scholarly journals Ghosts and Miracles: The Volkswagen as Imperial Debris in Postwar West Germany

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 487-519
Author(s):  
Natalie Scholz

AbstractStarting with the author's own experience of ghostliness in the archive, the article explores the political meaning of the postwar Volkswagen in West Germany as embodiment of the country's “economic miracle.” The investigation follows the uncanny in texts and images about the Volkswagen between 1945 and 1960 and argues that the car carried with it a “public secret” as a “debris” from the Nazi empire that silently transcended the 1945 divide. This reading of the Volkswagen as well as the methodological path toward it highlight a phenomenon that postcolonial scholars have described as “haunting”: a confusion about the relationship between past and present that also bears on those who study the past. Taking this analysis as an encouragement to revisit the powerful myths and “miracles” of postwar consumer cultures in the West from a new angle, the article calls for historical genealogies of these myths that conceive of the postwar West as a—not yet—postcolonial space and that cross the 1945 threshold.

2000 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Crawley

In the wake of the 1999 Rio Summit and its focus on biregional cooperation, this article reviews the background and development of European-Latin American relations over the past two decades, the political and economic context, the current state of transatlantic links, and the shortterm prospects for the relationship. Among its several premises is that the EU and Latin America constitute the bulk of the West, and the ways they work together will therefore condition the role of each of them on the international stage.


1974 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 5-7

During the past forty years the dominant preoccupation of scholars writing on Livy has been the relationship between the historian and the emperor Augustus, and its effects on the Ab Urbe Condita. Tacitus’ testimony that the two were on friendly terms, and Suetonius’ revelation that Livy found time to encourage the historical studies of the future emperor Claudius, appeared to have ominous overtones to scholars writing against the political backcloth of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Though the subject had not been wholly ignored previously, the success of the German cultural propaganda-machine stimulated a spate of approving or critical treatments. While some were hailing Livy as the historian whose work signalled and glorified the new order, others following a similar interpretation were markedly scathing.


Author(s):  
Mary Ziegler

This article illuminates potential obstacles facing the reproductive justice movement and the way those obstacles might be overcome. Since 2010, reproductive justice—an agenda that fuses access to reproductive health services and demands for social justice—has energized feminist scholars and activists and captured broader public attention. Abortion rights advocates in the past dismissed reproductive justice claims as risky and unlikely to appeal to a broad enough audience. These obstacles are not as daunting as they first appear. Reframing the abortion right as a matter of women’s equality may eliminate some of the constitutional hurdles facing a reproductive justice approach. The political obstacles may be just as surmountable. Understanding the history of the constitutional discourse concerning reproductive justice and reproductive rights may allow us to move beyond the impasse that has defined the relationship between the two for too long.


Urban History ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 5-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. G. Checkland

At the Leicester urban history conference in 1966 there was very little discussion of the relationship between public policy and urban history. There were some points at which linkages were implied, but these arose merely incidentally. There was no attempt to adopt public policy as a general perspective on urban development. Reciprocally, the planners paid no attention to the historians: Jim Dyos remarked that the largest part of ‘research and policy making is taking place without reference to the historians’. The picture has not greatly changed over the past 14 years. There have indeed been studies in which policy, its formation and limitations, have been implicit, but few in which they have played a central part.


2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-103
Author(s):  
William Glenn Gray

This essay explores the relationship between West Germany's “economic miracle” and the goal of reunification in the early postwar decades. It argues that Konrad Adenauer was reluctant to mobilize economic resources on behalf of German unity-instead he sought to win trust by proclaiming unswerving loyalty to the West. Ludwig Erhard, by contrast, made an overt attempt to exchange financial incentives for political concessions-to no avail. Both of these chancellors failed to appreciate how West Germany's increasing prosperity undermined its diplomatic position, at least in the near term, given the jealousies and misgivings it generated in Western capitals and in Moscow. Only a gradual process of normalization would allow all four of the relevant powers-France, Britain, the United States, and the USSR-to develop sufficient trust in the economically dynamic Federal Republic to facilitate the country's eventual unification.


1988 ◽  
Vol 4 (15) ◽  
pp. 258-263
Author(s):  
Paul Huntington

While statistical information on certain sectors of the British theatre is slowly becoming available – notably from the Arts Council and the Society of West End Theatre, as also from researchers in the Department of Arts Administration at the City University – few attempts have yet been made to draw useful conclusions from these figures, or to deduce how they might be helpful in terms of forward-planning and projections. In the following article. Paul Huntington examines the relationship between theatre revenue and total consumer expenditure, in the context of published figures which illustrate the changing national economic picture of the past decade. He examines not only the way in which these figures tend, naturally enough, to confirm certain expectations – for example, concerning the impact of tourism on the theatre – but also less expected findings, such as the relative upsurge in the fortunes of the regional theatres at a time of slump in the commercial sector of the West End.


1981 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Dyson

ELECTIONS HAVE ALWAYS CONSTITUTED A PARTICULARLY sharp rupture to the general character of the West German political process, which depends heavily on accommodation by elite negotiation. In the arenas of parliamentary and executive politics a pervasive style of amicable agreement exists at elite levels, and the political value of Sachlichkeit (objectivity) remains important. Hence, in the legislative period 1976–80 over 90 per cent of legislation passed the Bundestag unanimously. An inquisitorial, as opposed to adversary, style of politics plays an important role in the work of the powerful committees of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, the two legislative chambers in Bonn. Accordingly, and by contrast, elections tend to take on a remarkably dramatic character, even if, as in 1980, there appears to be little polarization of opinion about concrete issues of policy. British politics is, of course, characterized by the influence of the arena of electoral politics, of the ‘cut-and-thrust’ of competitive adversary politics, on other arenas of politics.


1980 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. C. McCaskie

The fundamental reasoning underlying this paper is that, in seeking to advance our understanding of the material basis of political power in pre-colonial African polities, particular attention must be paid to the detailed reconstruction over time of the triumviral relationship between office, land and subjects. Acknowledgement is freely made of the fact that, for many (if not most) areas of Africa, this type of reconstruction is either exceptionally difficult or frankly impossible. This paper is concerned with the West African forest kingdom of Asante (Ghana) – a case evincing considerable institutional continuity and structural vigour, and one, moreover, sufficiently richly documented to permit the type and level of reconstruction posited. Specifically, and taking into account the substantial body of research already carried out on the general political history of Asante, this paper deals with patterns of authority over land and subjects as evidenced by the offices contained within the Manwere – one of the ten administrative/military fekuo of Kumase. The Manwere was created by Asantehene Kwaku Dua Panin (1834–67), and in seeking to account for the political imperatives underlying the foundation, the paper explores the context of the reign and the biography and career of the first Manwerehene, Kwasi Brantuo. Particular attention is paid throughout to the way in which the relationship between office, land and subjects within the Manwere was modified or otherwise altered by the nature of the political vicissitudes through which the Asante polity passed in the period between – broadly – the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. Underlying the paper, and supplying context to its conclusions, is a general consideration of the philosophy of the Asante ethic concerning such matters as wealth and accumulation, the nature of authority, and the conceptualization of citizenship.


1953 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 1076-1091 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Keith-Lucas

The political theory implicit in social casework theory can be defined, for purposes of this discussion, as the theory of the relationship between man and society on which professional social casework is consciously predicated, or that theory of the relationship which is logically implied by social casework practice. This theory is not often consciously articulated and we must look for it, therefore, in those presuppositions underlying casework theory which are frequently accepted uncritically, if not wholly unconsciously. This practice obviously cannot be carried on without basic (although perhaps not entirely conscious) presuppositions about what man is like and consequently about what society can or ought to do for him.The presuppositions underlying social casework theory, although important in any context, have acquired a new significance to the extent that social casework has increasingly become a government function. During the past twenty years literally millions of people in the United States have been brought into a new relationship with officials of their local, state, and national governments—namely, the relationship of client and social caseworker.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulviyya Huseynova

<p>There have been large-scale complaints lately regarding the relationship between Turkey and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The basis of the mentioned allegations shows that Turkey is unwilling to take very strict measures regarding the security threat over its borders. This research paper examines the Turkish dilemma fighting against the ISIL threat and the contribution of Turkish policy in support of fighting ISIL. In recent meetings, U.S. officials mentioned that Turkey has made a mistake in the past with its borders. They criticize Turkey’s delayed reaction and failure to react strongly against ISIL, but that does not imply that Turkey supports a terrorist group or organization<strong>. </strong>Furthermore, Ankara has always argued that the rebels from Syria should be supported and moderated. But this point of reaction, which is even supported by the West, makes it impossible to differentiate between the 2 camps. The cross-over of arms as well, e.g. to control the deliveries of arms, is impossible to moderate. Turkey tries to keep away the emerging anti –ISIL coalition and does not support an attack on the group. It has been argued in the international view that Turkey cannot become a regional power without joining the fighting coalition against ISIL threat. However, the West and regional countries are trying to understand the Turkish reaction and they are concerned.</p>


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