• Lecture one - introduction
o Sykes-Picot
▪ Divided the former Ottoman empire and the coastal area of the middle east
between France and Brittain in secret.
o Popular historical argument about the middle east
▪ Westphalian peace in the middle east
• Problematic due to differences of the time
o Democratic voting
o Globalization
o Degradation of the monopoly of violence
• To apply a european concept in an area thats fighting against
european influence could work counterproductive
•
o Founding text of IR
▪ 20 year crisis by Carr
• Carr was a Historian
o Approaches to History in IR
▪ Closet of Facts
• Neorealism
• Past is just a lot of facts to test theories about the present
• History as monochrome flatland – always the same / repetitive
• Emphasis on continueties and omni-applicable theories
▪ Middle way approaches
• English school
• Constructivism
• Historical sociology
• Conceptual history
• Try to both use history in detail and establish patterns, forming the
middle ground between the two approaches
▪ Shopping list
• Poststructuralism
• Past is a list of minor events/accidents that have huge impact
• No discernable patterns in history – always different
• Emphasis on discontinuities
o Historical analysis levels
▪ History
• The general study of the past
• A nonfictional account of the past
• Aspires to construct and tell stories about the discovered evidence
of the past
, • Try to understand and explain past events by interpreting their
meaning
• Formation of arguments which are as accurate as possible on the
basis of existing evidence
o Why and how did events happen
o What caused an event
o Which individuals play important roles
o What is the meaning of the events studies. In terms of the
past and, present, and the future.
▪ Metahistory
• Emphasizes patterns and regularities, great drivers of development,
and thus larger meaning of history (overarching theories)
• “the history manifesto”
• The longue durée - Fernand Braudel
o Taking a long view of history to identify long-term trends
and patterns and distinguish the contingent
(temporarily/contemporary) from the permanent
▪ e.g. “the rise of authoritarian regimes” and “mass
emigration”
▪ Antihistory
• The idea that when we speak of history, fiction and non-fiction are
identical
• Particularly relevant concept in age of “fake news” and “post truth”
• Examples:
o Holocaust didn’t happen
o Moonlanding was a hoax
o Obama wasn't born in the US
• Relativism
o All naratives are equally important
o There is no single truth, all narratives carry truth
o Extreme relativists turn to what they find the most useful
fictions for their own purpose
o Not history proper
o Subcategories of history
▪ Big History
• Also called universal history and world history
• Concerned with the history of the world since the big bang
• Integrates plenty natural sciences (prehistory)
▪ Global History
• Also called world history sometimes
• Looking at a story of connections within the global human
community
• Look beyond single country or region and into development of the
connected whole of society
• “the human world comprises a multiplicity of co-existing societies”
o Coexistence
o Difference
, o Interaction
▪ Positive or negative
o Combination
▪ Societies don’t develop internally
o Dialectical change
▪ Fusion of multiple cultures and entities
• Lecture 2
o New York – zuid afrika – Jakarta = Dutch Colonialism
▪ The New York flag is full of Dutch symbolism
• 1625 – day of purchase of the land
• Dutch windmill
• Right – indian population
• Left – dutch colonizer
• Dutch colours
▪ City of Durban
• Apartheid
• British took over 1806
• Slave trade – reason for multilingual sign
▪ City of Jakarta
• Formerly capital of Dutch East India company
• Batavia
• Center of Asian Spice trade
• City center is still named “old Batavia”
• Big colonial architecture to appear imponent
o Imperial expansion
▪ Process of destruction
• Languages, cultures, libraries, etc.
▪ Process of creation
• New cities, new rules, new forms of commerce
▪ Major consequences to this day
• African Borders
• Spread of christianity
• Spread of language
o The importance of European Empires in Modern International Relations
▪ Geographical scope of European empires
• Dutch Empire was rather small, with great impact
• British Empire was enormous
o Peak in 1921
o 35 million square kilometers
o Half as big as the moon
▪ Chronological scope of european empires
• European imperialism begins: 1492 (discovery of the Americas)
• Gradual increase of colonization
• Decolonization
o Mostly 1950 –1970
▪ Some exceptions, e.g. Latin America (early 1800’s)
o Broadening the focus on IR
o Sykes-Picot
▪ Divided the former Ottoman empire and the coastal area of the middle east
between France and Brittain in secret.
o Popular historical argument about the middle east
▪ Westphalian peace in the middle east
• Problematic due to differences of the time
o Democratic voting
o Globalization
o Degradation of the monopoly of violence
• To apply a european concept in an area thats fighting against
european influence could work counterproductive
•
o Founding text of IR
▪ 20 year crisis by Carr
• Carr was a Historian
o Approaches to History in IR
▪ Closet of Facts
• Neorealism
• Past is just a lot of facts to test theories about the present
• History as monochrome flatland – always the same / repetitive
• Emphasis on continueties and omni-applicable theories
▪ Middle way approaches
• English school
• Constructivism
• Historical sociology
• Conceptual history
• Try to both use history in detail and establish patterns, forming the
middle ground between the two approaches
▪ Shopping list
• Poststructuralism
• Past is a list of minor events/accidents that have huge impact
• No discernable patterns in history – always different
• Emphasis on discontinuities
o Historical analysis levels
▪ History
• The general study of the past
• A nonfictional account of the past
• Aspires to construct and tell stories about the discovered evidence
of the past
, • Try to understand and explain past events by interpreting their
meaning
• Formation of arguments which are as accurate as possible on the
basis of existing evidence
o Why and how did events happen
o What caused an event
o Which individuals play important roles
o What is the meaning of the events studies. In terms of the
past and, present, and the future.
▪ Metahistory
• Emphasizes patterns and regularities, great drivers of development,
and thus larger meaning of history (overarching theories)
• “the history manifesto”
• The longue durée - Fernand Braudel
o Taking a long view of history to identify long-term trends
and patterns and distinguish the contingent
(temporarily/contemporary) from the permanent
▪ e.g. “the rise of authoritarian regimes” and “mass
emigration”
▪ Antihistory
• The idea that when we speak of history, fiction and non-fiction are
identical
• Particularly relevant concept in age of “fake news” and “post truth”
• Examples:
o Holocaust didn’t happen
o Moonlanding was a hoax
o Obama wasn't born in the US
• Relativism
o All naratives are equally important
o There is no single truth, all narratives carry truth
o Extreme relativists turn to what they find the most useful
fictions for their own purpose
o Not history proper
o Subcategories of history
▪ Big History
• Also called universal history and world history
• Concerned with the history of the world since the big bang
• Integrates plenty natural sciences (prehistory)
▪ Global History
• Also called world history sometimes
• Looking at a story of connections within the global human
community
• Look beyond single country or region and into development of the
connected whole of society
• “the human world comprises a multiplicity of co-existing societies”
o Coexistence
o Difference
, o Interaction
▪ Positive or negative
o Combination
▪ Societies don’t develop internally
o Dialectical change
▪ Fusion of multiple cultures and entities
• Lecture 2
o New York – zuid afrika – Jakarta = Dutch Colonialism
▪ The New York flag is full of Dutch symbolism
• 1625 – day of purchase of the land
• Dutch windmill
• Right – indian population
• Left – dutch colonizer
• Dutch colours
▪ City of Durban
• Apartheid
• British took over 1806
• Slave trade – reason for multilingual sign
▪ City of Jakarta
• Formerly capital of Dutch East India company
• Batavia
• Center of Asian Spice trade
• City center is still named “old Batavia”
• Big colonial architecture to appear imponent
o Imperial expansion
▪ Process of destruction
• Languages, cultures, libraries, etc.
▪ Process of creation
• New cities, new rules, new forms of commerce
▪ Major consequences to this day
• African Borders
• Spread of christianity
• Spread of language
o The importance of European Empires in Modern International Relations
▪ Geographical scope of European empires
• Dutch Empire was rather small, with great impact
• British Empire was enormous
o Peak in 1921
o 35 million square kilometers
o Half as big as the moon
▪ Chronological scope of european empires
• European imperialism begins: 1492 (discovery of the Americas)
• Gradual increase of colonization
• Decolonization
o Mostly 1950 –1970
▪ Some exceptions, e.g. Latin America (early 1800’s)
o Broadening the focus on IR
