The History of Physics after the Cultural Turn

George L. Mosse took a ‘cultural turn’ in the latter part of his career, but still early enough to make a pioneering contribution to the study of political culture and in particular what he called political ‘liturgy’, including marches, processions, and practices of commemoration. He adapted to the study of nationalism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the approach to the history of ritual developed by historians of medieval and early modern Europe, among them his friend Ernst Kantorowicz. More recently, the concept of ritual, whether religious or secular, has been criticized by some cultural historians on the grounds that it implies a fixed ‘script’ in situations that were actually marked by fluidity and improvisation. In this respect cultural historians have been part of a wider trend that includes sociologists and anthropologists as well as theatre scholars and has been institutionalized as Performance Studies. Some recent studies of contemporary nationalism in Tanzania, Venezuela and elsewhere have adopted this perspective, emphasizing that the same performance may have different meanings for different sections of the audience. It is only to be regretted that Mosse did not live long enough to respond to these studies and that their authors seem unaware of his work.

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A Short History of Physics in the American Century

The Physics Teacher ◽

10.1119/1.4872431 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 52 (5) ◽

pp. 319-319

Keyword(s):

History Of Physics ◽

Short History ◽

American Century ◽

History Of

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Reproductions of Prints, Drawings and Paintings of Interest in the History of Physics. 37. Rubens as a Scientific Illustrator

American Journal of Physics ◽

10.1119/1.1991063 ◽

1948 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 183-184 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

E. C. Watson

Keyword(s):

History Of Physics ◽

History Of

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Tolerance and integrity at Johns Hopkins

Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences ◽

10.1525/hsps.2007.37.2.463 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 463-474

Author(s):

Robert Marc Friedman

Keyword(s):

History Of Science ◽

History Of Physics ◽

Conceptual History ◽

Great Freedom ◽

Departmental Culture ◽

Academic Mentoring ◽

History Of

The Department of History of Science at Johns Hopkins shaped by Harry Woolf and Robert H. Kargon brought together diverse scholars who nevertheless shared a basic outlook. Historical questions and scholarly craft took precedent over theo-retical or historiographic positioning. At the same time, students were allowed great freedom to explore and develop new perspectives for analyzing science historically. When Russell McCormmach arrived in Baltimore in the fall of 1972, he joined a departmental culture of intellectual tolerance and forthright expres-sion. In paying homage to Russ and the department I illuminate the departmental culture into which Russ entered, Russ's seminars and academic mentoring, and .nally Russ's vision for combining art and scholarship. Russ shared a deep affection for solid conceptual history of physics while supporting our ventures into new historiographic terrain.

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Pierre Bourdieu, the ‘cultural turn’ and the practice of international history

Review of International Studies ◽

10.1017/s026021050800795x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 155-181 ◽

Cited By ~ 43

Author(s):

PETER JACKSON

Keyword(s):

Pierre Bourdieu ◽

Social Actors ◽

International History ◽

Cultural Roots ◽

Cultural Orientations ◽

Structural Environment ◽

The Social ◽

Collective Actors ◽

History Of ◽

Cultural Turn

AbstractThe rise of the ‘cultural turn’ has breathed new life into the practice of international history over the past few decades. Cultural approaches have both broadened and deepened interpretations of the history of international relations. This article focuses on the use of culture as an explanatory methodology in the study of international history. It outlines the two central criticisms often made of this approach. The first is that it suffers from a lack of analytical rigour in both defining what culture is and understanding how it shapes individual and collective policy decisions. The second is that it too often leads to a tendency to exaggerate the importance of the cultural predispositions of individual or collective actors at the expense of the wider structures within which policymaking takes place. The article provides a brief outline of the social theory of Pierre Bourdieu – which focuses on the interaction between the cultural orientations of social actors and the structural environment that conditions their strategies and decisions. It then argues that Bourdieu’s conceptual framework can provide the basis for a more systematic approach to understanding the cultural roots of policymaking and that international historians would benefit from engagement with his approach.

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