Regional Perspectives
April - June 2021
Rijks Universiteit Groningen
Emma Tholen
,Inhoudsopgave
Lecture 1: What is a region? ...................................................................................................................... 5
1. Concept .............................................................................................................................................. 5
2. Space and (world) history .................................................................................................................. 5
3. The region as an "sea" or an "ocean" ............................................................................................... 7
3.1. The Mediterranean........................................................................................................................ 7
3.2. Fernand Braudel ........................................................................................................................... 8
3.3. The corrupting sea ........................................................................................................................ 8
3.4. Albulafia’s 5 Mediterranean ........................................................................................................... 8
3.5 Other examples ............................................................................................................................ 9
4. Defining the region in socio-political terms ...................................................................................... 9
5. Regions as political-institutional constructions ............................................................................. 10
6. Regional histories we don!t have (yet)............................................................................................. 10
6.1. Uttar Pradesh ............................................................................................................................. 10
7. When studying for the exam, reflect on… ....................................................................................... 10
Lecture 2: Borders & Boundaries .............................................................................................................. 1
1. The new relevance of borders (& border studies) ............................................................................. 1
1.1. Key terms of (historical) border studies: ........................................................................................ 1
1.2. (Historical) Interpretations of borders since the 19th century .......................................................... 1
1.3. 20th century approaches to border studies .................................................................................... 2
1.4. Contemporary approaches ........................................................................................................... 2
1.5. Research interest 1: Borders in a "borderless world"..................................................................... 2
1.6. Research interest 2: Borders are dynamic processes: ................................................................... 2
1.7. Research interest 3: borders are (increasingly) everywhere: ........................................................... 3
2. Borders in (world)history.................................................................................................................... 4
2.1. Pre-modern forms of border making: ............................................................................................ 4
2.2. Pre-modern city states: ................................................................................................................. 5
2.3. Pre-modern empires: .................................................................................................................... 5
2.4. The modern state-system: ............................................................................................................ 6
2.5. Creating modern colonial borders: ................................................................................................ 6
3. Transgressing borders & boundaries ................................................................................................ 7
3.1. Monte Christi in 18th century Americas......................................................................................... 7
4. Women and borders ........................................................................................................................... 8
5. When studying for the exam, reflect on ............................................................................................ 8
Lecture 3: The city in the region ................................................................................................................ 9
1
,1. Global city-regions ............................................................................................................................. 9
1.1. Global city-regions: ..................................................................................................................... 10
1.2. Examples of global city-regions .................................................................................................. 12
1.3. (Comparative) Approaches to urban history................................................................................. 13
2. The city (and the regions) in world history ...................................................................................... 15
2.1. Port cities ................................................................................................................................... 15
3. Industrial cities in the capitalist world system................................................................................ 17
4. Metropolitan cities ........................................................................................................................... 20
5. Cities and borders ............................................................................................................................ 21
6. When studying for the exam, reflect on .......................................................................................... 21
Lecture 4: Transnational history 1: how do historians analyse cross-border exchange? .................... 22
1. What is Transnational History? ........................................................................................................ 22
1.1. History of historiography ............................................................................................................. 22
1.2. Exceptions beyond national histories .......................................................................................... 22
1.3. Early attempts towards transnational perspectives since the 1950s ............................................. 23
1.4. Contemporary transnational approaches..................................................................................... 24
1.5. Definition & characterisations of transnational history .................................................................. 25
2. Connected History ........................................................................................................................... 26
2.1. Serge Gruzinski (EHESS, Latin American history) ........................................................................ 26
2.2. Sanjay Subrahmanyam : the Macro in the Micro ......................................................................... 26
2.3. Tansen Sen: South Asia, China, and the world ............................................................................ 27
3. History of Transfer ........................................................................................................................... 28
3.1. What are the root causes of transfer?.......................................................................................... 28
3.2. What are the selection criteria of transfer? .................................................................................. 29
3.3. What are the results of transfer? ................................................................................................. 29
4. Entangled History ............................................................................................................................. 30
4.1. New approaches to the British Empire ........................................................................................ 30
5. When studyin for the exam, reflect on............................................................................................. 30
Lecture 5: Transnational History II: How do historians analyse trans-regional connections? ............. 31
1. Recall from last week....................................................................................................................... 31
2. Internationalisms .............................................................................................................................. 31
2.1. Jewish Internationalism............................................................................................................... 32
2.2. Changing perspectives on the Cold War ..................................................................................... 33
3. Trans-regional forms of protest ...................................................................................................... 35
3.1. Trans-regional struggles for water & against dams ...................................................................... 35
2
, 3.2. Protest agains the Narmada Dam Project in India........................................................................ 36
3.3. Rebels without Borders............................................................................................................... 37
3.3.1. PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party)........................................................................................... 37
3.3.2. Rwanda Genocide .............................................................................................................. 37
4. Transnational memory ..................................................................................................................... 38
4.1. Europe ........................................................................................................................................ 38
4.2. East Asia..................................................................................................................................... 38
4.3. The Middle East .......................................................................................................................... 39
5. When studying for the exam, reflect on… ....................................................................................... 39
Lecture 6: Are there regional forms of historiography? ......................................................................... 40
1. The problem we discuss today ........................................................................................................ 40
2. Tackling Western-centrism in regional perspectives ..................................................................... 40
2.1. The impact of colonialism ........................................................................................................... 40
2.2. Western-centrism of agency ....................................................................................................... 41
2.3. Conceptual Western-centrism..................................................................................................... 42
2.4. But what is the solution...? .......................................................................................................... 43
3. Representing Africa in world history ............................................................................................... 43
3.1. The “Dakar School of African History” ......................................................................................... 43
3.2. Contemporary voices 1: Paul Zeleza ........................................................................................... 44
3.3. Contemporary voices 2: Achille Mbembe .................................................................................... 44
4. Latin American & Caribbean approaches to world history............................................................. 45
4.1. History from below (C.L.R. James and Eric Williams)................................................................... 45
4.2. Latin America & the world economy (Fernand Braudel & Pierre Vilar)........................................... 45
4.3. Regional development as underdevelopment (Raúl Prebisch, Celso Furado, Fernando Henrique
Cardoso & Enzo Falleto) ......................................................................................................................... 46
4.4. The modernity/coloniality/decoloniality (MCD) project ................................................................. 46
5. East Asia as a region in world history? ........................................................................................... 46
5.1. Historiography in Japan .............................................................................................................. 46
5.2. Chinese world historians ............................................................................................................. 47
6. When studying for the exam, reflect on........................................................................................... 48
Lecture 7: Contemporary spaces ............................................................................................................ 49
1. Global spaces (Empirical observations) .......................................................................................... 49
1.1. The history of global economic elites (World Economic Forum WEF).......................................... 49
1.2. The history of global protests: the World Social Forum (WSF) ..................................................... 50
1.3. Concluding remarks on global spaces......................................................................................... 51
2. Virtual spaces (Historiographical observations) ............................................................................. 52
2.1. Example: Evaluating huge amounts of date on space & the history of Venice .............................. 52
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April - June 2021
Rijks Universiteit Groningen
Emma Tholen
,Inhoudsopgave
Lecture 1: What is a region? ...................................................................................................................... 5
1. Concept .............................................................................................................................................. 5
2. Space and (world) history .................................................................................................................. 5
3. The region as an "sea" or an "ocean" ............................................................................................... 7
3.1. The Mediterranean........................................................................................................................ 7
3.2. Fernand Braudel ........................................................................................................................... 8
3.3. The corrupting sea ........................................................................................................................ 8
3.4. Albulafia’s 5 Mediterranean ........................................................................................................... 8
3.5 Other examples ............................................................................................................................ 9
4. Defining the region in socio-political terms ...................................................................................... 9
5. Regions as political-institutional constructions ............................................................................. 10
6. Regional histories we don!t have (yet)............................................................................................. 10
6.1. Uttar Pradesh ............................................................................................................................. 10
7. When studying for the exam, reflect on… ....................................................................................... 10
Lecture 2: Borders & Boundaries .............................................................................................................. 1
1. The new relevance of borders (& border studies) ............................................................................. 1
1.1. Key terms of (historical) border studies: ........................................................................................ 1
1.2. (Historical) Interpretations of borders since the 19th century .......................................................... 1
1.3. 20th century approaches to border studies .................................................................................... 2
1.4. Contemporary approaches ........................................................................................................... 2
1.5. Research interest 1: Borders in a "borderless world"..................................................................... 2
1.6. Research interest 2: Borders are dynamic processes: ................................................................... 2
1.7. Research interest 3: borders are (increasingly) everywhere: ........................................................... 3
2. Borders in (world)history.................................................................................................................... 4
2.1. Pre-modern forms of border making: ............................................................................................ 4
2.2. Pre-modern city states: ................................................................................................................. 5
2.3. Pre-modern empires: .................................................................................................................... 5
2.4. The modern state-system: ............................................................................................................ 6
2.5. Creating modern colonial borders: ................................................................................................ 6
3. Transgressing borders & boundaries ................................................................................................ 7
3.1. Monte Christi in 18th century Americas......................................................................................... 7
4. Women and borders ........................................................................................................................... 8
5. When studying for the exam, reflect on ............................................................................................ 8
Lecture 3: The city in the region ................................................................................................................ 9
1
,1. Global city-regions ............................................................................................................................. 9
1.1. Global city-regions: ..................................................................................................................... 10
1.2. Examples of global city-regions .................................................................................................. 12
1.3. (Comparative) Approaches to urban history................................................................................. 13
2. The city (and the regions) in world history ...................................................................................... 15
2.1. Port cities ................................................................................................................................... 15
3. Industrial cities in the capitalist world system................................................................................ 17
4. Metropolitan cities ........................................................................................................................... 20
5. Cities and borders ............................................................................................................................ 21
6. When studying for the exam, reflect on .......................................................................................... 21
Lecture 4: Transnational history 1: how do historians analyse cross-border exchange? .................... 22
1. What is Transnational History? ........................................................................................................ 22
1.1. History of historiography ............................................................................................................. 22
1.2. Exceptions beyond national histories .......................................................................................... 22
1.3. Early attempts towards transnational perspectives since the 1950s ............................................. 23
1.4. Contemporary transnational approaches..................................................................................... 24
1.5. Definition & characterisations of transnational history .................................................................. 25
2. Connected History ........................................................................................................................... 26
2.1. Serge Gruzinski (EHESS, Latin American history) ........................................................................ 26
2.2. Sanjay Subrahmanyam : the Macro in the Micro ......................................................................... 26
2.3. Tansen Sen: South Asia, China, and the world ............................................................................ 27
3. History of Transfer ........................................................................................................................... 28
3.1. What are the root causes of transfer?.......................................................................................... 28
3.2. What are the selection criteria of transfer? .................................................................................. 29
3.3. What are the results of transfer? ................................................................................................. 29
4. Entangled History ............................................................................................................................. 30
4.1. New approaches to the British Empire ........................................................................................ 30
5. When studyin for the exam, reflect on............................................................................................. 30
Lecture 5: Transnational History II: How do historians analyse trans-regional connections? ............. 31
1. Recall from last week....................................................................................................................... 31
2. Internationalisms .............................................................................................................................. 31
2.1. Jewish Internationalism............................................................................................................... 32
2.2. Changing perspectives on the Cold War ..................................................................................... 33
3. Trans-regional forms of protest ...................................................................................................... 35
3.1. Trans-regional struggles for water & against dams ...................................................................... 35
2
, 3.2. Protest agains the Narmada Dam Project in India........................................................................ 36
3.3. Rebels without Borders............................................................................................................... 37
3.3.1. PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party)........................................................................................... 37
3.3.2. Rwanda Genocide .............................................................................................................. 37
4. Transnational memory ..................................................................................................................... 38
4.1. Europe ........................................................................................................................................ 38
4.2. East Asia..................................................................................................................................... 38
4.3. The Middle East .......................................................................................................................... 39
5. When studying for the exam, reflect on… ....................................................................................... 39
Lecture 6: Are there regional forms of historiography? ......................................................................... 40
1. The problem we discuss today ........................................................................................................ 40
2. Tackling Western-centrism in regional perspectives ..................................................................... 40
2.1. The impact of colonialism ........................................................................................................... 40
2.2. Western-centrism of agency ....................................................................................................... 41
2.3. Conceptual Western-centrism..................................................................................................... 42
2.4. But what is the solution...? .......................................................................................................... 43
3. Representing Africa in world history ............................................................................................... 43
3.1. The “Dakar School of African History” ......................................................................................... 43
3.2. Contemporary voices 1: Paul Zeleza ........................................................................................... 44
3.3. Contemporary voices 2: Achille Mbembe .................................................................................... 44
4. Latin American & Caribbean approaches to world history............................................................. 45
4.1. History from below (C.L.R. James and Eric Williams)................................................................... 45
4.2. Latin America & the world economy (Fernand Braudel & Pierre Vilar)........................................... 45
4.3. Regional development as underdevelopment (Raúl Prebisch, Celso Furado, Fernando Henrique
Cardoso & Enzo Falleto) ......................................................................................................................... 46
4.4. The modernity/coloniality/decoloniality (MCD) project ................................................................. 46
5. East Asia as a region in world history? ........................................................................................... 46
5.1. Historiography in Japan .............................................................................................................. 46
5.2. Chinese world historians ............................................................................................................. 47
6. When studying for the exam, reflect on........................................................................................... 48
Lecture 7: Contemporary spaces ............................................................................................................ 49
1. Global spaces (Empirical observations) .......................................................................................... 49
1.1. The history of global economic elites (World Economic Forum WEF).......................................... 49
1.2. The history of global protests: the World Social Forum (WSF) ..................................................... 50
1.3. Concluding remarks on global spaces......................................................................................... 51
2. Virtual spaces (Historiographical observations) ............................................................................. 52
2.1. Example: Evaluating huge amounts of date on space & the history of Venice .............................. 52
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