Italian political culture in historical perspective

This article examines Austrian policy towards the Italian states from the Congress of Vienna to the revolutions of 1848. It argues that the paramount concern of Habsburg policy was not revolution, but rather the maintenance of a hegemonic position in the peninsula against threats from the Habsburgs’ traditional enemy ‐ the French. Revolution caused significant concern only because it might provide the French with a pretext for intervention in the peninsula. Consequently a number of strategies were adopted both to forestall insurrection (vigorous policing, encouraging moderate reform programmes, armed intervention), and to retain influence over the peninsula's rulers (diplomatic pressure, dynastic and military alliances, promises of assistance against unrest). However, by the 1830s the Austrians were faced by increasing challenges to their position of dominance. This was in part because of the personal ambitions of individual Italian rulers, but it also reflected the changing situation in Paris after the July Revolution, and in Vienna after the death of Francis I.     

Two Southern sudanese pottery traditions in a historical perspective

The author observed two very different pottery traditions in Southern Sudan: (1) the Dinka pottery, made by coiling technique and decorated with twisted palm roulette, (2) the Jur Molo pottery, which was a lump of clay and decorated with mat impressions. The present‐day distribution of people using rouletting pottery in this area is to the Nilotic speaking group, while the makes of the mat‐impressed pots belong to the Central Sudanic speaking group. The author hypothesizes that the prehistoric distribution and datings of the mat impression ware indicate that this is the oldest pottery tradition and might be associated with the Iron Age distribution of the Central Sudanic people in Southern Sudan.     

Tracking democracies: Italy and Japan in historical perspective

Abstract

The Italian and Japanese roads toward democracy have been paved by external forces, by the timing of economic development, by ‘great’ leaders and by such factors as institutions, class structure, geography and even by accident. In finding a pair of countries where so much is similar, and yet where fundamental differences penist, comparativists have fertile ground in which to look for key factors in political (and democratic) change. This article, in short, takes aim at illuminating these factors by distinguishing between the structural and cultural conditions within which democratic tracks were laid in Japanese and Italian history. It concludes that a closer examination of leadership and agency is necessary to explain more fully democratic development in Italy and Japan.     

Civilizing nature: national parks in global historical perspective

During the latter half of the 19th century, small Belgian chapels appeared on the rural landscape of the Door Peninsula, Wisconsin. The construction of these chapels by devout Catholics resulted from promises made for answers received to specific prayers of favor. Usually located immediately adjacent to section-line roads, they were used by family members, neighbors and by folks from afar. This study details the character and distribution of these chapels. The remaining chapels serve as an element of the Belgian material culture.     

Occupational neurotoxicity and movement disorders: a historical perspective

It is shown that while metal toxicity has been known to be associated with risks to the health of miners and other workers for over a thousand years generally little was done before the 19th century to enquire into the relationship between lead, mercury, and manganese and neurological movement disorders. Reasons for this are suggested.     

Antiracist memories: The case of 17 October 1961 in historical perspective

This article examines the causes and subsequent cover-up of the massacre of Algerians by French security forces on 17 October 1961, and assesses the place and symbolic importance the memory of this massacre has come to occupy within Algerian immigrant communities and antiracist groups since the 1970s. These groups have actively campaigned for official recognition of the extent of and responsibility for the massacre. Finally, the article reflects on the way in which the 17 October massacre is often discussed in relation to Vichy, and the ambivalent conclusions which can be drawn from this in relation to France's coming-to-terms with its colonial past.     

National identity and primitive methodism in the United States: A transatlantic perspective

The Primitive Methodist Church in the United States of America was, throughout the nineteenth century, a denomination that was transatlantic in character. It attempted to act both as a home away from home for newly arriving English industrial immigrants and as a tool of their Americanization. In the former role, the denomination enjoyed considerable success, benefiting from continuous English immigration throughout the period. However, Primitive Methodist attempts at Americanization presented much greater challenges. The constant contact both with newly arriving English immigrants and the Primitive Methodist Conference in England frustrated attempts to take the denomination in new directions and undermined its claim as an American and Americanizing church. Whilst the process of becoming American was very difficult and painful for many individual immigrants, it proved almost impossible for the institution of Primitive Methodism. Ninety years after its establishment in the United States, the denomination was still homesick.