The rise and fall of ‘critical’ historiography? Some reflections on the historiographical agenda of the left in Britain,France and Germany at the end of the twentieth century

This article compares the rise and fall of ‘critical’, that is to say oppositional and emancipatory, historiography in Britain, France and Germany since 1945. It argues that the prolonged crisis of the old ‘critical’ paradigm from the late 1970s onwards had much to do with political disillusionment and methodological weaknesses. It concludes by suggesting that any new ‘critical’ historiography will have to explore the opportunities inherent in the multitude of radical histories which developed in the 1980s and 1990s (most notably history‐from‐below, cultural, feminist and post‐modernist histories), without attempting to homogenise and synthesise these diverse and separate forms of historical writing into some new super‐paradigm, which would only produce new closures and erasures.     

Herbert Morrison's London Labour Party in the Interwar Years and the SPD: Problems of Transferring German Socialist Practices to Britain

Herbert Morrison's rebuilding of the London Labour Party (LLP) in the interwar years was consciously modelled on the organizational success of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), which Morrison knew and admired from several visits before and after the First World War. The article discusses what aspects of the SPD's organization Morrison tried to transfer to the British capital and why his considerable success in transforming the LLP German-style had its limits. Morrison not only aimed to build an efficient electoral machine, but he also wanted to copy the SPD's vast cultural and educational associations, which catered for Social Democrats ‘from cradle to grave’. However, as the article suggests, differences in political culture between Britain and Germany impacted significantly on Morrison's efforts. A more developed and more vibrant mass culture as well as the greater gulf between labour movement culture and working-class culture in Britain undermined the successful transfer of German party-political models. Other factors, such as the different organization of party funding, the different organization of civil society in Britain and Germany and the lack of a federal tradition in Britain also help to explain the limited success of this instance of political transfer.

Re´sume´:?La reconstruction par Herbert Morrison du London Labour Party (LLP) durant l'entre-deux-guerres se modela sur le succès du parti social démocrate allemand (SPD), que Morrison connaissait et admirait depuis ses visites avant et après la première guerre mondiale. Cet article se penche sur ce que Morrison voulut transférer du SPD et sur les limites de ce transfert pourtant plutôt réussi dans la transformation du LLP à l'allemande. Morrison souhaitait créer une machine électorale puissante mais il voulait aussi copier les organisations culturelles du SPD qui entouraient les démocrates sociaux du berceau à la tombe. Cependant, comme l'article le suggère les différences dans la culture politique impactèrent sur les efforts de Morrison. Une culture populaire plus développée ainsi qu'un plus grand écart entre la culture populaire et le parti travailliste en Grande Bretagne s'opposaient au transfert des modèles allemands. De plus une organisation différente du financement du parti ainsi que l'organisation différente de la culture civique et l'absence de culture fédérale jouèrent pour limiter cet exemple de transfert politique.     

Entwicklungspolitik als globale Struktur- und Friedenspolitik

Globale Probleme gewinnen an Bedeutung. Die Risiken der Globalisierung müssen eingedämmt, ihre Chancen für die Bewältigung der globalen sozialen und ökologischen Zukunftsaufgaben genutzt werden. In den letzten Jahren wurden vor allem mit der Millenniumserklärung und dem sogenannte Monterrey-Konsens Fortschritte hin zu einem internationalen Konsens über Entwicklungsfragen gemacht, der Weg hin zu einer globalen Partnerschaft steht somit offen. Die Ereignisse des 11. September 2001 haben die Entschlossenheit gestärkt, Armut zu bekämpfen und der Ausgrenzung großer Teile der Weltbevölkerung von den Chancen der Globalisierung entgegenzuwirken. Die deutsche Entwicklungspolitik als globale Struktur- und Friedenspolitik hat dabei wachsende Bedeutung erfahren. Sie agiert auf drei Ebenen: Auf der internationalen Ebene sucht sie globale entwicklungsförderliche Rahmenbedingungen zu setzen; auf der Ebene der einzelnen Kooperationsländer geht es um die bilaterale, europäische und multilaterale Zusammenarbeit vor Ort. Auf deutscher Ebene schließlich nimmt sie beispielsweise politische Querschnittsaufgaben in den Bereichen Außen-, Handels-, Finanz-, Umwelt- und Agrarpolitik wahr. Das vielschichtige Einwirken und Stärken von Reformkräften wird am Beispiel der Unterstützung der neuen politischen Dynamik in Afrika verdeutlicht. Hinsichtlich multilateraler Kooperation reichen die bewährten Dialog- und Konsultationssysteme nicht aus, die weltweit anstehenden Umwelt- und Entwicklungsprobleme zu bewältigen. Neue, netzwerkartige Governance-Formen, die die traditionellen Systeme und Verfahren flankieren und ergänzen sollen, werden zurzeit erprobt und liefern ermutigende Resultate.     

Face-Work: Making Hair Matter in Sixteenth-Century Central Europe

Bringing gender history, the history of the body and art history into a conversation with material culture studies, this article argues that the sudden fashionability of beards in Renaissance Europe has been intricately linked with a culture of material and visual experimentation. I propose shifting perspectives from a focus on the symbolism of beards towards examining how early modern ways of material engagement with the matter of hair crafted a visual attention to facial hair that made up the sociocultural significance of beards. Focusing on how people made hair matter, I suggest working with the concept of face-work. In particular, this article maps how the Reformation upheavals and the rise of new visual practices dynamised Renaissance protagonists’ creative engagement with facial hair as a means for staging the self.     

The politics of repressing environmentalists as agents of foreign influence

Theoretically, this article reveals the long-term risk for local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) of participating in transnational advocacy networks (TANs), accepting money from foreign sources and throwing ‘boomerangs’ internationally—a strategy used by local NGOs to seek international allies to pressure repressive and unresponsive states at home. Focusing primarily on the suppression of environmental NGOs that oppose natural-resource extraction, this article examines three cases—Russia, India and Australia—to illuminate the consequences of this trend for local civil society and TANs. It also documents a global trend towards states depicting local NGOs with international linkages as subversive agents of foreign interests, justifying legal crackdowns and the severing of foreign funding and ties. State framing of NGOs as agents of foreign interests is repressing local environmental activism, depoliticising civil society and weakening international NGO alliances—a conclusion with far-reaching consequences for the future of TANs, local NGOs and environmental activism.