Elizabeth Ann Danto
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195333060
- eISBN:
- 9780199864119
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195333060.001.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Research and Evaluation
What, exactly, was the Charity Organization Society? Was it a cluster of affluent women imposing their moral propriety on the poor in the early 20th century? Or was it the first concerted effort to ...
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What, exactly, was the Charity Organization Society? Was it a cluster of affluent women imposing their moral propriety on the poor in the early 20th century? Or was it the first concerted effort to professionalize previously random, subjective allocations of benefits and entitlements? This book is a guide to the systematic exploration of such questions and debates in social work and social welfare history. Mastering how to pose historical questions is as essential as finding the answers. This book offers practical research tools: how to design a study, select primary sources, understand the vocabulary of archives, determine useful secondary sources, and analyze them all. The book also features a directory of archives and special collections that details their holdings, access and locations, and research grants.Less
What, exactly, was the Charity Organization Society? Was it a cluster of affluent women imposing their moral propriety on the poor in the early 20th century? Or was it the first concerted effort to professionalize previously random, subjective allocations of benefits and entitlements? This book is a guide to the systematic exploration of such questions and debates in social work and social welfare history. Mastering how to pose historical questions is as essential as finding the answers. This book offers practical research tools: how to design a study, select primary sources, understand the vocabulary of archives, determine useful secondary sources, and analyze them all. The book also features a directory of archives and special collections that details their holdings, access and locations, and research grants.
A H Halsey and W G Runciman (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263426
- eISBN:
- 9780191734298
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263426.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Research and Statistics
These eleven chapters look at sociology in Britain from a number of intriguing perspectives. How important is it for British sociologists to be aware of the historical development of their subject in ...
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These eleven chapters look at sociology in Britain from a number of intriguing perspectives. How important is it for British sociologists to be aware of the historical development of their subject in this country? How is British sociology seen by British scholars working in related fields, such as social history, social anthropology and demography? And how are British sociologists perceived by their colleagues working abroad, in particular in continental Europe? A concluding chapter by the President of the British Sociological Association identifies the recurring themes in these reflections.Less
These eleven chapters look at sociology in Britain from a number of intriguing perspectives. How important is it for British sociologists to be aware of the historical development of their subject in this country? How is British sociology seen by British scholars working in related fields, such as social history, social anthropology and demography? And how are British sociologists perceived by their colleagues working abroad, in particular in continental Europe? A concluding chapter by the President of the British Sociological Association identifies the recurring themes in these reflections.
G. Geltner
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199639458
- eISBN:
- 9780191741098
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199639458.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
The mendicant orders—Augustinians, Carmelites, Dominicans, Franciscans, and several other groups—spread across Europe apace from the early thirteenth century, profoundly influencing numerous aspects ...
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The mendicant orders—Augustinians, Carmelites, Dominicans, Franciscans, and several other groups—spread across Europe apace from the early thirteenth century, profoundly influencing numerous aspects of medieval life. But, alongside their tremendous success, their members (or friars) also encountered derision, scorn, and even violence. Such opposition, generally known as antifraternalism, is often seen as an ecclesiastical inhouse affair or an ideological response to the brethren’s laxity: both cases registering a moral decline symptomatic of a decadent church. Challenging the accuracy of these views, The Making of Medieval Antifraternalism contends that the phenomenon exhibits a breadth of scope that, on the one hand, pushes it far beyond its accustomed boundaries and, on the other, supports only tenuous links with Reformation or modern forms of anticlericalism. Based on numerous sources, from theological treatises, to poetry, to criminal court records, this study shows that people from all walks of life lambasted and occasionally assaulted the brethren, orchestrating in the process detailed scenes of urban violence. Their myriad motivations and diverse goals preclude us from associating antifraternalism with any one ideology or agenda, let alone allow us to brand many of its proponents as religious reformers. At the same time, it demonstrates the friars’ active role in forging a medieval antifraternal tradition, not only by deviating from their founders’ paths to varying degrees, but also by chronicling their suffering inter fideles and thus incorporating it into the orders’ identity as the vanguard of Christianity. In doing so, The Making of Medieval Antifraternalism illuminates a major chapter in Europe’s social, urban, and religious history.Less
The mendicant orders—Augustinians, Carmelites, Dominicans, Franciscans, and several other groups—spread across Europe apace from the early thirteenth century, profoundly influencing numerous aspects of medieval life. But, alongside their tremendous success, their members (or friars) also encountered derision, scorn, and even violence. Such opposition, generally known as antifraternalism, is often seen as an ecclesiastical inhouse affair or an ideological response to the brethren’s laxity: both cases registering a moral decline symptomatic of a decadent church. Challenging the accuracy of these views, The Making of Medieval Antifraternalism contends that the phenomenon exhibits a breadth of scope that, on the one hand, pushes it far beyond its accustomed boundaries and, on the other, supports only tenuous links with Reformation or modern forms of anticlericalism. Based on numerous sources, from theological treatises, to poetry, to criminal court records, this study shows that people from all walks of life lambasted and occasionally assaulted the brethren, orchestrating in the process detailed scenes of urban violence. Their myriad motivations and diverse goals preclude us from associating antifraternalism with any one ideology or agenda, let alone allow us to brand many of its proponents as religious reformers. At the same time, it demonstrates the friars’ active role in forging a medieval antifraternal tradition, not only by deviating from their founders’ paths to varying degrees, but also by chronicling their suffering inter fideles and thus incorporating it into the orders’ identity as the vanguard of Christianity. In doing so, The Making of Medieval Antifraternalism illuminates a major chapter in Europe’s social, urban, and religious history.
Denis Mareschal, Paul C. Quinn, and Stephen E.G. Lea (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199549221
- eISBN:
- 9780191724152
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549221.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Developmental Psychology
Human adults appear different from other animals in their ability to form abstract mental representations that go beyond perceptual similarity. In short, they can conceptualize the world. When and ...
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Human adults appear different from other animals in their ability to form abstract mental representations that go beyond perceptual similarity. In short, they can conceptualize the world. When and how does this abstract system come into being? To answer this question we need to explore the origins of adult concepts. When does the developing child acquire the ability to use abstract concepts? Does the transition occur around 2 years, with the onset of symbolic representation and language, or is it independent of the emergence of language? When in evolutionary history did an abstract representational system emerge? How would a computational system operating on the basis of perceptual associations develop into a system operating on the basis of abstract relations? Is this ability present in other species, but masked by their inability to verbalise abstractions? This book tackles the age-old puzzle of what might be unique about human concepts. Intuitively, we have a sense that our thoughts are somehow different from those of animals and young children such as infants. If true, this raises the question of where and how this uniqueness arises. What are the factors that have played out during the life course of the individual and over the evolution of humans that have contributed to the emergence of this apparently unique ability? This volume brings together a collection of world specialists who have grappled with these questions from different perspectives to try to resolve the issue. It includes contributions from leading psychologists, neuroscientists, child and infant specialists, and animal cognition specialists. Taken together, this story leads to the idea that there is no unique ingredient in the emergence of human concepts, but rather a powerful and potentially unique mix of biological abilities and personal and social history that has led to where the human mind now stands.Less
Human adults appear different from other animals in their ability to form abstract mental representations that go beyond perceptual similarity. In short, they can conceptualize the world. When and how does this abstract system come into being? To answer this question we need to explore the origins of adult concepts. When does the developing child acquire the ability to use abstract concepts? Does the transition occur around 2 years, with the onset of symbolic representation and language, or is it independent of the emergence of language? When in evolutionary history did an abstract representational system emerge? How would a computational system operating on the basis of perceptual associations develop into a system operating on the basis of abstract relations? Is this ability present in other species, but masked by their inability to verbalise abstractions? This book tackles the age-old puzzle of what might be unique about human concepts. Intuitively, we have a sense that our thoughts are somehow different from those of animals and young children such as infants. If true, this raises the question of where and how this uniqueness arises. What are the factors that have played out during the life course of the individual and over the evolution of humans that have contributed to the emergence of this apparently unique ability? This volume brings together a collection of world specialists who have grappled with these questions from different perspectives to try to resolve the issue. It includes contributions from leading psychologists, neuroscientists, child and infant specialists, and animal cognition specialists. Taken together, this story leads to the idea that there is no unique ingredient in the emergence of human concepts, but rather a powerful and potentially unique mix of biological abilities and personal and social history that has led to where the human mind now stands.
Roderick Floud and Pat Thane (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263426
- eISBN:
- 9780191734298
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263426.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Research and Statistics
The 1960s was a period of ferment, intellectual excitement, optimism and expansion in all the social sciences, including sociology. It is, therefore, an appropriate starting point for a discussion of ...
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The 1960s was a period of ferment, intellectual excitement, optimism and expansion in all the social sciences, including sociology. It is, therefore, an appropriate starting point for a discussion of the relationship between history and sociology in Britain. The ferment affected different branches of history in different ways: political and diplomatic history hardly at all; social and economic history much more. The impact of the social sciences on economic history came primarily from neo-classical economic theory allied to econometrics. Historians looked to the social sciences in the 1960s and 1970s for concepts, theories, and methods which would assist them to reinvigorate the writing of history. There can be little doubt that economic history was much more influenced between 1960 and 1990 by economics than was social history by sociology. However, history since the 1960s has drawn more on the insights and methods of the social sciences than the social sciences in Britain, including sociology, have drawn on history; this is to the detriment of scholarship in the social sciences.Less
The 1960s was a period of ferment, intellectual excitement, optimism and expansion in all the social sciences, including sociology. It is, therefore, an appropriate starting point for a discussion of the relationship between history and sociology in Britain. The ferment affected different branches of history in different ways: political and diplomatic history hardly at all; social and economic history much more. The impact of the social sciences on economic history came primarily from neo-classical economic theory allied to econometrics. Historians looked to the social sciences in the 1960s and 1970s for concepts, theories, and methods which would assist them to reinvigorate the writing of history. There can be little doubt that economic history was much more influenced between 1960 and 1990 by economics than was social history by sociology. However, history since the 1960s has drawn more on the insights and methods of the social sciences than the social sciences in Britain, including sociology, have drawn on history; this is to the detriment of scholarship in the social sciences.
Jeffrey C. Alexander
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195160840
- eISBN:
- 9780199944156
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195160840.003.0023
- Subject:
- Sociology, Culture
This chapter examines modernization theories of society and proposes that contemporary social theory must be much more sensitive to the apparent reconvergence of the world's regimes. It analyzes ...
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This chapter examines modernization theories of society and proposes that contemporary social theory must be much more sensitive to the apparent reconvergence of the world's regimes. It analyzes early modernization theory, its contemporary reconstruction, and the vigorous intellectual alternatives that arose. It contends that these theoretical developments are related to social and cultural history. It argues that the different formulations of modernity, socialism, and capitalism describe not only competing theoretical positions but deep shifts in historical sensibility.Less
This chapter examines modernization theories of society and proposes that contemporary social theory must be much more sensitive to the apparent reconvergence of the world's regimes. It analyzes early modernization theory, its contemporary reconstruction, and the vigorous intellectual alternatives that arose. It contends that these theoretical developments are related to social and cultural history. It argues that the different formulations of modernity, socialism, and capitalism describe not only competing theoretical positions but deep shifts in historical sensibility.
ALBERTZ RAINER
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264010
- eISBN:
- 9780191734946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264010.003.0017
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The historical approach to the Bible with explicit reference to the social sciences (including sociology, cultural anthropology, archaeology, economics, social psychology, and political science) ...
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The historical approach to the Bible with explicit reference to the social sciences (including sociology, cultural anthropology, archaeology, economics, social psychology, and political science) became popular among biblical scholars and archaeologists during the 1970s, often induced by social turmoil in several countries. Any endeavour to reconstruct a societal development according to a sociological or anthropological model without using as much historical data as possible, be it from textual, iconographic, or archaeological sources, is very risky. Sociological models will never reach the degree of unambiguity that is a distinguishing feature of scientific models. Therefore, a model that is not permanently tested against data can be misleading. This chapter discusses the social history of ancient Israel, arguing for a careful balance between sociological theory and anthropological knowledge on the one hand, and exegetical and historical investigation on the other. It also examines social-historical perspectives on the early monarchy in Israel and Judah up to the ninth century, along with social-historical perspectives on problems associated with religion and politics during the period.Less
The historical approach to the Bible with explicit reference to the social sciences (including sociology, cultural anthropology, archaeology, economics, social psychology, and political science) became popular among biblical scholars and archaeologists during the 1970s, often induced by social turmoil in several countries. Any endeavour to reconstruct a societal development according to a sociological or anthropological model without using as much historical data as possible, be it from textual, iconographic, or archaeological sources, is very risky. Sociological models will never reach the degree of unambiguity that is a distinguishing feature of scientific models. Therefore, a model that is not permanently tested against data can be misleading. This chapter discusses the social history of ancient Israel, arguing for a careful balance between sociological theory and anthropological knowledge on the one hand, and exegetical and historical investigation on the other. It also examines social-historical perspectives on the early monarchy in Israel and Judah up to the ninth century, along with social-historical perspectives on problems associated with religion and politics during the period.
Karma Nabulsi
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294078
- eISBN:
- 9780191599972
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294077.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This is the second of three chapters that set out the differing contexts through which the dilemma in the laws of war over the distinction between lawful and unlawful combatants can be viewed: ...
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This is the second of three chapters that set out the differing contexts through which the dilemma in the laws of war over the distinction between lawful and unlawful combatants can be viewed: political and diplomatic (Chapter 1), social (this chapter) and intellectual (Chapter 3). It explores the social history of army occupation and resistance to it in nineteenth century Europe – from the Napoleonic period to the Franco-Prussian war– and places these diplomatic failures in their broader social and political context. In particular it examines the range of army practices under occupation, and the effect that they had on civilian life. The different sections of the chapter discuss: pillaging, looting, requisitions and billeting; reprisals; hostage-taking; types of civilian behaviour –obedience to the occupier, political and armed acts of resistance, organized acts of resistance –guerrillas and franc-tireurs; levee en masse and other assorted insurrections; ideologies of resistance; religion as a source of resistance; and the influence of nationalism and patriotism.Less
This is the second of three chapters that set out the differing contexts through which the dilemma in the laws of war over the distinction between lawful and unlawful combatants can be viewed: political and diplomatic (Chapter 1), social (this chapter) and intellectual (Chapter 3). It explores the social history of army occupation and resistance to it in nineteenth century Europe – from the Napoleonic period to the Franco-Prussian war– and places these diplomatic failures in their broader social and political context. In particular it examines the range of army practices under occupation, and the effect that they had on civilian life. The different sections of the chapter discuss: pillaging, looting, requisitions and billeting; reprisals; hostage-taking; types of civilian behaviour –obedience to the occupier, political and armed acts of resistance, organized acts of resistance –guerrillas and franc-tireurs; levee en masse and other assorted insurrections; ideologies of resistance; religion as a source of resistance; and the influence of nationalism and patriotism.
Karma Nabulsi
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294078
- eISBN:
- 9780191599972
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294077.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This book examines wars and military occupation, and the ideas underlying them. The search for these ideas is conducted in the domain of the laws of war, a body of rules that sought to regulate the ...
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This book examines wars and military occupation, and the ideas underlying them. The search for these ideas is conducted in the domain of the laws of war, a body of rules that sought to regulate the practices of war and those permitted to fight in it. This work introduces three ideologies: the martial, Grotian, and republican. These traditions were rooted in incommensurable conceptions of the good life, and the overall argument is that their differences lay at the heart of the failure fully to resolve the distinction between lawful and unlawful combatants at successive diplomatic conferences of Brussels in 1874, the Hague in 1899 and 1907, and Geneva in 1949. Based on a wide range of sources and a plurality of intellectual disciplines, the book places these diplomatic failures in their broader social and political contexts. By bringing out ideological continuities and drawing on the social history of army occupation in Europe and resistance to it, the book both challenges and illuminates the understanding of modern war.Less
This book examines wars and military occupation, and the ideas underlying them. The search for these ideas is conducted in the domain of the laws of war, a body of rules that sought to regulate the practices of war and those permitted to fight in it. This work introduces three ideologies: the martial, Grotian, and republican. These traditions were rooted in incommensurable conceptions of the good life, and the overall argument is that their differences lay at the heart of the failure fully to resolve the distinction between lawful and unlawful combatants at successive diplomatic conferences of Brussels in 1874, the Hague in 1899 and 1907, and Geneva in 1949. Based on a wide range of sources and a plurality of intellectual disciplines, the book places these diplomatic failures in their broader social and political contexts. By bringing out ideological continuities and drawing on the social history of army occupation in Europe and resistance to it, the book both challenges and illuminates the understanding of modern war.
Scott Smith-Bannister
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198206637
- eISBN:
- 9780191677250
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206637.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Social History
This book contains the results of the first large-scale quantitative investigation of naming practices in early modern England. It traces the history of the fundamentally ...
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This book contains the results of the first large-scale quantitative investigation of naming practices in early modern England. It traces the history of the fundamentally significant human act of naming one's children during a period of great economic, social, and religious upheaval. Using in part the huge pool of names accumulated by the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure, the book sets out to show which names were most commonly used, how children came to be given these names, why they were named after godparents, parents, siblings, or saints, and how social status affected naming patterns. The chief historical significance of this research lies in the discovery of a substantial shift in naming practices in this period: away from medieval patterns of naming a child after a godparent and towards naming them after a parent. In establishing the chronology of how parents came to exercise greater choice in naming their children and over the nature of naming practices, it successfully supersedes previous scholarship on this subject. Resolutely statistical and rich in anecdote, this exploration of this deeply revealing subject will have far-reaching implications for the history of the English family and culture.Less
This book contains the results of the first large-scale quantitative investigation of naming practices in early modern England. It traces the history of the fundamentally significant human act of naming one's children during a period of great economic, social, and religious upheaval. Using in part the huge pool of names accumulated by the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure, the book sets out to show which names were most commonly used, how children came to be given these names, why they were named after godparents, parents, siblings, or saints, and how social status affected naming patterns. The chief historical significance of this research lies in the discovery of a substantial shift in naming practices in this period: away from medieval patterns of naming a child after a godparent and towards naming them after a parent. In establishing the chronology of how parents came to exercise greater choice in naming their children and over the nature of naming practices, it successfully supersedes previous scholarship on this subject. Resolutely statistical and rich in anecdote, this exploration of this deeply revealing subject will have far-reaching implications for the history of the English family and culture.
Timothy Leunig and Hans-Joachim Voth
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263471
- eISBN:
- 9780191734786
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263471.003.0015
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter discusses height as a reliable indicator of health status and standard of living. It also suggests that mapping from height to other measures of well-being has attracted the attention of ...
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This chapter discusses height as a reliable indicator of health status and standard of living. It also suggests that mapping from height to other measures of well-being has attracted the attention of economic historians. The history of heights may prove to be a useful means by which economic historians can better explain the past. The first area is social history, and in particular family history, in the developed world. The second is the economic history of those countries or areas with limited amounts of other data.Less
This chapter discusses height as a reliable indicator of health status and standard of living. It also suggests that mapping from height to other measures of well-being has attracted the attention of economic historians. The history of heights may prove to be a useful means by which economic historians can better explain the past. The first area is social history, and in particular family history, in the developed world. The second is the economic history of those countries or areas with limited amounts of other data.
Webb Keane
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691167732
- eISBN:
- 9781400873593
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691167732.003.0003
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines the intersection between psychology and the study of conversational interaction. People's self-understanding as ethical beings is most often instigated by the very dynamics of ...
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This chapter examines the intersection between psychology and the study of conversational interaction. People's self-understanding as ethical beings is most often instigated by the very dynamics of interaction. It is those very dynamics that give rise to explicit ethical accounts. There is nothing inherent about people's judgments as such that requires them to be fully self-aware about their ethics or able to verbalize it. However, it is important that people do become ethically self-aware and verbal and do project themselves forward in time as ethical persons—and that is crucial to the ways in which psychology and social history feed into one another. The chapter then argues that ethical implications of the basic features of interaction are registered in the ways people probe one another's intentions and character, for example, or to take others to be according or denying them recognition.Less
This chapter examines the intersection between psychology and the study of conversational interaction. People's self-understanding as ethical beings is most often instigated by the very dynamics of interaction. It is those very dynamics that give rise to explicit ethical accounts. There is nothing inherent about people's judgments as such that requires them to be fully self-aware about their ethics or able to verbalize it. However, it is important that people do become ethically self-aware and verbal and do project themselves forward in time as ethical persons—and that is crucial to the ways in which psychology and social history feed into one another. The chapter then argues that ethical implications of the basic features of interaction are registered in the ways people probe one another's intentions and character, for example, or to take others to be according or denying them recognition.
Francesco Boldizzoni
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691144009
- eISBN:
- 9781400838851
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691144009.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
The major misunderstanding about cliometrics comes from the subsequent spread of Douglass North's new institutional approach. North claims to have challenged traditional economic theory, which he ...
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The major misunderstanding about cliometrics comes from the subsequent spread of Douglass North's new institutional approach. North claims to have challenged traditional economic theory, which he found inadequate. This chapter shows how this approach, besides being patently unhistorical, rests on flimsy foundations. In order to do so, it draws on a variety of evidence from the social and historical sciences. It also compares North's synthesis with the example of social science history offered by Moses Finley, the eminent ancient economic historian. Finley made a powerful argument against the application of modern economic theory to the past. Furthermore, he developed an alternative interpretation for the origin of institutions, rigorously demonstrating the logical precedence of society over the economy. The chapter begins by considering the criticism that Karl Polanyi made against neoclassical economics in the mid-twentieth century. In fact, both North's and Finley's works can be read as a response to Polanyi.Less
The major misunderstanding about cliometrics comes from the subsequent spread of Douglass North's new institutional approach. North claims to have challenged traditional economic theory, which he found inadequate. This chapter shows how this approach, besides being patently unhistorical, rests on flimsy foundations. In order to do so, it draws on a variety of evidence from the social and historical sciences. It also compares North's synthesis with the example of social science history offered by Moses Finley, the eminent ancient economic historian. Finley made a powerful argument against the application of modern economic theory to the past. Furthermore, he developed an alternative interpretation for the origin of institutions, rigorously demonstrating the logical precedence of society over the economy. The chapter begins by considering the criticism that Karl Polanyi made against neoclassical economics in the mid-twentieth century. In fact, both North's and Finley's works can be read as a response to Polanyi.
James T. Kloppenberg
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199790562
- eISBN:
- 9780199896820
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199790562.003.0012
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
A half century or more ago, historians combined social and intellectual history into one course. More recently, the topics have been separated, but this book returns “to the older, and wiser, ...
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A half century or more ago, historians combined social and intellectual history into one course. More recently, the topics have been separated, but this book returns “to the older, and wiser, tradition of joining together thought and practice, ideas and behavior, as aspects of the single, albeit multifaceted, reality that all of us American historians study”.Less
A half century or more ago, historians combined social and intellectual history into one course. More recently, the topics have been separated, but this book returns “to the older, and wiser, tradition of joining together thought and practice, ideas and behavior, as aspects of the single, albeit multifaceted, reality that all of us American historians study”.
Michael W. Dols and Diana E. Immisch
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198202219
- eISBN:
- 9780191675218
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198202219.003.0017
- Subject:
- History, World Medieval History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
In dealing with the concept of insanity in medieval Islamic society several subtopics also emerge such as, what constitutes sanity? A major objective of this study has been to place the subject in ...
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In dealing with the concept of insanity in medieval Islamic society several subtopics also emerge such as, what constitutes sanity? A major objective of this study has been to place the subject in its historical context and not to present insanity as a disembodied medical, religious, or legal notion. Because of the limitations of the medieval evidence, this goal has not always been fully achieved, but, in general, insanity has been presented as a significant aspect of Islamic social history. Insanity as a medical concept was closely related to the development of Islamic sciences and institutions; religious healing was intimately associated with the growth of Muslim saints; and the madman as holy fool was a vivid expression of the evolution of Muslim religiosity.Less
In dealing with the concept of insanity in medieval Islamic society several subtopics also emerge such as, what constitutes sanity? A major objective of this study has been to place the subject in its historical context and not to present insanity as a disembodied medical, religious, or legal notion. Because of the limitations of the medieval evidence, this goal has not always been fully achieved, but, in general, insanity has been presented as a significant aspect of Islamic social history. Insanity as a medical concept was closely related to the development of Islamic sciences and institutions; religious healing was intimately associated with the growth of Muslim saints; and the madman as holy fool was a vivid expression of the evolution of Muslim religiosity.
Francesco Boldizzoni
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691144009
- eISBN:
- 9781400838851
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691144009.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter covers macroeconomic issues, including economic cycles, money, price levels, the nature of growth, and the historical roots of underdevelopment. It shows how the micro level is logically ...
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This chapter covers macroeconomic issues, including economic cycles, money, price levels, the nature of growth, and the historical roots of underdevelopment. It shows how the micro level is logically linked to the macro level. It also argues that the crisis of the French-style economic history in the past twenty years is due more to French historians transferring their interest to cultural history. However, abandoning quantitative history in favor of the histoire des mentalités does not imply there is no room for economic history alongside the new political history and other aspects such as the history of the body and the history of death that were once considered eccentric.Less
This chapter covers macroeconomic issues, including economic cycles, money, price levels, the nature of growth, and the historical roots of underdevelopment. It shows how the micro level is logically linked to the macro level. It also argues that the crisis of the French-style economic history in the past twenty years is due more to French historians transferring their interest to cultural history. However, abandoning quantitative history in favor of the histoire des mentalités does not imply there is no room for economic history alongside the new political history and other aspects such as the history of the body and the history of death that were once considered eccentric.
James Hinton
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199574667
- eISBN:
- 9780191702167
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199574667.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Social History
This book provides a fascinating re-evaluation of the social history of the Second World War and the 20th century making of the modern self. Using the wartime diaries of nine individuals, the book ...
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This book provides a fascinating re-evaluation of the social history of the Second World War and the 20th century making of the modern self. Using the wartime diaries of nine individuals, the book illuminates the impact of war on attitudes to citizenship, the changing relationships between men and women, and the search for meaning in a wartime context of limitless violence. The diaries from which this book is derived were written by some of the unusually self-reflective and public-spirited people who agreed to write intimate journals about their daily activity for the social research organisation, Mass Observation. Each in their way is vivid, interesting and surprising. One of the nine diarists discussed is Nella Last, whose published diaries have been a source of delight and fascination for thousands of readers. A central insight underpins the book: in seeking to make the best of our own lives, each of us makes selective use of the resources of our shared culture in a unique way; in so doing, we contribute, however modestly, to molecular processes of historical change. The book resists nostalgic contrasts between the presumed dutiful citizenship of wartime Britain and contemporary anti-social individualism, pointing instead to longer-run processes of change, rooted as much in struggles for personal autonomy in the private sphere, as in the politics of active citizenship in public life.Less
This book provides a fascinating re-evaluation of the social history of the Second World War and the 20th century making of the modern self. Using the wartime diaries of nine individuals, the book illuminates the impact of war on attitudes to citizenship, the changing relationships between men and women, and the search for meaning in a wartime context of limitless violence. The diaries from which this book is derived were written by some of the unusually self-reflective and public-spirited people who agreed to write intimate journals about their daily activity for the social research organisation, Mass Observation. Each in their way is vivid, interesting and surprising. One of the nine diarists discussed is Nella Last, whose published diaries have been a source of delight and fascination for thousands of readers. A central insight underpins the book: in seeking to make the best of our own lives, each of us makes selective use of the resources of our shared culture in a unique way; in so doing, we contribute, however modestly, to molecular processes of historical change. The book resists nostalgic contrasts between the presumed dutiful citizenship of wartime Britain and contemporary anti-social individualism, pointing instead to longer-run processes of change, rooted as much in struggles for personal autonomy in the private sphere, as in the politics of active citizenship in public life.
James Davison Hunter
Joshua J. Yates (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199769063
- eISBN:
- 9780199896851
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199769063.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Economic Sociology
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the renewed importance of the concept of thrift in American consciousness in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. It then presents ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the renewed importance of the concept of thrift in American consciousness in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. It then presents reasons for studying thrift including its absence in moral philosophy and moral theology and its rather sudden and seemingly arbitrary appearance in history. It further argues that a social history and moral philosophical reflection on thrift is a window into the changing culture of capitalism, and this claim begins to gesture at the ambition of this volume. This book aims to offer a conceptually fresh, empirically vibrant, and largely unprecedented account of thrift in American history. Underpinning the rich diversity of disciplinary perspectives are two overarching claims: firstly, what is striking from even a cursory glance at the history of thrift is its astonishing capaciousness and dynamism, challenging the narrow and attenuated rendering of thrift as mere frugality; and, secondly, the idiom of thrift has served as the primary language Americans have used for articulating the normative dimensions of economic life throughout their history. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the renewed importance of the concept of thrift in American consciousness in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. It then presents reasons for studying thrift including its absence in moral philosophy and moral theology and its rather sudden and seemingly arbitrary appearance in history. It further argues that a social history and moral philosophical reflection on thrift is a window into the changing culture of capitalism, and this claim begins to gesture at the ambition of this volume. This book aims to offer a conceptually fresh, empirically vibrant, and largely unprecedented account of thrift in American history. Underpinning the rich diversity of disciplinary perspectives are two overarching claims: firstly, what is striking from even a cursory glance at the history of thrift is its astonishing capaciousness and dynamism, challenging the narrow and attenuated rendering of thrift as mere frugality; and, secondly, the idiom of thrift has served as the primary language Americans have used for articulating the normative dimensions of economic life throughout their history. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.
N. A. GAVRILYUK
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264041
- eISBN:
- 9780191734311
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264041.003.0010
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
Studies of the social and economic issues of the early societies emerged from the encounter of archaeology with other disciplines which are concerned with the sociological aspects of traditional ...
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Studies of the social and economic issues of the early societies emerged from the encounter of archaeology with other disciplines which are concerned with the sociological aspects of traditional societies. The study of Scythia or Scythology offers an extensive material that makes it a primary model of socio-economic models. This chapter aims to determine the specific features of the socio-economic development and structure of Scythia. It examines the changes in Scythia and Scythian economic history. It reviews the concepts of unity or lack of unity in Scythia to provide a better understanding on the key problems of the social, political, and economic history of Scythia. It also discusses the issues surrounding the statehood of steppe Scythians. The emphasis of the chapter is on the economic framework and the features of the development of the nomadic society in the Early Iron Age as represented in the archaeology of the Scythian culture.Less
Studies of the social and economic issues of the early societies emerged from the encounter of archaeology with other disciplines which are concerned with the sociological aspects of traditional societies. The study of Scythia or Scythology offers an extensive material that makes it a primary model of socio-economic models. This chapter aims to determine the specific features of the socio-economic development and structure of Scythia. It examines the changes in Scythia and Scythian economic history. It reviews the concepts of unity or lack of unity in Scythia to provide a better understanding on the key problems of the social, political, and economic history of Scythia. It also discusses the issues surrounding the statehood of steppe Scythians. The emphasis of the chapter is on the economic framework and the features of the development of the nomadic society in the Early Iron Age as represented in the archaeology of the Scythian culture.
DAVID WRIGHT
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199246397
- eISBN:
- 9780191715235
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199246397.003.001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This book contributes to the growing scholarly interest in mental disability and its history by investigating the emergence of idiot asylums in England during the Victorian period. By focusing on the ...
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This book contributes to the growing scholarly interest in mental disability and its history by investigating the emergence of idiot asylums in England during the Victorian period. By focusing on the Earlswood Asylum, formerly the National Asylum for Idiots, as a case study, the book looks at the social history of institutionalisation, extending the analysis of confinement to the network of extramural care and control. It argues that institutional confinement of mentally disabled and mentally ill individuals in the 19th century cannot be understood independently of an analysis of familial and community care which existed outside the walls of the asylum. In this account, the family plays a significant role in the history of the asylum, initiating the identification of mental disability, participating in the certification process, mediating the medical treatment, and facilitating discharge back into the community. In this respect the methodological approach of this book owes a great deal to the pioneering work of John Walton, Mark Finnane, Nancy Tomes, and Richard Fox, who all identified the family as central to our understanding of the rise of mental hospitals.Less
This book contributes to the growing scholarly interest in mental disability and its history by investigating the emergence of idiot asylums in England during the Victorian period. By focusing on the Earlswood Asylum, formerly the National Asylum for Idiots, as a case study, the book looks at the social history of institutionalisation, extending the analysis of confinement to the network of extramural care and control. It argues that institutional confinement of mentally disabled and mentally ill individuals in the 19th century cannot be understood independently of an analysis of familial and community care which existed outside the walls of the asylum. In this account, the family plays a significant role in the history of the asylum, initiating the identification of mental disability, participating in the certification process, mediating the medical treatment, and facilitating discharge back into the community. In this respect the methodological approach of this book owes a great deal to the pioneering work of John Walton, Mark Finnane, Nancy Tomes, and Richard Fox, who all identified the family as central to our understanding of the rise of mental hospitals.
