Nixon's Coup: Establishing the NATO Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society, 1969–70

In early 1969 the new US President, Richard Nixon, suggested the expansion of allied political consultation, as well as the setting up of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) committee which would deal with environmental problems. The Americans stressed that their proposal did not involve merely the technical aspects of environmental protection, but also the need for modern governance to evolve in order to safeguard the ‘quality of life’, a prime aspect affecting the legitimisation of the political and social systems. The US proposal was not received enthusiastically by the allies, who had little desire for radical changes, and did not regard this as a proper subject for the alliance; some even feared that a NATO role in environmental questions might mask a US disengagement from European security, especially during an era of détente. However, after making sure that the new committee would be fully under the control of the Council (in accordance with NATO's inter-governmental character), the allies finally agreed to its creation. The NATO discussions on the Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society (CCMS) point to the emergence of a new, more complex international agenda, and raise interesting questions regarding transatlantic relations during an era of wider transitions.     

A civilized nation: Japan and the Red Cross 1877–1900

Abstract

The history of both the Red Cross and the Japanese Red Cross is based on a teleological and eurocentric narrative which is strongly shaped by national histories and focused on persons. To assume 1863 as the founding date of the Red Cross is highly debatable, considering that most national relief organisations were renamed ‘Red Cross Societies’ only in the 1880s. In this Japan is no exception, since first a Haku-Ai-Sha (Philanthropic Society) was founded in 1877 and then turned into the Japanese Red Cross Society in 1887. Japanese actors must be regarded as intrinsically motivated and active participants in the Red Cross movement who saw an ideal and a model in the Euro-American ‘way of civilisation’ and humanity. It has taken about 30 years to turn the Haku-Ai-Sha in Japan into a humanitarian society which is accepted both at home and abroad and, with its 728,507 members in 1900, which constituted the largest Red Cross Society in the world.     

Introduction: Roundtable on John Tallis’s London Street Views (1838–1840)

John Tallis’s London Street Views (1838–1840) offers a striking and a distinctive account of the early Victorian metropolis. This introduction outlines its significance and contextualizes the essays included in this roundtable.     

Politicians, Parishes and Police: The Failure of the 1812 Night Watch Bill

The public outcry heard in the wake of the Ratcliffe Highway murders of December 1811 was muted by May 1812 when the 1812 Night Watch Bill died in the house of commons. Responding to the moral panic following the murder of two East End families, the home office gathered considerable information and input from the professional police magistrates and local authorities before proposing the reform of parochial night watch in much of metropolitan London. Nevertheless the bill ran into concerted opposition on grounds of practicality as well as of ideology. A close study of its trajectory through parliament illuminates the role of parliament as a broker for conflicting demands emanating from differing concepts of the public good. The failure of the Night Watch Bill adds significantly to our understanding of the genesis of legislative initiatives, calling into question whether it is possible to distinguish accurately whether particular bills originated from back- or front-bench activity as well as to our knowledge of the relationship between parliamentary activity, ministerial objectives and public opinion.     

新中国历史科学的盛举--论中国史学会主编<中国近代史资料丛刊>的重大成就

20世纪 5 0年代 ,经过中国史学会精心组织 ,由一批第一流学者分别担任主编 ,1 0年之中编辑出版了《中国近代史资料丛刊》 1 0种 ,62册 ,共计 3 0 0 0余万字。它是在马克思主义观点指导下对近代史资料的一次大规模的科学整理 ,为近代史研究提供了最基本和最有价值的史料 ,成就巨大 ,影响深远 ,因而堪称是新中国历史科学的盛举。     

In Search of the Social: Steamboats, Square Wheels, Reindeer and Other Things

This paper examines the concept of the ‘social,’ particularly from an archaeological perspective, and explores how it relates to the ways in which we seek to understand the processes of technological innovation and change. It is demonstrated that the concept ‘social’ is far from well defined and that enquiry is bedevilled by artificial polarization between subject-centred approaches and object-centred particularism. Through the medium of early United States steamboat technology a different approach is forged through the melding of people and things with the idea of viewing artefacts as active social actors along with people. Ultimately, it is argued that maritime archaeologists should be more bullish in their approaches to material things—instead of adopting social theories ‘wholesale,’ we should insist that they include the things we study: boats, material objects, people, artefacts, landscapes and animals.     

Die Pansophie des Comenius und der Baconismus der Royal Society

The specific comprehension of the subject of the modern times in the 17th century articulates itself in the pretension to be the master of the world of nature and human beings. This pretension, however, was not longer legitimated in a theological or biblical argumentation, but with the philosophical hint on a special qualification of the human being: knowledge and science. In this view, the philosophical reflections of Francis Bacon of Verulam, which were culminating in the well-known judgement of the coincidence of knowledge and power, became the very important philosophy of science of the most prominent academy of sciences in the 17th century: The Royal Society of London. This “Baconism” distincted himself strictly from all questions belonging to religion, politics, social or moral problems. This distinction was the reason for its opposition to the “Pansophie” of Johann Amos Comenius, whose main intention was the general reformation of the whole world, including a reform of science, religion and politics. The insistence of Comenius for the social responsibility of science is still up-to-date.     

Why do business service firms cluster? Small consultancies, clustering and decentralization in London and southern England

Notwithstanding their remarkable recent growth, surprisingly little research has hitherto been conducted on the evolving geography of professional and business services in Britain. This paper analyses the results of a detailed survey of 300 small and medium-sized management and engineering consultancies, in investigating the forces underpinning both the striking clustering of such firms in central London and their growth in decentralized locations of East Anglia and South West England. Particular attention is paid to the notion of clustering, the role of demand-side influences, localized 'collective learning' processes, and increasing globalization in clustering, and to so-called 'enterprising behaviour theory' in explaining decentralization.