Trials of the Past: A Theoretical Approach to State Centralisation in Afghanistan

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-159
Author(s):  
Aidan Parkes
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The Past ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
German Sociologist

German sociologist Max Weber observes that the centralisation of administrative function is imperative to a stable nation state. Yet, despite this sovereign necessity, attempts at incorporating heterogeneous sociopolitical entities into a cohesive society eluded nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Afghanistan. Ahmad Shah Durrani is known as the father of Afghanistan. He bears this title because he unified a collection of tribes and established a pseudo-confederation of territories in 1747. However, the following two centuries were less constructive and subsequent state centralisation was fraught and ultimately fruitless for Afghanistan. Contemporaneous centralisation remains embryonic and strained by tribal clout. It is within this context that nineteenth- and twentieth-century Afghan amirs, khans, and kings attempted to modernise, centralise, and unify a consortium of conservative tribal microsocieties. Many of the same complications of the nineteenth and twentieth century continue to obfuscate modern Afghanistan.

The Obligation to Choose

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Crossland
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Close Attention ◽  
The Past ◽  
Light Quanta ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
Wave Particle Duality ◽  
Night And Day ◽  
Scientific Ideas

Chapter 1 explores Woolf’s writings up to the end of 1925 in relation to scientific ideas on wave-particle duality, providing the ‘retrospect of Woolf’s earlier novels’ which Michael Whitworth has suggested shows that she was working ‘in anticipation of the physicists’. The chapter as a whole challenges this idea of anticipation, showing that Woolf was actually working in parallel with physicists, philosophers, and artists in the early twentieth century, all of whom were starting to question dualistic models and instead beginning to develop complementary ones. A retrospect on wave-particle duality is also provided, making reference to Max Planck’s work on quanta and Albert Einstein’s development of light quanta. This chapter pays close attention to Woolf’s writing of light and her use of conjunctions, suggesting that Woolf was increasingly looking to write ‘both/and’ rather than ‘either/or’. Among other texts, it considers Night and Day, Mrs Dalloway, and ‘Sketch of the Past’.

scholarly journals ‘From Zionism to Communism’: Emilio Sereni and the Consiglio di Gestione in postwar Italy

Modern Italy ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Andrea Bonfanti
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Previous Experience ◽  
Past Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
Postwar Italy

This essay demonstrates that it is impossible to appreciate the actions of the Italian communist Emilio Sereni without considering his Zionist background. Anyone who is interested in understanding the complexities of communism in the past century and to avoid simplistic conclusions about this ideology will benefit from the study. The problem at stake is that researchers often approach communism in a monolithic manner, which does not adequately explain the multiform manifestations (practical and theoretical) of that phenomenon. This ought to change and to this extent this essay hopes to contribute to that recent strand of historical research that challenges simplistic views on communism. More specifically, by analysing the Management Councils that Sereni created in postwar Italy, we can see that many of their features in fact derived from, or found their deepest origins in, his previous experience as a committed socialist Zionist. The study, then, also relates Sereni to and looks at the broader experiences of early twentieth-century Zionism and Italian communism in the early postwar years.

Christianity, Plurality and Vernacular Religion in early Twentieth-Century Glastonbury: A Sign of Things to Come?

2015 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 302-321
Author(s):  
Marion Bowman
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Considerable Heterogeneity ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Past ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
Vernacular Religion ◽  
Important Time ◽  
To Come ◽  
Shed Light

This essay focuses upon a significant place, Glastonbury, at an important time during the early twentieth century, in order to shed light on a particular aspect of Christianity which is frequently overlooked: its internal plurality. This is not simply denominational diversity, but the considerable heterogeneity which exists at both institutional and individual level within denominations, and which often escapes articulation, awareness or comment. This is significant because failure to apprehend a more detailed, granular picture of religion can lead to an incomplete view of events in the past and, by extension, a partial understanding of later phenomena. This essay argues that by using the concept of vernacular religion a more nuanced picture of religion as it is – or has been – lived can be achieved.

In International Pursuit of a Caliphate

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
New Age ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
New Models ◽  
Muslim Intellectuals ◽  
Post War

This chapter analyzes the vibrant discussions of the early twentieth century over how to revive a caliphate best suited to the post-war era. While some advocated preservation of a traditional caliphal figurehead, many Muslim intellectuals were greatly persuaded by new models of internationalism embracing the nation-state and proposed international caliphal councils and organizations, similar to the League of Nations, or other purportedly spiritual institutions, similar to the refashioned papacy, to preserve the bonds of a transregional religious community. To varying degrees, all the participants in the debate over reviving a twentieth-century caliphate were influenced by an intriguing confluence of both the historic transregionalism of the Muslim community as well as the modern thrust of the new age of global internationalism.

Swanscombe: A Standard Stone-Age Sequence for Britain?

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Geological Survey ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
The Past ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
Apparent Loss ◽  
Differences Of Opinion ◽  
Age Sequence

In the early twentieth century, Palaeolithic research seemed to be flourishing on the Continent. Commont was carrying out groundbreaking work in the Somme, and rich hauls were being recovered from the reindeer-caves of France and Spain. France could also boast a research centre: the Institute of Human Palaeontology, where Boule, Breuil, and Obermaier held posts. Britain, though, was weighed down by nostalgia: unfavourable contrasts were being drawn between current research and the glorious decades of the past when Evans and Prestwich had brought such renown to British investigations. This apparent loss of impetus was noted abroad. Boule considered the British to have sunk into insularity after 1875, never to regain their early brilliance; in 1912, Breuil remarked at a luncheon party in Cambridge that no one in England knew anything about prehistory. The British Museum’s Guide to the Antiquities of the Stone Age, published in 1911 at the height of Commont’s work, declared: ‘the French system has now been revised in the light of recent discoveries, and is the basis of all Continental classifications’. It was regretted that the English river drifts had still not received any systematic excavations, and that the implements in these sediments still lay in confusion. This Guide was produced by Reginald Smith of the British Museum under the direction of Charles Hercules Read (1857–1929). In 1912, the same year that Breuil made his disparaging comment, Read arranged for Smith to excavate in one of the most productive Palaeolithic localities of the Thames Valley: Swanscombe village. Smith was assisted by Henry Dewey (1876–1965) of the Geological Survey, but the negotiations that gained Dewey’s help would also reveal differences of opinion between their two respective institutions about the value of Palaeolithic research. The connections drawn by Smith to the Continental sequence after working at Swanscombe would lift the gloom about British backwardness. These connections would also help draw the Palaeolithic and geological sequences closer together.

scholarly journals The origins of quantum biology

2018 ◽  
Vol 474 (2220) ◽  
pp. 20180674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnjoe McFadden ◽  
Jim Al-Khalili
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Enzyme Catalysis ◽  
Quantum Biology ◽  
Classical Physics ◽  
The Past ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
Biological Phenomena ◽  
Avian Navigation

Quantum biology is usually considered to be a new discipline, arising from recent research that suggests that biological phenomena such as photosynthesis, enzyme catalysis, avian navigation or olfaction may not only operate within the bounds of classical physics but also make use of a number of the non-trivial features of quantum mechanics, such as coherence, tunnelling and, perhaps, entanglement. However, although the most significant findings have emerged in the past two decades, the roots of quantum biology go much deeper—to the quantum pioneers of the early twentieth century. We will argue that some of the insights provided by these pioneering physicists remain relevant to our understanding of quantum biology today.

scholarly journals Henry Caldwell Cook, creativity and democratic learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-241
Author(s):  
John Howlett
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Democratic Education ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
Progressive Educator ◽  
Biographical Approach ◽  
Democratic Learning ◽  
Archival Study

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the life and work of a forgotten progressive educator – (Henry) Caldwell Cook who was an English and drama teacher at the Perse School in Cambridge, UK. By looking at his key work The Play Way (1917) as well as the small number of his other writings it further seeks to explain the distinctiveness of his thinking in comparison to his contemporaries with a particular focus upon educational democracy. Design/methodology/approach The work was constructed primarily through a reading of Cook’s published output but also archival study, specifically by examining the archives held within the Perse School itself. These consisted of rare copies of Cook’s written works – unused by previous scholars – and materials relating to Cook’s work in the school such as his theatre designs and a full collection of contemporary newspaper reviews. Findings The paper contends that Cook’s understanding of democracy and democratic education was different to that of other early twentieth century progressives such as Edmond Holmes and Harriet Finlay-Johnson. By so doing it links him to the ideas of progressivism emergent in America from John Dewey et al. who were more concerned with democratic ways of thinking. It therefore not only serves to resurrect Cook as a figure of importance but also offers new insights into early twentieth century progressivism. Originality/value The value of the paper is that it expands what little previous writing there has been on Cook as well as using unused materials. It also seeks to use a biographical approach to start to better delineate progressive educators of the past thereby moving away from seeing them as a homogenous grouping.

Province and Nation: The Chekiang Provincial Autonomy Movement, 1917–1927

1977 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 661-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Keith Schoppa
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Nation State ◽  
National Integration ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Administrative Efficiency ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
Distribution Of Power ◽  
Provincial Autonomy

Humiliated and shaken by the depredations of the imperialist nations, early twentieth-century Chinese leaders sought the establishment of a strong nation-state. Bitter struggles over the means to reach that goal—primarily over the distribution of political power—ended in the demise of the Ch'ing, the defeat of Yuan Shih-k'ai, and the turmoil of the “warlord” period. After Yuan's death in 1916, the dispute over distribution of power thrust into serious consideration the model of a federation for building a nation out of China's disparate regions and interests. Some felt that a federation was perhaps a more effective integrating form than the centralized bureaucratic model the late Ch'ing and Yuan Shih-k'ai had supported. The debate was not new in China. However, during the empire, proponents of centralization (chün-hsien) and decentralization (feng-chien) had been concerned with finding the form that would produce the greatest stability and administrative efficiency; now the Chinese were obsessed with the issue for life-and-death reasons. 2 Rapid national integration seemed imperative for China's survival. In 1901, Liang Ch'i-ch'ao had discussed the possibilities of a Chinese federation; 3 but, until 1916, federalism was effectively submerged by the centralizers. Amid increasing turmoil after Yuan's death, federalism seemed to provide an answer to chaotic instability.

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