‘Demonstrating the Machine Guns’: Rebellion,Violence and State Formation in Early Colonial Darfur

Recent literature on British colonial rule in Africa has increasingly emphasised the ways in which relatively cautious colonial states were formed in processes of engagement and accommodation with local societies. This article uses the example of a major rebellion against colonial authority in southern Darfur in 1921 to demonstrate the ways in which these processes of local engagement might themselves feed into rebellion against state authority, rather than secure colonial rule. The rebellion was inspired by Mahdist millenarian belief, but the involvement of local societies in both the rebellion and its repression was also shaped by patterns of local rivalries into which the colonial state had entered as an additional actor. The article also reminds us, more broadly, that spectacular violence and local accommodation were not distinct modes of colonial governance but rather continually intertwined in processes of colonial state formation.     

Henri Kowalski (1841–1916): A French Musician in Colonial Australia

French virtuoso pianist and composer Henri Kowalski visited Australia in 1880 and then returned in 1885 when he settled in Sydney for twelve years. This article explores his introduction of French repertoire, institutional practices and musical instruments to colonial Sydney. It demonstrates that for a short period at the end of the nineteenth century, there was a much stronger French presence in musical life in Australia than has previously been acknowledged.     

Irish Republican Politics and Violence before the Peace Process, 1968–1994

Analyses of the Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland tend to underplay the influence of political strategy in the 1970s, preferring to emphasise militarism. Similarly, the persistence of militarism in the 1980s is often obscured by the attention paid to a ‘new’ republican political orientation. This article seeks to draw attention to the IRA's evolving attitude to the ‘problem’ of Ulster unionism, and republicanism's various estimations of the likely efficacy of violence throughout the period. Republicanism is best understood as a deeply rooted working-class ethno-nationalist movement interacting closely with the other agents of the Northern Ireland conflict: constitutional nationalism, unionism and the British government. ‘Armed struggle’ became a declining asset for republicanism as it came to be seen less as a form of ‘popular guerrilla warfare’ and more as ‘terrorism’. 1 [1] For valuable advice, thanks to Prof. Roy Foster. Opinions expressed are my own. View all notes     

‘Martial Races’ and ‘Imperial Subjects’: Violence and Governance in Colonial India, 1857–1914

This essay explores the specificity of colonial violence in India. Although imperial and military historians are familiar with several instances of such violence—notably the rebellion in 1857 and the 1919 massacre at the Jallianwalla Bagh in Amritsar—there is a broader, and arguably more significant, history that has largely escaped attention. In contrast to metropolitan European states, where sovereignty derived, at least in principle, from a covenant between subjects and government, the sovereign power of the colonial state was always predicated on the violent subjugation of ‘the natives’. However, while violence was integral to colonialism, such violence was never a purely metropolitan agency: most of those recruited to serve in the colonial military were, themselves, Indian. Exploring the history of the imperial military in South Asia after 1857, the paper outlines the complex and rather ambiguous relationship between the colonial state and its ‘native armies’.

résumé ?Cet article se penche sur la spécificité de la violence coloniale. Malgré des exemples familiers—comme la grande révolte de 1857 en Inde ou le massacre de Jallianwalla Bagh à Amritsar en 1919—il y a une histoire plus large et plus importante qui a échappée à l'attention des historiens. Contrairement aux états européens ou la souveraineté dérivait en principe du moins d'un contrat social entre les acteurs sociaux, le pouvoir souverain de l'état colonial restait fondé sur la subjugation violente des indigènes.     

Long-term environmental change and geographical patterns of violence in Darfur, 2003–2005

This paper investigates spatial associations between environmental change and violence in Darfur. Long-term variations in the geographical distribution of water and vegetative resources can foster migration from areas with decreasing levels of resource availability to areas with increasing levels. Rising ethnic diversity and resource competition can, in turn, escalate the risk of violence in areas of high in-migration. This paper employs a multimethod approach to investigate this hypothesis. Qualitative evidence is used to demonstrate the plausibility of the argument for the case of Darfur. The quantitative analysis is based on information retrieved from satellite imagery on long-term vegetation change and the spatial distribution of attacks on villages in the early phase of the civil war (2003–2005). The findings indicate that violence has been more likely and intense in areas that experienced increasing availability of water and vegetative resources during the 20 years prior to the civil war.     

Wirtschaftswunder in Pretzfeld,upper Franconia: Interactions between science,technology, and corporate strategies in Siemens semiconductor rectifier research & development, 1945–1956

Abstract

Immediately after World War II, when emergency production of non‐electrotechnical products such as stoves, pots, etc. at Siemens amounted to more than 50% and the return to normal production and old standards was the primary company goal, one man, Eberhard Spenke, thought far ahead. Power semiconductor rectifiers were to be designed and manufactured on a scientific basis rather than as a result of trial and error methods. The theory of rectification in semiconductor‐metal contacts that had been found by the Siemens theoretical physicist Walter H. Schottky was to serve as a starting point. First, apartments for researchers had to be built in a former stable at Pretzfeld Castle, Upper Franconia; lab equipment was then procured. On September 1, 1947, research work began, and the first selenium rectifiers were made on three old kitchen tables. In 1956, Spenke proudly presented the world's first reproducible silicon power rectifier elements (for a reverse voltage of 1000 V and a maximum forward current of 300 A when forced‐air‐cooled) at the international semiconductor conference in Garmisch‐Partenkirchen, Bavaria. Siemens had thus become a world leader in power electronics.

The example of Eberhard Spenke and his team can give valuable guidelines for organizing Research & Development efficiently within a big corporation. It shows that the amount of money spent on R&D is not necessarily the determining factor of success. At least equally important are such elements as personal leadership in small research groups rather than bureaucratic administration of research, the ability to foresee technological and market developments, direct contacts between the leading researchers and the top management, open‐mindedness of the top management to new ideas and approaches, and the motivation of employees.     

Politics at the Local–Global Intersection: Meanings of Bentuhua and Transnational Feminism in China

This article examines contemporary Chinese feminism’s processes of “connecting with the international tracks” as well as bentuhua (indigenisation), arguing that these processes are inseparable from both domestic and international power relations and thus asserting the need for a critical perspective on bentuhua. An “institutional-discursive” focus on both political and cultural contexts reveals that the usage of bentuhua can be literally and metaphorically spatial in quality, as well as regarded as a resource that is part of the grammar of social transformation in China. Neoliberal globalisation promotes a “project”-oriented approach to feminist activism that has benefits and costs. Transnationalism can be a source of resistance to the continued authoritarian party-state, as well as to homogenising effects of nationalist tendencies. Thus, from a theoretical standpoint it is useful to comprehend contemporary Chinese feminist thought from the understanding that the local and the global are inextricably interconnected.