“Hell was let loose on the country”: The Social History of Military Technology in the Republic of Biafra

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 99-118
Author(s):  
Samuel Fury Childs Daly
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Military Technology ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Availability ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Nigerian Civil War ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Military ◽  
Late Twentieth Century

Abstract:The problem of armed crime in late twentieth-century Nigeria was closely connected to the events of the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970). Legal records from the secessionist Republic of Biafra reveal how violent crime emerged as part of the military confrontation between Biafra and Nigeria. The wide availability of firearms, the Biafran state’s diminishing ability to enforce the law, and the gradual collapse of Biafra’s economy under the pressure of a Nigerian blockade made Biafran soldiers and civilians reliant on their weapons to obtain food and fuel, make claims to property, and settle disputes with one another. Criminal legal records illustrate how military technologies shape interactions and relationships in the places where they are deployed, and how those dynamics can endure after the war comes to an end. This speaks to larger theoretical questions about the symbolic and functional meanings of guns during and after wartime.

scholarly journals Estudiantes radicales y choferes del transporte urbano en Sinaloa, México. El caso del movimiento camionero de octubre de 1972

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
pp. 129-163
Author(s):  
Arturo Sánchez Parra
Keyword(s):  
Social Movement ◽  
Social History ◽  
Mexican State ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Effects ◽  
Transport Workers ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Siglo Xx ◽  
Late Twentieth Century

Es la historia de unos estudiantes radicales: “los enfermos”, que conjuntamente con los trabajadores del transporte público de Sinaloa (México) se lanzaron a la lucha en contra de las autoridades gubernamentales exigiendo mejoras salariales para los segundos. El movimiento camionero trascendió esos objetivos. El presente ensayo pretende reconstruir la historia del principal movimiento social urbano desplegado en Sinaloa a fines del siglo XX. Basado en las propuestas de la historia social analizamos cuatro aristas fundamentales de una protesta popular que desembocó en que un grupo de estudiantes de la Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa se declararan en la clandestinidad y desde ahí lanzaran su lucha revolucionaria contra el Estado mexicano. Las vertientes aquí consideradas son: a) el ambiente sociopolítico estatal, b) orígenes y desarrollo del movimiento camionero, c) saldos de la lucha obrera estudiantil, y finalmente d) los efectos políticos que ejerció sobre “los enfermos” el desenlace final de la protesta.Palabras claves: izquierdismo, movimiento Social, Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa, “enfermos”.Radical Students and Urban Bus Drivers: the Case of the Social Bus Movement Occurred  on October 1972AbstractIt is the story of a radical student "Los Enfermos", which together with public transport workers in Sinaloa (Mexico) took to the fight against government authorities demanding better wages for the latter. The bus driver movement transcended those goals. This paper aims to reconstruct the history of the main urban social movement Sinaloa deployed in late twentieth century. Based on the proposals of social history to analyze four fundamental edges of a popular protest that led a group of students from the Autonomous University of Sinaloa were declared in the underground and from there launched their revolutionary struggle against the Mexican state. The aspects considered here are: a) the state sociopolitical environment, b) movement origins and development of truck driver, c) balances student labor struggle, and finally d) the political effects exerted on "Los Enfermos" the final outcome of the protest.Keyword: leftism, social movement, Autonomous University of Sinaloa, “Enfermos”.

Introduction

Mahjong ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Annelise Heinz
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ethnic Communities ◽  
World War ◽  
The Social ◽  
Changing Roles ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Late Twentieth Century

The Introduction provides an orientation to the book and its key questions: What did it mean to become “modern” in the early twentieth century? How did American ethnicities take shape in the years leading up to and after World War II? How did middle-class women experience and shape their changing roles in society, before the social revolutions of the late twentieth century? How are these things related? The Introduction also covers an overview of mahjong’s trajectory in the United States. It examines background related to the history of leisure, gender, and consumerism in addition to introducing key sources and methodologies. The introduction sets up the book to tell the story of mahjong’s role in the creation of identifiably ethnic communities, women’s access to respectable leisure, and how Americans used ideas of China to understand themselves.

History and the Militarized Landscape

2018 ◽  
pp. 162-184
Author(s):  
David Biggs
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Environmental History ◽  
Environmental Processes ◽  
Central Vietnam ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Global Discourse ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Late Twentieth Century

The environmental history of war, especially its impacts on landscape, encompasses a much broader scope than the conflicts and the historiography of the late twentieth century. Ideas on the social and environmental processes of conflict draw from a much longer, global discourse. This chapter uses the ancient-to-modern conflict landscape of central Vietnam to argue for a multi-layered, broader analysis of the environmental history of conflict.

Ethnography

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Kwame Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Distinct Features ◽  
Late Twentieth Century

Ethnography (Understanding Qualitative Research) provides a comprehensive guide to understanding, conceptualizing, and critically assessing ethnographic research and its resultant texts. Through a series of discussions and illustrations, utilizing both classic and contemporary examples, the book highlights distinct features of ethnography as both a research methodology and a writing tradition. It emphasizes the importance of training—including familiarity with culture as an anthropologically derived concept and critical awareness of the history of ethnography. To this end, it introduces the notion of ethnographic comportment, which serves as a standard for engaging and gauging ethnography. Indeed, ethnographic comportment issues from a familiarity with ethnography’s problematic past and inspires a disposition of accountability for one’s role in advancing ethnographic practices. Following an introductory chapter outlining the emergence and character of ethnography as a professionalized field, subsequent chapters conceptualize ethnographic research design, consider the practices of representing research methodologies, discuss the crafting of accurate and evocative ethnographic texts, and explain the different ways in which research and writing gets evaluated. While foregrounding interpretive and literary qualities that have gained prominence since the late twentieth century, the book properly situates ethnography at the nexus of the social sciences and the humanities. Ethnography (Understanding Qualitative Research) presents novice ethnographers with clear examples and illustrations of how to go about conducting, analyzing, and representing their research; its primary purpose, however, is to introduce readers to effective practices for understanding and evaluating the quality of ethnography.

State and Society, Marriage and Adultery: Some Considerations Towards a Social History of Pre-Colonial Asante

1981 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. C. McCaskie
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
The State ◽  
Social Formation ◽  
The Social ◽  
State And Society ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Compensatory Damages ◽  
Relations Of Power

The present paper is one of a series of essays in the social history of the West African forest kingdom of Asante (presently situated in the Republic of Ghana). It concentrates on an examination of the phenomena of marriage and adultery in the Asante past, and it seeks to locate the fundamental subject of relations between the sexes within the broader framework of the superordinate relationship between the state and the social formation. Anthropological and historical work on Asante is reviewed in the light of these concerns, and an attempt is made to identify and to describe some of the crucial concepts and imperatives embedded in the ideology of the state. The argument is adduced throughout that the state was interventionist in relation to the social formation, and that it was the state that simultaneously defined the rules making for differentiation and presided over (and monitored) the rewards and penalties surrounding this process. The accumulation (the consumption) of women is interpreted as being one strand in the economics of power and differentiation; similarly, compensatory damages for adultery (ayɛfere sika) and the phenomenon of ‘child marriage’ (ɔyere akoda) are interpreted as indicators of the relations of power between men. The paper concludes with the presentation of a small sample of career histories; these are intended to convey some idea of the interventionist power of the state in peoples' lives. Underlying and informing the detailed matter of the paper is a general concern with the understanding of ideology and thought – an exercise in reconstruction that is a sine qua non for the writing of Asante (and African) social history.

Going to the Fraternity Feast: Commensality and Social Relations in Late Medieval England

1994 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 430-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gervase Rosser
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Voluntary Association ◽  
The Social ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
The Common ◽  
Late Medieval England ◽  
Late Twentieth Century

In the history of medieval ideas about community, a prominent place must be accorded to the fraternity, or guild. This type of voluntary association, found throughout medieval Europe, frequently applied to itself the name of communitas. The community of the guild was not, however, a simple phenomenon; it invites closer analysis than it has yet received. As religious clubs of mostly lay men and (often) women, the fraternities of medieval Christendom have lately been a favored subject among students of spirituality. Less interest, however, has recently been shown in the social aspects of the guilds. One reason for this neglect may be precisely the communitarian emphasis in the normative records of these societies, which most late twentieth-century historians find unrealistic and, perhaps, faintly embarrassing. But allowing, as it must be allowed, that medieval society was not the Edenic commune evoked in fraternity statutes, the social historian is left with some substantial questions concerning these organizations, whose number alone commands attention: fifteenth-century England probably contained 30,000 guilds. Why were so many people eager to pay subscriptions—which, though usually modest, were not insignificant—to be admitted as “brothers” and “sisters” of one or more fraternities? Who attended guild meetings, and what did they hope to achieve by doing so? What social realities gave rise to the common language of equal brotherhood? This essay is intended to shed some light on these questions by focusing on what for every guild was the event which above all gave it visible definition: the annual celebration of the patronal feast day.

scholarly journals As Origens do Associativismo e do Sindicalismo de Professores do Estado do Maranhão: uma perspectiva histórico-social da educação maranhense (1964-1985)

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 189
Author(s):  
Carlos Bauer ◽  
Vanessa Amorim Dantas
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Social Time ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Military

RESUMONesses escritos são retomadas algumas passagens da educação pública no estado do Maranhão, desde os anos em que o Brasil esteve sob a égide do regime militar, instalado pela força em 1964, até a retomada democrática no país, realizada a partir dos meados da década de 1980. Tem-se como objetivo analisar os embates que se produziram entre as forças políticas estabelecidas no aparato estatal e os trabalhadores em educação nesse controverso período histórico. Imbuídos dessa perspectiva, os autores buscam delinear o percurso educacional vivenciado pelo maranhenses, a partir da compreensão crítica do contexto sociopolítico daquele momento, da análise das disposições políticas educacionais no domínio federal e sua incidência na esfera localizam as possíveis modificações ocorridas no ensino com a ascensão de novos sujeitos políticos ao governo, como também os pontos nevrálgicos que estão presentes nas lutas deflagradas pela valorização da docência num tempo social reconhecidamente conturbado. Com o estudo dessas trajetórias e suas repercussões nos movimentos associativistas e sindicais dos trabalhadores em educação, procura-se contribuir para ampliação de pesquisas de cunho históricoeducacional e, sobretudo, da história social daqueles que fazem a educação no Maranhão em sua cotidianidade.Palavras-chave: APEMA. História da educação. Maranhão.ABSTRACTIn these writings are taken some passages of public education in the state of Maranhão, from the years when Brazil was under the aegis of the military regime, installed by force in 1964, to the democratic revival in the country, held from mid- 1980. Which objective is to analyze the conflicts that took place between the political forces established in thestate apparatus and workers in education in this controversial historical period. Imbued with this perspective, the authors seek to outline the educational journey experienced by maranhense people, from the critical understanding of the socio-political context of that time, the analysis of education policy provisions in the federal domain and its impact on the state level; thereby locate the possible changes occurredin education with the rise of new political subjects to the government, as well as the hot spots that are present in the struggles triggered by the appreciation of teaching in an admittedly troubled social time. With the study of these trajectories and their impact on associative movementsand unions of workers in education, it seeks to contribute to expand research of historical and educational character and, above all, the social history of those who make education in Maranhao in its daily life. Keywords: APEMA. History of education. Maranhão.RESUMENEn estos escritos se retoman algunos pasajes de la educación pública en el Estado de Maranhão, desde los años en que Brasil estuvo bajo la égida del régimen militar, instalado por la fuerza en 1964, hasta la recuperación democrática en el país, celebrada desde mediados de la década de 1980. Tiene como objetivo analizar los embates que tuvieron lugar entre las fuerzas políticas establecidas en el aparato del Estado y los trabajadores de la educaciónen en este período histórico controvertido. Imbuidos de esta perspectiva, los autores tratan de delinear el camino educativo experimentado por los ciudadanos de Maranhão, desde la comprensión crítica del contexto sociopolítico de la época, del análisis de las disposiciones políticas educacionales en el dominio federal y su incidencia en el ámbito estatal; con eso localizan los posibles cambios ocurridos en la educación con la ascensión de nuevos sujetos políticos al gobierno, así como los puntos críticos que están presentes en las luchas deflagradas por la valorización de la docencia en un tiempo social reconocidamente contubado. Con el estudio de esas trayectorias y sus impactos en los movimentos asociativos y sindicatos de trabajadores en educación, se busca contribuir para ampliar las investigaciones de carácter histórico y educativo y, sobre todo, de la historia social de aquellos que hacen la educación en Maranhão en su cotidianidad.Palabras clave: APEMA. Historia de la educación. Maranhão. 

Anticommunism in 20th-Century Chile: From the “Social Question” to the Military Dictatorship

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Casals
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Military Dictatorship ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Military

Anticommunism was a central force in the history of the Chilean political conflict in the 20th century. Not only did several political actors define their identities and actions by their opposition to Marxist-inspired revolutionary projects, but also the state in different moments excluded and persecuted everything identified as “communist.” To a great extent, anticommunism relied on three main “frameworks”: Catholicism, nationalism, and liberalism, all of which were crucial elements in the construction of the Republic since the 19th century. Different combinations and interpretations within each framework resulted in different anticommunist expressions, from pro-fascist movements and nationalist groups to the conservative-liberal right wing, the Social Christian center and even moderate socialists. Many of them, especially in the second half of the 20th century, understood anticommunism as a defense of different variations of capitalism. Of course, anticommunism was not a uniquely Chilean phenomenon. It was, in fact, an ideological trend worldwide. This conditioned the reception in Chile of global events and ideas, while it enabled the construction of transnational networks among related actors. The enactment of the Law of Permanent Defense of Democracy in 1948, which outlawed the Communist Party, symbolized the alignment of Chilean politics to Cold War bipolarity. However, the Marxist left was able to recover during the “long Sixties,” in a political and cultural environment marked by the Cuban Revolution. The Popular Unity government was the materialization of all anticommunist fears. The counter-revolutionary bloc created then paved the way to the 1973 coup and the subsequent military dictatorship, which used anticommunism as state ideology. Human rights violations were legitimated by the dictatorship from that ideological framework. Anticommunism decayed by the late 1980s alongside socialist experiences around the world.

Gender and Literary Valorization: The Awakening of a Canonical Novel

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Corse ◽  
Saundra Davis Westervelt
Keyword(s):  
Reception History ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Critical Position ◽  
Female Self ◽  
The Awakening ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Interpretive Strategies ◽  
Late Twentieth Century

We use the reception history of Kate Chopin's The Awakening to study the social context in which and processes through which literary texts are evaluated. We explain The Awakening‘s ascendancy from an initial negative critical position in 1899 to its current canonical status by the emergence of new “interpretive strategies” for understanding and evaluating texts. The dominant interpretive strategies of nineteenth-century reviewers sentimentalized women as selfless wives and mothers responsible for moral purity, making it difficult to construct a valued or fruitful narrative from The Awakening. Late-twentieth-century feminist interpretive strategies, however, were highly productive tools for rereading The Awakening, generating a socially resonant narrative focused on the search for an independent female self. Most important, we show that analytic attention to interpretive strategies allows sociologists to analyze both the meanings constructed from texts and the differential judgments attached to them under varying interpretive strategies.

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