Graduate Workshop on the Political Economy of Empire
4 November 2006
Pernille Røge and Sophus Reinert organised a one-day graduate workshop which took place in King's College, Cambridge on 4 November 2006. Imperial studies is currently one of the most thriving subfields of the historical profession, integrating economic and political history with the history of science, of exploration, and of cultural encounters. The eighteenth century saw a conflux of these themes in the parallel formalisation and institutionalisation of political economy on the one hand, and the expansion of European dominion overseas on the other; political economy was in many ways the midwife of modern imperialism. The workshop explored the intellectual origins and theoretical manifestations of political economy as well as its actual implementation. For further details, see the workshop web site.
The Contract of Fallibility
18 October 2006
Saltmarsh Rooms, King’s College, Cambridge
Dr Efraim Podoksik (Hebrew University) delivered a paper concerning the fallibility of political leaders and its implications for political theory. Dr Podoksik was a student on the Cambridge PTIH MPhil and did his PhD here under David Runciman on Michael Oakeshott. The seminar was open to all members of the University and the presentation generated a lively discussion.
When Things Go Wrong in Public and Private Sector Relationships: A Meeting on Compensation
25 September 2006
Melissa Lane organised a meeting in King’s College, Cambridge on 25 September 2006. Compensation is an increasingly important area in the relation between both private and public sector bodies and clients/consumers and citizen. Indeed, as the two relationships evolve, the comparison between consumer and citizen becomes more relevant. Exploring changing conceptions and practices as to what states and private bodies owe citizens in compensation when things go wrong is an underexplored way of tracking changes in those relationships themselves. The meeting examined aspects of these relationships from legal, historical, and philosophical perspectives. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
Bentham and Benthamism
28 July 2006
An informal meeting about Bentham and Benthamism, as part of the Cambridge-Harvard Mellon Program on Exchanges of Political and Economic Ideas since 1760, took place on Friday 28 July 2006 in King's College, Cambridge. There were remarks by Fred Rosen, Richard Tuck, Emma Rothschild and Chris Bayly, and amongst other participants were Yusuke Dan, Richard Drayton, John Dunn, Biancamaria Fontana, Ross Harrison, Istvan Hont, William O'Reilly, David Palfrey, and Robert Travers. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
A New History of Ideas for India
25 July 2006
A one-day colloquium, organised by Chris Bayly and Shruti Kapila and following an earlier one at Tufts University in April 2005, took place in the Saltmarsh Rooms in King’s College on 25 July 2006. Papers were given by Michael Dodson, Andrew Sartori, Jon Wilson, Faisal Devji and Javed Majeed and were the focus of the conference. The papers appear in a special issue of the Modern Intellectual History journal (Vol. 4, Issue 1, April 2007). Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
Religion and the State V: Conversion
24-25 July 2006 organised by Ira Katznelson and Miri Rubin
Religion and the Political Imagination
25-26 July 2006 organised by Ira Katznelson and Gareth Stedman Jones
A three-day conference was held in King's College on 24-26 July 2006 as part of the Centre's programme on relations between church and state in comparative and historical perspective. The conference began with the fifth in a series of meetings on Religion and the State. The second part of the conference focused on, firstly, the historical relationship between religious sentiment and practice and, secondly, the processes of secularisation and the changing constitutional relationship between the church (and other religious institutions) and the state.
Religion and the State V: Conversion
Meeting report: MS Word | PDF
Meeting schedule: MS Word | PDF
Meeting participants: MS Word | PDF
Religion and the Political Imagination
Meeting report: MS Word | PDF
Meeting schedule: MS Word | PDF
Meeting participants: MS Word | PDF
UN/International History
16 June 2006
A small roundtable meeting, organised by Sunil Amrith, took place in Trinity College on 16 June 2006. The meeting discussed issues on the theme of the United Nations and international history; it was also concerned with a special journal issue arising from an earlier meeting in Sydney. Anticipated participants included Ike Achebe, Chris Bayly, Patricia Clavin, Emma Rothschild, Glenda Sluga and Laura Wong. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
Bentham in the World
5 June 2006
A one-day workshop, organised by Caitlin Anderson, took place at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University on 5 June 2006. The workshop looked at the ideas and influence of Jeremy Bentham across the world. David Armitage, Chris Bayly and David Todd gave papers and other participants included Karuna Mantena, Uday Mehta, Jennifer Pitts, Emma Rothschild and Richard Tuck. Attendance and participation in the discussion was open to the academic community. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
Energy, Economic Growth and Pollution. European pasts and futures, c.1800-2006
12 May 2006
A one-day conference, organised by Paul Warde, took place in Pembroke College on 12 May. The energy, economic growth and pollution (EGP) network has been undertaking a series of meetings and co-ordinated research since 2003. The prime goal of the network’s research since 2003 has been to illuminate the role of energy in long-term economic growth, and the environmental consequences of this role. The aim of the meeting was to facilitate discussion of papers produced by the EGP network and to develop a dialogue on a wide number of themes relating energy consumption, economic and environmental change. Participants included Francesca Antolín, Silvana Bartoletto, Kerstin Enflo, Astrid Kander, Lennart Schön and Tony Wrigley. Click for the programme.
Religious Thought, Political Practice (1200-1600)
20-21 April 2006
A two-day conference, organised by Chris Fletcher and Ros Oates and supported by the Centre, took place in Pembroke College on 20-21 April 2006. This event focussed on the interface between religious ideas and political practice. Contributors included John Arnold, Peter Biller, Mishtooni Bose, James Clark, Elizabeth Evenden, Natalie Mears, Michael Questier and John Watts.
Exchanges of Ideas
27 March 2006
A roundtable meeting in connection with the research project on Antiquarianism and International Exchange and the more recent research programme on Exchanges of Economic and Political Ideas since 1760 was held in the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities in Edinburgh on 27 March 2006. The meeting was organised by Susan Manning and Emma Rothschild. Click for a list of participants.
The Uses of Environmental History: Cross Disciplinary Conversations
13-14 January 2006
This two-day conference, organised by Sverker Sörlin and Paul Warde, took place in the Department of Geography, CRASSH and St Catharine’s College on 13-14 January 2006. The conference aims were to provide some space to reflect on the achievements, diversity, and direction of environmental history, especially in its varied national, international and continental contexts. Further details about the conference are available: MS Word | PDF | Conference web site
International Exchanges of Ideas about Taxation since 1750
16-18 September 2005
The conference, organised by Florian Schui and Holger Nehring, took place in the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH). It explored the transfer of ideas about taxation from the mid-eighteenth century to the beginning of the 1950s, a period of fundamental change in the ways states organised their finances. For further information about the project, click here.
Religion and the State IV: The City
25-26 July 2005 - organised by Ira Katznelson and Miri Rubin
Religion and the Political Imagination
26-27 July 2005 - organised by Ira Katznelson and Gareth Stedman Jones
A three-day conference was held in King's College on 25-27 July 2005 as part of the Centre's programme on relations between church and state in comparative and historical perspective. The conference began with the fourth in a series of meetings on Religion and the State. The discussion focussed on 'The City' and examined questions around coexistence and toleration in urban spaces. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
The second part of the conference focussed on, firstly, the historical relationship between religious sentiment and practice and, secondly, the processes of secularisation and the changing constitutional relationship between the church (and other religious institutions) and the state. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
Death, Dumping, and Domestic Courts: Private Enforcement of International Norms
6 July 2005
Melissa Lane organised a small lunchtime seminar which took place in Gibbs F3, King's College. Professor Jeff Dunoff from Temple University Beasley School of Law, and currently a visiting scholar at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, introduced his paper on the enforcement of WTO norms in domestic courts and its implications for the relationship between public and private actors. General discussion followed.
Exchanges of Ideas: 19th Century Political Thought
4 July 2005
An informal meeting in connection with the new research programme on Exchanges of Economic and Political Ideas since 1760 took place in King's College on 4 July and was concerned with extra-European and inter-disciplinary aspects of 19th century political thought. Chris Bayly, Daniel Pick and Emma Rothschild introduced briefly their draft chapters in the Nineteenth Century Cambridge History of Political Thought, currently being edited by Gareth Stedman Jones and Greg Claeys. There was also an opportunity to discuss plans for the new programme, which began this year and will continue until 2009.
UN History
24 June 2005
A one-day meeting, organised by Sunil Amrith and Holger Nehring, took place in the Saltmarsh Rooms, King's College, Cambridge on 24 June 2005. The meeting was part of a series of meetings on UN history, and took place close to the 60th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter in San Francisco on 26 June 1945. Participants included Paul Kennedy from Yale University and St John's College, and Jens Boel, Chief Archivist of UNESCO. Jens Boel talked about the UNESCO History Project which is underway in connection with the 60th anniversary of UNESCO, and Paul Kennedy talked about his forthcoming book on the history of the UN.
Reflecting on Partnerships: public-private partnerships, the World Bank, and the oil & gas industry
15 June 2005
Melissa Lane organised a roundtable meeting which took place on 15 June in King's College. Calliope Webber of the World Bank (on secondment to BP) was among participants. The aim was both to learn about her work in this area and to reflect on the challenges and achievements of such partnerships more generally in light of current political theory.
Tasks and Themes in the Study of Late Medieval and Early Modern Religion
3 June 2005
A one-day workshop took place in the Wordsworth Room, St John's College on 3 June 2005. This was the fourth in a series of meetings on the Study of Late Medieval and Early Modern Religion and as in previous years involved a range of participants including graduate students. The organisers were Miri Rubin and Ulinka Rublack.
Taxonomies, Translations, Exchanges: Race, 1760-1980
21 May 2005
William O'Reilly and Daniel Matlin organised a one-day workshop which took place in King's College on Saturday 21 May 2005. The discussion focussed on the concept and application of race and examined questions of negotiation, coexistence and toleration in Europe, the Atlantic World, Africa and Asia. This was the first in a series of workshops and conferences exploring various historical aspects of race. Click for the programme.
Uses of Environmental History
14 May 2005
This one-day colloquium, organised by Sverker Sörlin and Paul Warde, took place in Pembroke College and aimed to bring a wide range of reflection and current scholarly practice together in six papers. The subjects ranged from the historiography of the environment and the implicit values pertaining to various environmental history practices, to the issue of interdisciplinarity and the practice of research by young academics in the field. The participants included Peter Burke, Gerry Kearns and Chris Smout. This was the second in a series of meetings organised by the project on 'Uses of environmental history', which aims to examine the development and potential of the discipline. A web site for the Uses of Environmental History project is available .
Atlantic Legalities, 1500-1825
16 April 2005
A workshop of the Atlantic History Seminar, organised by Caitlin Anderson in collaboration with the Centre for History and Economics, took place at Harvard University on 16 April 2005. The workshop concentrated on the roles of law in Atlantic history. Attendance and participation in the discussion was open to the academic community. Historians at the beginning of their career were especially encouraged to attend.
Religion and the Political Imagination
19 February 2005
A half-day planning meeting took place on 19 February in King's College. Ira Katznelson and Gareth Stedman Jones, the project investigators, were joined by other associated members of the project, amongst them Christopher Bayly, Christopher Clark and Jon Parry, to discuss the project's aims, including plans for a larger meeting in July 2005.
Soldiers: Culture and Combat Motivation
5-6 February 2005
Catherine Merridale organised a workshop which took place in the Saltmarsh Rooms, King's College in Cambridge on 5-6 February. This was the second of two workshops on the topic of why soldiers fight. The first meeting was held in Cambridge in September 2004 and was attended by a wide group of academics and practitioners from Europe and the United States, and produced a lively discussion ranging across disciplines and also across several centuries of time. The second meeting pursued the earlier debate. The two workshops produced a coherent set of papers to be published in January 2006 by the Journal of Contemporary History. Amongst participants were Jocelyn Alexander, Tarak Barkawi, Christopher Dandeker, Edgar Jones, Josie McLellan, Ian Palmer, Tony Robben, Hew Strachan and Simon Wessely. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
Uses of Environmental History
4 February 2005
Paul Warde and Sverker Sörlin organised a roundtable meeting on the uses of environmental history. The meeting took place in the Wine Room, King's College on Friday 4 February, and the aim was to present ideas and promote discussion, especially of the cross-disciplinary 'uses' to which environmental history has been put, its current strengths and weaknesses. A short background paper by Sverker and Paul was presented at the meeting, followed by an open discussion. A series of small meetings are envisaged over 2005, culminating in a larger conference in 2006.
International exchange of ideas about taxation, c. 1750-1914
18 October 2004
A half day workshop was held in the Saltmarsh Rooms, King’s College on 18 October 2004. The meeting was organised by Florian Schui and examined aspects of the international exchanges of ideas about taxation. The aim was to set up a network of scholars who work on the subject. The discussion focused on developing a conceptual framework for this network which will consist of individual historical case studies about exchanges of ideas about taxation. The discussion concentrated on exchanges within the British Empire and exchanges involving Germany and the German states. For both geographical concentrations Atlantic exchanges emerged as crucial. A follow-up conference is anticipated. Among the participants were Martin Daunton, Gareth Stedman Jones, John Tiley, William O’Reilly, and Holger Nehring. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants. Click for further information.
Soldiers: Culture and Combat Motivation
4-5 September 2004
Catherine Merridale organised a two-day workshop in the Saltmarsh Rooms, King's Collge in Cambridge. The overall topic was the question of combat motivation: why do soldiers fight? The issue of motivation appears to divide into two parts. The first is the stories that the soldiers are told: motivation in training; political/religious/ideological education; instructions on the field; propaganda and narrative after the war. The second consists of the stories they tell themselves, each other, and outsiders. These will change over time, so it is important to compare their accounts from before combat, their letters and diaries during the fighting, and their memoirs, tales, and oral history. Amongst participants were Tarak Barkawi, Drew Gilpin Faust, Edgar Jones, Josie McLellan, Ian Palmer, Charles Rosenberg and Simon Wessely. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
Friedrich von Hayek and The Road to Serfdom: 1944-2004
21-22 June 2004
A two-day meeting was held in King's College on 21-22 June 2004 in connection with the sixtieth anniversary of the publication of Hayek's Road to Serfdom. The meeting, organised by Melissa Lane and Sylvia Nasar, considered the reception and influence of The Road to Serfdom in the sixty years since its publication. Participants included Bruce Caldwell, Peter Clarke, Meghnad Desai, Harold James and Amartya Sen. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
HIV/AIDS and the Black Death
24 May 2004
Melissa Lane organised a half-day workshop in the Saltmarsh Rooms, King's College in Cambridge. The workshop considered the extent to which parallels can be drawn beween the social, political, and epidemiological impact of HIV/AIDS and of the Black Death. By bringing together historians of medieval and early modern Europe with specialists in the social and epidemiological aspects of HIV/AIDS and with experts in African history, we hoped to provoke a more sophisticated discussion of this comparison which is so often casually invoked. Participants included Lincoln Chen, Véronique Mottier, Miri Rubin, Richard Smith, Megan Vaughan and Alex de Waal. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
UN History
31 October 2003
A one-day meeting was held at Trinity College. The meeting examined some key issues surrounding the organization and use of UN archives, and the possible contribution of some universities. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
Energy, Economic Growth and Pollution
24-26 October 2003
Paul Warde organised a three-day conference held in
the Saltmarsh Rooms, King's College in Cambridge. The meeting generated a comparative study of energy uses in all sectors of the economy
from the period of the 'first industrial revolution' (from ca. the late 18th
century onwards) to the present day, with an accompanying analysis of the
development of GDP and pollution in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands,
Sweden, Italy and Spain. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
Press and Political Public, 1830-1930
24 October 2003
A one-day workshop, supported by the Centre and organised by Bernhard Fulda,
took place on 24 October 2003 in the German Historical Institute in
London. The meeting explored the relationship between politics, media
and public in this period in greater detail. The focus was on press
and politics in Britain and Germany, which served as a starting point
for discussion, as well as preparation for a two-day conference in 2004. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
Rights, Dignity and Inequality
21-22 October 2003
A two-day workshop was held at Trinity College, Cambridge on 21-22
October 2003. The meeting was organised by Melissa Lane and its aim was to
examine the relationship between global health and several key ethical
concepts - human rights, dignity, social justice and inequality.
historians, and focused on Asia. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
Migration
20 October 2003
A one-day meeting, organised by Melissa Lane, was held in Trinity
College on 20 October 2003. The meeting initiated discussion
on a new research programme on migration, undertaken in collaboration with
the Institute for Future Studies, Stockholm, Centre for the Humanities,
Arts and Social Sciences in Cambridge, and the Global Equity Initiative,
Harvard University. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
The Forms of Political Representation
25 September 2003
A meeting on The Forms of Political Representation, organised by Melissa Lane and David Runciman, was held on 25 September 2003 in King’s College, Cambridge. The aim of the meeting was to focus on political representation while bracketing (for purposes of discussion) the question of democracy, and to see what could be learned about political representation by considering ideas of representation in art, theology, and law. Papers were presented by David Runciman (Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Cambridge) on Political Representation, with a commentary by Ross Harrison; by Frank Ankersmit (History, Groningen) on Aesthetic Representation, with a commentary by Melissa Lane; by Monica Brito-Vieira (History, Cambridge) on Representation in Theology: Hobbes, with a commentary by Ben Quash (Divinity, Cambridge); and by Janet McLean (Faculty of Law, Auckland) on Representation in Law, with a commentary by David Howarth (Law, Cambridge). Other participants included John Dunn (Social and Political Sciences, Cambridge); David Hugh-Jones (Government, Essex); Istvan Hont (History, Cambridge); Duncan Kelly (Politics, Sheffield); Ruth Scurr (Social and Political Sciences, Cambridge); Michael Sonenscher (History, Cambridge); Janet Soskice (Divinity, Cambridge); and Wim Weymans (Centre for Ethics, Social and Political Policy, Leuven). Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
Commonlands in North Western Europe
20-21 September 2003
A two-day colloquium was held in Pembroke College on 20-21 September 2003,
organised by Paul Warde. The meeting involved papers and comparative
discussions among scholars from England, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium
and France. It focussed on the relationships between common land, poor
relief and social exclusion; the history of the commons in the very long
term (from late medieval times until the 19th century); and the systematic
analysis of data pertaining to commons management. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
Exporting Identities 1750-1830: Antiquarianism and International Exchange
11-12 September 2003
Ananya Kabir and Caitriona O'Dochartaigh organised a two-day meeting
that took place on 11-12 September
2003 in the Saltmarsh Room, King's College. The meeting explored
the interplay of local and global within antiquarian scholarship. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
Religion and the State III: Community and Identity
23-24 July 2003
A two-day meeting was held in the Saltmarsh Room, King’s College on 23-24
July 2003. The meeting, organised by Miri Rubin and Ira Katznelson,
considered how ideas have been mediated by a wide range of expressive forms,
from catechisms to royal entries, from the language of polemic to judicial
process. Modes of dissemination and identification were examined through the
materials that were used and developed over a period which saw the invention
of print and the engaged use of image in public polemic and private
education. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
The New Philanthropy and its significance for National and International Institutions: The Case of Education
2-3 May 2003
A two-day meeting was held on 2-3 May 2003 in the Saltmarsh Room, King's College. The colloquium, which was organised by Melissa Lane, explored some of the political and moral issues associated with the growth of global philanthropic initiatives for education in developing countries. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
Tasks and Themes in the Study of Late Medieval and Early Modern Religion
1 April 2003
A one-day meeting took place in Wordsworth Room, St John's College on 1 April 2003. It was organised by Miri Rubin and Ulinka Rublack. The aim of the day was to report on new and interesting work on European religious cultures in the late medieval and early modern period in a relaxed but informed atmosphere. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
Democracy and Security
8 January 2003
A one-day meeting was held on Wednesday 8 January 2003 in the Saltmarsh Room, King's College. The organisers were Melissa Lane and Richard Tuck. The main themes for consideration were 'democracy and terrorism' and 'security, compensation and the purposes of the state'. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.
UN History
6 December 2002
A one-day meeting took place on Friday 6 December 2002 in Trinity College Master's Lodge. The meeting was organised by Sunil Amrith and was called to look at the current state of the UN's archives. Follow-up meetings are expected to take place and a web site has been established by the Centre for researchers intending to work with UN archives. Click for a list of participants.
Energy, Environment and Health
18 November 2002
An informal meeting was held on Monday 18 November 2002 in the Saltmarsh Room, King's College on issues concerning energy, environment and health. Click for a list of participants.
Violence, History and the State: Gujarat 2002
6 August 2002
A one-day meeting was held at King's College, Cambridge, on 'Violence, History and the State: Gujarat 2002'. The meeting was organised by Ananya Kabir. Click for the programme. Click for a list of participants.