period 1936–1960 in which experts put forth specific ideas on morality's cerebral underpinnings that mirror the larger theoretical shift from strict localization doctrine to a more holistic understanding of the brain. As a result of this shift, experts avoided exact localizations of morality. Instead, they posited correlations between brain areas and morality. The analysis illustrates the dependence of neuropathological research on morality on general theories of brain functioning and marks a first contribution to the history of the neuroscience of morality for the time after 1930.     

Innovation in paper making: The Netherlands 1750–1850

Abstract

Until the middle of the eighteenth century Dutch paper makers had a leading position on the international paper market, both commercially and technically. From around 1700 a decline set in, which became dramatic after 1780. The introduction of new machinery and processes from Britain and elsewhere during the nineteenth century was slow, but when it came about, the Dutch paper industry regained an important part of the international market. This article attempts to explain the technological aspects of this development in the light of theories about the economic and technological history of the Netherlands in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.     

PIECING TOGETHER THE STORY OF A PAIR OF MAKRON’S FRAGMENTED CUPS

In 2022, an Athenian red-figured cup attributed to Makron was returned to Italy by New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The cup had been acquired in fragments, through purchase and gift, from multiple sources over several years, starting with two fragments from the restorer Fritz Bürki in 1978. A second cup, also attributed to Makron, was acquired in a parallel way. The sources for the fragments from both cups point to galleries collectors and donors – Summa Galleries, Frieda Tchachos, Elizabeth Hecht, and Dietrich von Bothmer – who have been associated with other material that has been repatriated to Italy in recent years. It is suggested that some of the incised ‘signatures’ by Hieron that are found on cups attributed to Makron may have been applied since antiquity.     

Simple strategies for improving inference with linked data: a case study of the 1850–1930 IPUMS linked representative historical samples

Abstract

New large-scale linked data are revolutionizing quantitative history and demography. This paper proposes two complementary strategies for improving inference with linked historical data: the use of validation variables to identify higher quality links and a simple, regression-based weighting procedure to increase the representativeness of custom research samples. We demonstrate the potential value of these strategies using the 1850–1930 Integrated Public Use Microdata Series Linked Representative Samples (IPUMS-LRS)—a high quality, publicly available linked historical dataset. We show that, while incorrect linking rates appear low in the IPUMS-LRS, researchers can reduce error rates further using validation variables. We also show how researchers can reweight linked samples to balance observed characteristics in the linked sample with those in a reference population using a simple regression-based procedure.     

The Machines of War: Western Military Technology 1850–2000

From the standpoint of military technology, the 20th century divides between two eras. The first half of the century saw the culmination of the mechanization of armed forces that had begun midway through the previous century. During most of this period, European innovations dictated the pace and direction of change. World War II changed all that. Europeans became followers of military change driven by the arms race between the USA and the Soviet Union. Two innovations, both largely products of World War II, dominated the second half of the century but proceeded with surprisingly little interaction. One was the elaboration of nuclear arsenals and their delivery systems. The other was the radical reconstruction of conventional warfare through applied electronics, especially from the 1960s onward.