Joseph V. Femia
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198280637
- eISBN:
- 9780191599231
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198280637.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Given the almost universal assumption that democracy is a ‘good thing’, the goal of mankind, it is easy to forget that ‘rule by the people’ has been vehemently opposed by some of the most ...
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Given the almost universal assumption that democracy is a ‘good thing’, the goal of mankind, it is easy to forget that ‘rule by the people’ has been vehemently opposed by some of the most distinguished thinkers in the Western tradition. The book attempts to combat collective amnesia by systematically exploring the evaluating anti‐democratic thought since the French Revolution. Using categories first introduced by A. O. Hirschman in The Rhetoric of Reaction, it examines the various arguments under the headings of ‘perversity’, ‘futility’, and ‘jeopardy’. This classification scheme makes it possible to highlight the fatalism and pessimism of anti‐democratic thinkers, their conviction that democratic reform would be either pointless or destructive. They failed to understand the adaptability of democracy, its ability to coexist with traditional and elitist values. Nevertheless, it must be granted that some of their predictions and observations have been confirmed by history.Less
Given the almost universal assumption that democracy is a ‘good thing’, the goal of mankind, it is easy to forget that ‘rule by the people’ has been vehemently opposed by some of the most distinguished thinkers in the Western tradition. The book attempts to combat collective amnesia by systematically exploring the evaluating anti‐democratic thought since the French Revolution. Using categories first introduced by A. O. Hirschman in The Rhetoric of Reaction, it examines the various arguments under the headings of ‘perversity’, ‘futility’, and ‘jeopardy’. This classification scheme makes it possible to highlight the fatalism and pessimism of anti‐democratic thinkers, their conviction that democratic reform would be either pointless or destructive. They failed to understand the adaptability of democracy, its ability to coexist with traditional and elitist values. Nevertheless, it must be granted that some of their predictions and observations have been confirmed by history.
J. Rixey Ruffin
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195326512
- eISBN:
- 9780199870417
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326512.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
William Bentley was a Congregationalist pastor in Salem, Massachusetts, during the first few decades of independence. He was also a figure quite unlike anyone else in all of America. In talent, ...
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William Bentley was a Congregationalist pastor in Salem, Massachusetts, during the first few decades of independence. He was also a figure quite unlike anyone else in all of America. In talent, vision, and most importantly ideas, he was a unique and heretofore underappreciated member of the founding generation. To study his life is to study the intellectual world in which he moved and through which he cut a unique and illustrative path. In theological terms, he was both an Arminian and what this book calls a “Christian naturalist,” a combination that was both unique and volatile. For if his belief in the Arminian view of salvation put him at odds with his Calvinist contemporaries (including his senior colleague at the East Church), his unique denial of post‐biblical supernaturalism and his unique embrace of Socinianism (a denial of the divinity of Jesus more radical than what others would call “Unitarianism”) put him also at odds with other Arminians. But it was the only way that Bentley could keep both what he thought essential to Christianity and what he thought true about the natural world. In the realm of social ideology, he was both a classical liberal and a republican at the same time, but if he was able in the 1780s to be both, the 1790s would pull apart these dualities and see him move along the path to Jeffersonian Republicanism. But even here he was, among the New England clergy, alone, drawn to the party not by its support for disestablishment so much as by his unique approbation of Rousseau's state of nature theorizing. William Bentley's life, ministry, and thought allow a singular exploration of theology and philosophy as well as of ideology: of the social politics of race and class and gender, the ecclesiastical politics of establishment and dissent, and between minister and laity, the ideological politics of republicanism and classical liberalism, and the party politics of Federalism and Democratic‐Republicanism.Less
William Bentley was a Congregationalist pastor in Salem, Massachusetts, during the first few decades of independence. He was also a figure quite unlike anyone else in all of America. In talent, vision, and most importantly ideas, he was a unique and heretofore underappreciated member of the founding generation. To study his life is to study the intellectual world in which he moved and through which he cut a unique and illustrative path. In theological terms, he was both an Arminian and what this book calls a “Christian naturalist,” a combination that was both unique and volatile. For if his belief in the Arminian view of salvation put him at odds with his Calvinist contemporaries (including his senior colleague at the East Church), his unique denial of post‐biblical supernaturalism and his unique embrace of Socinianism (a denial of the divinity of Jesus more radical than what others would call “Unitarianism”) put him also at odds with other Arminians. But it was the only way that Bentley could keep both what he thought essential to Christianity and what he thought true about the natural world. In the realm of social ideology, he was both a classical liberal and a republican at the same time, but if he was able in the 1780s to be both, the 1790s would pull apart these dualities and see him move along the path to Jeffersonian Republicanism. But even here he was, among the New England clergy, alone, drawn to the party not by its support for disestablishment so much as by his unique approbation of Rousseau's state of nature theorizing. William Bentley's life, ministry, and thought allow a singular exploration of theology and philosophy as well as of ideology: of the social politics of race and class and gender, the ecclesiastical politics of establishment and dissent, and between minister and laity, the ideological politics of republicanism and classical liberalism, and the party politics of Federalism and Democratic‐Republicanism.
Nicholas von Maltzahn
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198128977
- eISBN:
- 9780191671753
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198128977.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Milton Studies
Censored and incomplete, Milton's History of Britain stands as a broken monument to the controversies of the 17th century, as well as to the political and religious ambitions of Milton himself. This ...
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Censored and incomplete, Milton's History of Britain stands as a broken monument to the controversies of the 17th century, as well as to the political and religious ambitions of Milton himself. This book is a comparative study of the History's composition and publication which allows new perspectives on Milton's republican allegiances from the 1640s to the 1670s, and beyond. Now the History can be seen as Milton's response to the crisis of the English Revolution in 1648–9. This examination of the History also permits a wider view of the publication and reception of Milton's work in the Restoration; in particular, the work's censorship makes it a central text in the study of Restoration publishing. This first full-length study makes Milton's History available to scholars as never before. Because early modern histories can only be understood with reference to the texts they recycle, the History has hitherto proved largely impenetrable. This study provides the contextual information with which we can make sense of the composition and publication of the History.Less
Censored and incomplete, Milton's History of Britain stands as a broken monument to the controversies of the 17th century, as well as to the political and religious ambitions of Milton himself. This book is a comparative study of the History's composition and publication which allows new perspectives on Milton's republican allegiances from the 1640s to the 1670s, and beyond. Now the History can be seen as Milton's response to the crisis of the English Revolution in 1648–9. This examination of the History also permits a wider view of the publication and reception of Milton's work in the Restoration; in particular, the work's censorship makes it a central text in the study of Restoration publishing. This first full-length study makes Milton's History available to scholars as never before. Because early modern histories can only be understood with reference to the texts they recycle, the History has hitherto proved largely impenetrable. This study provides the contextual information with which we can make sense of the composition and publication of the History.
Chris Baldick
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198122494
- eISBN:
- 9780191671432
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198122494.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
This book surveys the early history of one of our most important modern myths: the story of Frankenstein and the monster he created from dismembered corpses, as it appeared in fictional and other ...
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This book surveys the early history of one of our most important modern myths: the story of Frankenstein and the monster he created from dismembered corpses, as it appeared in fictional and other writings before its translation to the cinema screen. It examines the range of meanings that Mary Shelley's Frankenstein offers in the light of the political images of ‘monstrosity’ generated by the French Revolution. Later chapters trace the myth's analogues and protean transformations in subsequent writings, from the tales of Hoffmann and Hawthorne to the novels of Dickens, Melville, Conrad, and Lawrence, taking in the historical and political writings of Carlyle and Marx as well as the science fiction of Stevenson and Wells. The book shows that while the myth did come to be applied metaphorically to technological development, its most powerful associations have centred on relationships between people, in the family, in work, and in politics.Less
This book surveys the early history of one of our most important modern myths: the story of Frankenstein and the monster he created from dismembered corpses, as it appeared in fictional and other writings before its translation to the cinema screen. It examines the range of meanings that Mary Shelley's Frankenstein offers in the light of the political images of ‘monstrosity’ generated by the French Revolution. Later chapters trace the myth's analogues and protean transformations in subsequent writings, from the tales of Hoffmann and Hawthorne to the novels of Dickens, Melville, Conrad, and Lawrence, taking in the historical and political writings of Carlyle and Marx as well as the science fiction of Stevenson and Wells. The book shows that while the myth did come to be applied metaphorically to technological development, its most powerful associations have centred on relationships between people, in the family, in work, and in politics.
Jon Mee
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198183297
- eISBN:
- 9780191674013
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198183297.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism, 18th-century Literature
This book considers William Blake's prophetic books written during the 1790s in the light of the French Revolution controversy raging at the time. His works are shown to be less the expressions of ...
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This book considers William Blake's prophetic books written during the 1790s in the light of the French Revolution controversy raging at the time. His works are shown to be less the expressions of isolated genius than the products of a complex response to the cultural politics of his contemporaries. Blake's work presents a stern challenge to historical criticism. This study aims to meet the challenge by investigating contexts outside the domains of standard literary histories. It traces the distinctive rhetoric of the illuminated books to the French Revolution controversy of the 1790s and Blake's fusion of the diverse currents of radicalism abroad in that decade. The study is supported by original research. Blake emerges from these pages as a ‘bricoleur’ who fused the language of London's popular dissenting culture with the more sceptical radicalism of the Enlightenment. This book presents a more comprehensively politicized picture of Blake than any previous study.Less
This book considers William Blake's prophetic books written during the 1790s in the light of the French Revolution controversy raging at the time. His works are shown to be less the expressions of isolated genius than the products of a complex response to the cultural politics of his contemporaries. Blake's work presents a stern challenge to historical criticism. This study aims to meet the challenge by investigating contexts outside the domains of standard literary histories. It traces the distinctive rhetoric of the illuminated books to the French Revolution controversy of the 1790s and Blake's fusion of the diverse currents of radicalism abroad in that decade. The study is supported by original research. Blake emerges from these pages as a ‘bricoleur’ who fused the language of London's popular dissenting culture with the more sceptical radicalism of the Enlightenment. This book presents a more comprehensively politicized picture of Blake than any previous study.
David Armstrong
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198275282
- eISBN:
- 9780191598739
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198275285.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Revolutionary states have challenged international law in several ways. They tend to reject the underlying notion of international law that there is a society of states as well as the emphasis on ...
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Revolutionary states have challenged international law in several ways. They tend to reject the underlying notion of international law that there is a society of states as well as the emphasis on maintaining order. They also see themselves as serving a higher and more permanent law—whether they define it in terms of god, nature, or history—than any transient, man‐made substitute. The French, American, Soviet, Chinese, and Iranian responses to international law are considered in detail. International law seems to grow in significance whenever it is placed under greatest pressure, and it may give intellectual coherence as well as authority to the established powers’ response to revolutionary states.Less
Revolutionary states have challenged international law in several ways. They tend to reject the underlying notion of international law that there is a society of states as well as the emphasis on maintaining order. They also see themselves as serving a higher and more permanent law—whether they define it in terms of god, nature, or history—than any transient, man‐made substitute. The French, American, Soviet, Chinese, and Iranian responses to international law are considered in detail. International law seems to grow in significance whenever it is placed under greatest pressure, and it may give intellectual coherence as well as authority to the established powers’ response to revolutionary states.
Nicholas Harrison
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198159094
- eISBN:
- 9780191673481
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198159094.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
The French Revolution of 1789 bequeathed an enduring rhetoric of human rights which made it conventional to declare oneself against censorship and in favour of freedom of expression. But, as this ...
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The French Revolution of 1789 bequeathed an enduring rhetoric of human rights which made it conventional to declare oneself against censorship and in favour of freedom of expression. But, as this book demonstrates, the apparent consensus on this issue in modern France and elsewhere rests on a shaky sense of that rhetoric's history. And, while censors have continued to the present day to charge clumsily across delicate moral and political fields, opponents of literary censorship, in particular, have frequently displayed excessive respect for censored material, mistakenly assuming that the censor can be relied upon to identify material that is disturbing, subversive, or true. This book focuses on key episodes in the history of literary censorship in France. It examines the Madame Bovary trial of 1857, and the prosecution a century later of Pauvert, publisher of Sade's complete works. It analyses and criticizes the Freudian-influenced attempts by the Surrealist movement and by Barthes and the Tel Quel group to subvert and evade censorship. Drawing on a wide range of disciplines and approaches including history, literary theory and feminism, the book presents a critique of the ideas on censorship which resurfaced repeatedly in the discourse of human rights, psychoanalysis and literary culture.Less
The French Revolution of 1789 bequeathed an enduring rhetoric of human rights which made it conventional to declare oneself against censorship and in favour of freedom of expression. But, as this book demonstrates, the apparent consensus on this issue in modern France and elsewhere rests on a shaky sense of that rhetoric's history. And, while censors have continued to the present day to charge clumsily across delicate moral and political fields, opponents of literary censorship, in particular, have frequently displayed excessive respect for censored material, mistakenly assuming that the censor can be relied upon to identify material that is disturbing, subversive, or true. This book focuses on key episodes in the history of literary censorship in France. It examines the Madame Bovary trial of 1857, and the prosecution a century later of Pauvert, publisher of Sade's complete works. It analyses and criticizes the Freudian-influenced attempts by the Surrealist movement and by Barthes and the Tel Quel group to subvert and evade censorship. Drawing on a wide range of disciplines and approaches including history, literary theory and feminism, the book presents a critique of the ideas on censorship which resurfaced repeatedly in the discourse of human rights, psychoanalysis and literary culture.
Matthew Harris and Thomas Kidd (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195326499
- eISBN:
- 9780199918188
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326499.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Whether America was founded as a Christian nation or as a secular republic is one of the most fiercely debated questions in American history. This book offers an examination of the essential ...
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Whether America was founded as a Christian nation or as a secular republic is one of the most fiercely debated questions in American history. This book offers an examination of the essential documents needed to understand this debate. The texts included in this volume—writings and speeches from both well-known and obscure early American thinkers—show that religion played a prominent yet fractious role in the era of the American Revolution. In their personal beliefs, the Founders ranged from profound skeptics like Thomas Paine to traditional Christians like Patrick Henry. Nevertheless, most of the Founding Fathers rallied around certain crucial religious principles, including the idea that people were “created” equal, the belief that religious freedom required the disestablishment of state-backed denominations, the necessity of virtue in a republic, and the role of Providence in guiding the affairs of nations. This book shows that through the struggles of war and the framing of the Constitution, Americans sought to reconcile their dedication to religious vitality with their commitment to religious freedom.Less
Whether America was founded as a Christian nation or as a secular republic is one of the most fiercely debated questions in American history. This book offers an examination of the essential documents needed to understand this debate. The texts included in this volume—writings and speeches from both well-known and obscure early American thinkers—show that religion played a prominent yet fractious role in the era of the American Revolution. In their personal beliefs, the Founders ranged from profound skeptics like Thomas Paine to traditional Christians like Patrick Henry. Nevertheless, most of the Founding Fathers rallied around certain crucial religious principles, including the idea that people were “created” equal, the belief that religious freedom required the disestablishment of state-backed denominations, the necessity of virtue in a republic, and the role of Providence in guiding the affairs of nations. This book shows that through the struggles of war and the framing of the Constitution, Americans sought to reconcile their dedication to religious vitality with their commitment to religious freedom.
Kathleen G. Cushing
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198207245
- eISBN:
- 9780191677571
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198207245.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History, History of Religion
This book explores the role of canon law in the ecclesiastical reform movement of the eleventh century, commonly known as the Gregorian Refom movement. Focusing on the ...
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This book explores the role of canon law in the ecclesiastical reform movement of the eleventh century, commonly known as the Gregorian Refom movement. Focusing on the Collectio canonum of Bishop Anselm of Lucca — hitherto largely unexplored in English — it is concerned with the symbiotic relationship between canon law and reform, and seeks to explore the ways in which Anselm’s writing can be seen in the context of the reformer’s need to devise and articulate strategies for the renovation of the Church and Christian society. Its principal contention is that Anselm’s collection cannot be seen merely as a catalogue of canon law, but also functioned to articulate, define, and propagate reformist doctrine in a time of great social and religious upheaval.Less
This book explores the role of canon law in the ecclesiastical reform movement of the eleventh century, commonly known as the Gregorian Refom movement. Focusing on the Collectio canonum of Bishop Anselm of Lucca — hitherto largely unexplored in English — it is concerned with the symbiotic relationship between canon law and reform, and seeks to explore the ways in which Anselm’s writing can be seen in the context of the reformer’s need to devise and articulate strategies for the renovation of the Church and Christian society. Its principal contention is that Anselm’s collection cannot be seen merely as a catalogue of canon law, but also functioned to articulate, define, and propagate reformist doctrine in a time of great social and religious upheaval.
Achsah Guibbory
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199557165
- eISBN:
- 9780191595004
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199557165.003.0010
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
This Epilogue briefly summarizes the complex, contradictory attitudes toward Jews, Judaism, and the Hebrew Bible, which was a tool of both the powerful and the powerless and whose narratives proved ...
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This Epilogue briefly summarizes the complex, contradictory attitudes toward Jews, Judaism, and the Hebrew Bible, which was a tool of both the powerful and the powerless and whose narratives proved foundational to English Protestant Christianity. ‘Israel’ could mean many different things, and the claim to be the true Israel, God's chosen, was contested. The preoccupation with the connection between England (and later America) and Israel—and with redefining who or what is ‘Israel’—continued long after the seventeenth century. It can be seen in Handel's music, the later phenomenon of British Israelism, the settlement of New England, the American Revolution, and even Emma Lazarus's poem on the Statue of Liberty.Less
This Epilogue briefly summarizes the complex, contradictory attitudes toward Jews, Judaism, and the Hebrew Bible, which was a tool of both the powerful and the powerless and whose narratives proved foundational to English Protestant Christianity. ‘Israel’ could mean many different things, and the claim to be the true Israel, God's chosen, was contested. The preoccupation with the connection between England (and later America) and Israel—and with redefining who or what is ‘Israel’—continued long after the seventeenth century. It can be seen in Handel's music, the later phenomenon of British Israelism, the settlement of New England, the American Revolution, and even Emma Lazarus's poem on the Statue of Liberty.
Robert C. Allen
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198282969
- eISBN:
- 9780191684425
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198282969.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This book traces the shift from medieval to modern institutions in English agriculture. It explores their importance for productivity growth, income distribution, and the contribution of agriculture ...
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This book traces the shift from medieval to modern institutions in English agriculture. It explores their importance for productivity growth, income distribution, and the contribution of agriculture to British economic development. The author study shows that, contrary to the assumption of many historians, small-scale farmers in the open-field system were responsible for a considerable proportion of the productivity growth achieved between the middle ages and the nineteenth century. The process of enclosure and the replacement of these yeomen by large-scale tenant farming relying on wage labour had relatively little impact on the agricultural contribution to economic development during the Industrial Revolution. Enclosures and large farms enriched landowners without benefiting consumers, workers, or farmers.Less
This book traces the shift from medieval to modern institutions in English agriculture. It explores their importance for productivity growth, income distribution, and the contribution of agriculture to British economic development. The author study shows that, contrary to the assumption of many historians, small-scale farmers in the open-field system were responsible for a considerable proportion of the productivity growth achieved between the middle ages and the nineteenth century. The process of enclosure and the replacement of these yeomen by large-scale tenant farming relying on wage labour had relatively little impact on the agricultural contribution to economic development during the Industrial Revolution. Enclosures and large farms enriched landowners without benefiting consumers, workers, or farmers.
Vladimir Mau and Irina Starodubrovskaya
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199241507
- eISBN:
- 9780191599835
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199241503.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter analyses the English Civil War, the French Revolution, and the Bolshevik Revolution to throw light on the theoretical factors relating to their social and political dynamics in effecting ...
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This chapter analyses the English Civil War, the French Revolution, and the Bolshevik Revolution to throw light on the theoretical factors relating to their social and political dynamics in effecting a transfer of power. This covers not just the weakness of the ancien régime in resisting the forces of revolution, but also that of the revolutionary forces in determining the optimal machinery of government for the post‐revolutionary state. This latter weakness can produce undesirable institutional legacies requiring decades to be dismantled.Less
This chapter analyses the English Civil War, the French Revolution, and the Bolshevik Revolution to throw light on the theoretical factors relating to their social and political dynamics in effecting a transfer of power. This covers not just the weakness of the ancien régime in resisting the forces of revolution, but also that of the revolutionary forces in determining the optimal machinery of government for the post‐revolutionary state. This latter weakness can produce undesirable institutional legacies requiring decades to be dismantled.
Paolo Mauro, Nathan Sussman, and Yishay Yafeh
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199272693
- eISBN:
- 9780191603488
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199272697.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics
This chapter conducts a case study of spreads on sovereign bonds issued by Japan and Russia, two countries that introduced the gold standard in 1897. It is shown that Japanese spreads were relatively ...
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This chapter conducts a case study of spreads on sovereign bonds issued by Japan and Russia, two countries that introduced the gold standard in 1897. It is shown that Japanese spreads were relatively unaffected by the establishment of some of Japan’s most important institutions, including the promulgation of the Meiji Constitution in 1889, which explicitly guaranteed the protection of property rights and the rule of law. The only institutional reform that led to an immediate improvement in Japan’s ‘credit rating’ was the adoption of the gold standard. Japan’s war with Russia (1904-1905) and its successful outcome had a far more visible impact on spreads than most institutional reforms. The chapter also conducts a case study of the British-Dutch interest differential around the Glorious Revolution. It shows that developments regarding war and peace had a far greater impact on borrowing costs than institutional reforms.Less
This chapter conducts a case study of spreads on sovereign bonds issued by Japan and Russia, two countries that introduced the gold standard in 1897. It is shown that Japanese spreads were relatively unaffected by the establishment of some of Japan’s most important institutions, including the promulgation of the Meiji Constitution in 1889, which explicitly guaranteed the protection of property rights and the rule of law. The only institutional reform that led to an immediate improvement in Japan’s ‘credit rating’ was the adoption of the gold standard. Japan’s war with Russia (1904-1905) and its successful outcome had a far more visible impact on spreads than most institutional reforms. The chapter also conducts a case study of the British-Dutch interest differential around the Glorious Revolution. It shows that developments regarding war and peace had a far greater impact on borrowing costs than institutional reforms.
L. G. Mitchell
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198201045
- eISBN:
- 9780191674815
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201045.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Political History
Charles James Fox was one of the most colourful figures in 18th-century politics. Notorious for the excesses of his private life, he was at the same time one of the leading politicians of his ...
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Charles James Fox was one of the most colourful figures in 18th-century politics. Notorious for the excesses of his private life, he was at the same time one of the leading politicians of his generation, dominating the Whig party and polite society. As the political rival of Pitt the Younger and the intellectual rival of Edmund Burke, his views on the major issues of the day — the American War of Independence, the French Revolution, parliamentary reform — formed the character of Whiggery in his own time and for years to come. Fox's historical reputation has been hotly disputed. Some have hailed him as one of the founding fathers of Radicalism, others have dismissed him as an irritating and irresponsible impediment to the statesmanship of Pitt. This book shows that in many ways Fox was a politician through circumstance, not inclination. The book analyses the ties of kinship and friendship which to an astonishing degree dictated Fox's politics, and offers striking new assessments of Whiggery and its most potent personality.Less
Charles James Fox was one of the most colourful figures in 18th-century politics. Notorious for the excesses of his private life, he was at the same time one of the leading politicians of his generation, dominating the Whig party and polite society. As the political rival of Pitt the Younger and the intellectual rival of Edmund Burke, his views on the major issues of the day — the American War of Independence, the French Revolution, parliamentary reform — formed the character of Whiggery in his own time and for years to come. Fox's historical reputation has been hotly disputed. Some have hailed him as one of the founding fathers of Radicalism, others have dismissed him as an irritating and irresponsible impediment to the statesmanship of Pitt. This book shows that in many ways Fox was a politician through circumstance, not inclination. The book analyses the ties of kinship and friendship which to an astonishing degree dictated Fox's politics, and offers striking new assessments of Whiggery and its most potent personality.
Mark Mc Neilly
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195189780
- eISBN:
- 9780199851584
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195189780.003.0011
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter discusses the general and business leadership principles that can be learned by understanding the life and career of General, and then later President, George Washington. It describes ...
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This chapter discusses the general and business leadership principles that can be learned by understanding the life and career of General, and then later President, George Washington. It describes the importance of Washington’s development of self-discipline, strong character, courage, a desire to learn, and a bent for innovative ideas. It also highlights Washington’s development of organizational abilities and his persistence to continue the fight despite numerous setbacks and mistakes during the American Revolution.Less
This chapter discusses the general and business leadership principles that can be learned by understanding the life and career of General, and then later President, George Washington. It describes the importance of Washington’s development of self-discipline, strong character, courage, a desire to learn, and a bent for innovative ideas. It also highlights Washington’s development of organizational abilities and his persistence to continue the fight despite numerous setbacks and mistakes during the American Revolution.
Richard English
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208075
- eISBN:
- 9780191677908
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208075.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
Ernie O'Malley (1897–1957) was one of the most talented and colourful of modern Irish republicans. An important IRA leader in the 1916–1923 Irish Revolution, this ...
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Ernie O'Malley (1897–1957) was one of the most talented and colourful of modern Irish republicans. An important IRA leader in the 1916–1923 Irish Revolution, this bookish gunman subsequently became a distinguished intellectual, and the author of two classic autobiographical accounts of the revolutionary period: On Another Man's Wound and The Singing Flame. His post-revolutionary life took on a bohemian flavour. Travelling extensively in Europe and America, he mixed with a wide range of artistic and literary figures, and devoted himself to a variety of writing projects. In his IRA career he mixed with revolutionaries such as Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera; in his post-IRA years his friends included Samuel Beckett, Louis MacNeice, John Wayne, and John Ford. This thematic biography draws on previously unseen archival sources, and introduces O'Malley to both scholarly and general readers. O'Malley's post-revolutionary life was as turbulent as his IRA years, and illuminates many persistent themes of Irish history, ranging from the origins and culture of militant republicanism and the complexities of Anglo–Irish relations to the development of intellectual and artistic life in twentieth-century Ireland.Less
Ernie O'Malley (1897–1957) was one of the most talented and colourful of modern Irish republicans. An important IRA leader in the 1916–1923 Irish Revolution, this bookish gunman subsequently became a distinguished intellectual, and the author of two classic autobiographical accounts of the revolutionary period: On Another Man's Wound and The Singing Flame. His post-revolutionary life took on a bohemian flavour. Travelling extensively in Europe and America, he mixed with a wide range of artistic and literary figures, and devoted himself to a variety of writing projects. In his IRA career he mixed with revolutionaries such as Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera; in his post-IRA years his friends included Samuel Beckett, Louis MacNeice, John Wayne, and John Ford. This thematic biography draws on previously unseen archival sources, and introduces O'Malley to both scholarly and general readers. O'Malley's post-revolutionary life was as turbulent as his IRA years, and illuminates many persistent themes of Irish history, ranging from the origins and culture of militant republicanism and the complexities of Anglo–Irish relations to the development of intellectual and artistic life in twentieth-century Ireland.
Peter Temin
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691147680
- eISBN:
- 9781400845422
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691147680.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
The quality of life for ordinary Roman citizens at the height of the Roman Empire probably was better than that of any other large group of people living before the Industrial Revolution. This book ...
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The quality of life for ordinary Roman citizens at the height of the Roman Empire probably was better than that of any other large group of people living before the Industrial Revolution. This book uses the tools of modern economics to show how trade, markets, and the Pax Romana were critical to ancient Rome's prosperity. The book argues that markets dominated the Roman economy. It traces how the Pax Romana encouraged trade around the Mediterranean, and how Roman law promoted commerce and banking. It further shows that a reasonably vibrant market for wheat extended throughout the empire, and suggests that the Antonine Plague may have been responsible for turning the stable prices of the early empire into the persistent inflation of the late. The book vividly describes how various markets operated in Roman times, from commodities and slaves to the buying and selling of land. Applying modern methods for evaluating economic growth to data culled from historical sources, the book argues that Roman Italy in the second century was as prosperous as the Dutch Republic in its golden age of the seventeenth century. The book reveals how economics can help us understand how the Roman Empire could have ruled seventy million people and endured for centuries.Less
The quality of life for ordinary Roman citizens at the height of the Roman Empire probably was better than that of any other large group of people living before the Industrial Revolution. This book uses the tools of modern economics to show how trade, markets, and the Pax Romana were critical to ancient Rome's prosperity. The book argues that markets dominated the Roman economy. It traces how the Pax Romana encouraged trade around the Mediterranean, and how Roman law promoted commerce and banking. It further shows that a reasonably vibrant market for wheat extended throughout the empire, and suggests that the Antonine Plague may have been responsible for turning the stable prices of the early empire into the persistent inflation of the late. The book vividly describes how various markets operated in Roman times, from commodities and slaves to the buying and selling of land. Applying modern methods for evaluating economic growth to data culled from historical sources, the book argues that Roman Italy in the second century was as prosperous as the Dutch Republic in its golden age of the seventeenth century. The book reveals how economics can help us understand how the Roman Empire could have ruled seventy million people and endured for centuries.
R. R. Davies
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208785
- eISBN:
- 9780191678141
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208785.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
In the two and a half centuries before the Black Death of 1349, Wales underwent economic, social, and ecclesiastical changes arguably more profound and far-reaching than any it experienced prior to ...
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In the two and a half centuries before the Black Death of 1349, Wales underwent economic, social, and ecclesiastical changes arguably more profound and far-reaching than any it experienced prior to the Industrial Revolution and the rise of Methodism. The extent and character of those changes have tended to be underestimated for several reasons. One such reason is that the clatter of battle and conquest has so engaged the attention of the historian, as indeed it did that of contemporary annalists and chroniclers, that it diverts attention from the much less obtrusive and slow-moving changes within society. All medieval societies were localized; few more so than medieval Wales. Such hints of change as survive are, therefore, of their nature fragmentary and localized. No Domesday Book or foreign trade statistics survive, as in England.Less
In the two and a half centuries before the Black Death of 1349, Wales underwent economic, social, and ecclesiastical changes arguably more profound and far-reaching than any it experienced prior to the Industrial Revolution and the rise of Methodism. The extent and character of those changes have tended to be underestimated for several reasons. One such reason is that the clatter of battle and conquest has so engaged the attention of the historian, as indeed it did that of contemporary annalists and chroniclers, that it diverts attention from the much less obtrusive and slow-moving changes within society. All medieval societies were localized; few more so than medieval Wales. Such hints of change as survive are, therefore, of their nature fragmentary and localized. No Domesday Book or foreign trade statistics survive, as in England.
Arie Morgenstern
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195305784
- eISBN:
- 9780199784820
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195305787.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Profound changes in late 18th- and early 19th-century European and Jewish history persuaded many traditional Jews around the world that the redemption was at hand and that they were living in the ...
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Profound changes in late 18th- and early 19th-century European and Jewish history persuaded many traditional Jews around the world that the redemption was at hand and that they were living in the times of the “Footsteps of the Messiah”. Among the changes in response to that sense was a growth in messianic activism, especially on the part of the Perushim; the activism was grounded in the belief that it was proper for Jews to take steps, both spiritual and practical, to hasten the End-time. Those steps included an effort to locate the lost Ten Tribes of Israel, whose discovery would be seen as a further harbinger of the Messiah’s imminent appearance.Less
Profound changes in late 18th- and early 19th-century European and Jewish history persuaded many traditional Jews around the world that the redemption was at hand and that they were living in the times of the “Footsteps of the Messiah”. Among the changes in response to that sense was a growth in messianic activism, especially on the part of the Perushim; the activism was grounded in the belief that it was proper for Jews to take steps, both spiritual and practical, to hasten the End-time. Those steps included an effort to locate the lost Ten Tribes of Israel, whose discovery would be seen as a further harbinger of the Messiah’s imminent appearance.
Stephen Gaukroger
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199296446
- eISBN:
- 9780191711985
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296446.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
The West's sense of itself, its relation to its past, and its sense of its future have been profoundly altered since the 17th century as cognitive values generally have gradually come to be shaped ...
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The West's sense of itself, its relation to its past, and its sense of its future have been profoundly altered since the 17th century as cognitive values generally have gradually come to be shaped around scientific ones. The issue is not just that science brought a new set of such values to the task of understanding the world and our place in it, but rather that it completely transformed the task, redefining the goals of enquiry. This is a distinctive feature of the development of a scientific culture in the West and it marks it out from other scientifically productive cultures. This book examines the first stage of this development, from the 13th-century introduction of Aristotelianism and its establishment of natural philosophy as the point of entry into systematic understanding of the world and our place in it, to the attempts to establish natural philosophy as a world-view in the wake of the Scientific Revolution. It offers a conceptual and cultural history of the emergence of a scientific culture in the West from the early-modern era to the present. Science in the modern period is treated as a particular kind of cognitive practice and as a particular kind of cultural product, with aim to show that if we explore the connections between these two, we can learn something about the concerns and values of modern thought that we could not learn from either of them taken separately.Less
The West's sense of itself, its relation to its past, and its sense of its future have been profoundly altered since the 17th century as cognitive values generally have gradually come to be shaped around scientific ones. The issue is not just that science brought a new set of such values to the task of understanding the world and our place in it, but rather that it completely transformed the task, redefining the goals of enquiry. This is a distinctive feature of the development of a scientific culture in the West and it marks it out from other scientifically productive cultures. This book examines the first stage of this development, from the 13th-century introduction of Aristotelianism and its establishment of natural philosophy as the point of entry into systematic understanding of the world and our place in it, to the attempts to establish natural philosophy as a world-view in the wake of the Scientific Revolution. It offers a conceptual and cultural history of the emergence of a scientific culture in the West from the early-modern era to the present. Science in the modern period is treated as a particular kind of cognitive practice and as a particular kind of cultural product, with aim to show that if we explore the connections between these two, we can learn something about the concerns and values of modern thought that we could not learn from either of them taken separately.
