scholarly journals Kulturwissenschaft in der Ermüdung? Anmerkungen zu einer Neuorientierung

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-55
Author(s):  
Doris Bachmann-Medick
Keyword(s):  
Research Process ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
History Of ◽  
Translational Approach

Abstract Starting from the conviction that the study of culture(s) is much broader than a philosophizing history of ideas approach (one that often retains implicit Eurocentric assumptions), this article is a plea for a reorientation of the study of culture through the demonstration of a stronger commitment to a sociological, empirical and transcultural approach in the study of culture. Instead of focusing on cultural syntheses (i.e. along the main signatures and „Zeitgeist“ symptoms of epochs), my argument redirects attention to particularities, hidden dimensions, and the formation of differences, to cultural countermovements and contradictions. The article suggests a more complex and action-oriented „translational“ approach. It aims to foster a critical self-reflection of the research process of the study of culture itself with regard to its analytical concepts, its societal and ethical concerns, and its fruitful convergence of disciplines.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James McElvenny
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

This chapter sets the scene for the case studies that follow in the rest of the book by characterising the ‘age of modernism’ and identifying problems relating to language and meaning that arose in this context. Emphasis is laid on the social and political issues that dominated the era, in particular the rapid developments in technology, which inspired both hope and fear, and the international political tensions that led to the two World Wars. The chapter also sketches the approach to historiography taken in the book, interdisciplinary history of ideas.

Stanisław Swianiewicz wobec mniejszości narodowych i wielokulturowości Kresów Wschodnich Rzeczypospolitej

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (XXII) ◽  
pp. 7-20
Author(s):  
Benon Gaziński ◽  
Maria Swianiewicz-Nagięć
Keyword(s):  
Economic Thought ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Mass Graves ◽  
History Of

In his article, authors deals with Stanisław Swianiewicz heritage. They point-out that it cannot be reduced to the famous episode of the Katyń massacre while he avoided death being sent to the Gwiezdowo station in the neighbourhood of the mass graves – the only one such a case. While settled in Vilnius, after the Bolshevik’s revolution, he became a Professor of the Stefan Batory University, dealing with the Soviet studies, history of ideas and economic thought. In the article – very little known – journalistic essays are overviewed as published by Swianiewicz in pre-war Vilnius press and dealing with the issue of the national and religious minorities of the Polish Eastern Borderlands.

Louis Menand: The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America. 2001. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 546 pp.

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 201-204
Author(s):  
Lance Kenney
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Cold War ◽  
William James ◽  
The United States ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Cultural Impact ◽  
Oliver Wendell Holmes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Charles Peirce ◽  
The Cold War

Louis Menand’s The Metaphysical Club, daunting in its choice of subject matter, closely aligns itself with the ancient sense of the word ‘history’ as a fluid, almost epic narrative. The Metaphysical Club of the title was a conversation group that met in Cambridge for a few months in 1872. Its membership roster listed some of the greatest intellectuals of the day: Charles Peirce, William James, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Chauncey Wright, amongst others. There is no record of the Club’s discussions or debates—in fact, the only direct reference to the Club is made by Peirce in a letter written thirty-five years later. Menand utilizes the Club as a jumping-off point for a sweeping analysis of the beliefs of the day. The subtitle of the book belies its true mission: ‘a story of ideas in America.’ Menand discusses the intellectual and social conditions that helped shape these men by the time they were members of the Club. He then shows the philosophical, political, and cultural impact that these men went on to have. In doing so, Menand traces a history of ideas in the United States from immediately prior to the Civil War to the beginning of the Cold War.

International Legal Thought

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Kleinlein
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Critical Potential ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Legal Thought ◽  
History Of ◽  
Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries

This contribution reflects on the role of tradition-building in international law, the implications of the recent ‘turn to history’ and the ‘presentisms’ discernible in the history of international legal thought. It first analyses how international legal thought created its own tradition in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These projects of establishing a tradition implied a considerable amount of what historians would reject as ‘presentism’. Remarkably, critical scholars of our day and age who unsettled celebratory histories of international law and unveiled ‘colonial origins’ of international law were also criticized for committing the ‘sin of anachronism’. This contribution therefore examines the basis of this critique and defends ‘presentism’ in international legal thought. However, the ‘paradox of instrumentalism’ remains: The ‘better’ historical analysis becomes, the more it loses its critical potential for current international law. At best, the turn to history activates a potential of disciplinary self-reflection.

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