The Journal of Early Modern History, 1994–2010: Some Personal Recollections

When Simon Ditchfield asked me for a contribution to the anniversary issue, it seemed the right occasion for a brief origin story, with reference to some of the many colleagues who had a hand in launching The Journal of Early Modern History.

What is Early Modern History?: An Origin Story

What Is Early Modern History?, a volume in the Polity Press “What Is History?” series, is an origin story of the ways historians and those in other fields have seen – and contested – the roots of the modern world and have seen – and contested – whether the period between 1450 and 1800 forms some sort of coherent whole. This essay explains the book’s conceptualization and organization into various subfields, including economic, social, intellectual, cultural, gender, Atlantic world, and environmental history, and responds to the other essays in this forum. The essay and the book discuss the marks of an emerging modernity that have been advanced in different subfields, and ways these have been questioned, nuanced, and rethought. No matter what aspect of life historians investigate, they are likely to see the roots of modernity there, or of multiple modernities, varied and contingent on culture and historical circumstances.

Mitos dan Banjir

Abstrak: Banjir besar melanda bumi Kalimantan Selatan pada awal Januari 2021. Pada saat yang sama, muncul mitos-mitos yang berhubungan dengan banjir besar ini. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguraikan mitos yang muncul pada saat banjir, menjelaskan hubungan antara banjir (lingkungan) dan mitos ini, dan mengungkap penyebab pengaruhnya kepada masyarakat. Ada beberapa tahapan dalam penelitian ini; Pertama, mendata mitos-mitos yang muncul pada saat banjir besar bulan Januari 2021; Kedua, menghubungkan dan mencari sumber mitos itu dari sastra lisan di Kalimantan Selatan. Ketiga, Mengungkapkan makna mitos tersebut. Keempat, menganalisis mitos-mitos dengan menggunakan teori ekokritik Garrard. Kelima, menghubungkan antara mitos dengan masyarakat serta pengaruh mitos itu dalam masyarakat. Ada dua mitos yang muncul pada saat banjir di Kalimantan Selatan, yaitu mitos naga dan mitos keladi. Mitos naga bersumber dari adanya cerita naga penunggu Sungai Barito dalam cerita Asal Mula Sungai Barito dan Sungai Amandit dalam cerita Legenda Lok Sinaga. Sementara itu, mitos keladi berkaitan dengan pamali yang dipercaya orang Banjar. Kedua mitos ini merefleksikan kebudayaan Banjar yang berkaitan dengan isu lingkungan. Mitos naga merupakan kritik sosial terhadap kondisi pegunungan Meratus yang sudah memprihatinkan akibat pertambangan dan perkebunan sawit, sedangkan mitos keladi merupakan kritik untuk bersikap adil terhadap hutan. Kedua mitos ini juga menunjukkan sikap urang Banjar yang tidak menyalahkan alam, lingkungan, dan cuaca, tetapi menyalahkan diri sendiri karena tidak mampu merawat alam.Kata kunci: mitos, naga, keladi, banjir, dan kerusakan lingkungan Abstract: A big flood hit South Kalimantan in early January 2021. At the same time, the myths related to this big flood came out. The research objectives are first, to describe the myths that came out during the flood, second, to explain the relationship between floods (environment) and these myths, the third, to reveal the causes of their effects on society. There are several stages in this research; First, to list the myths that emerged during the great flood in January 2021; Second, connecting and finding the source of the myth from oral literature in South Kalimantan. Third, revealing the meaning of the myth. Fourth, analyzing myths using Garrard's eco-critical theory. Fifth, connecting myths with society and the influence of these myths in society. Two myths emerged during the big flood in South Kalimantan, namely the dragon myth and the taro myth. The myth of the dragon comes from the story of the dragon guarding the Barito River in the origin story of the Barito River and the Amandit River in the Legend of Lok Sinaga. The taro myth relates to pamali believed by the Banjar people. These two myths reflect Banjar culture relates to environmental issues. The dragon myth is a social critique of the condition of the Meratus mountains, which is already alarming due to mining and oil palm plantations. Meanwhile, the taro myth is a criticism of being wise to the forest. These two myths also show the attitude of the Banjar people who do not blame nature, the environment, and the weather but blame themselves for ignorance of nature. Key word: myth, dragon, taro flood, and environmental damage

Reimagining Social Work Ancestry: Toward Epistemic Decolonization

Contextualizing disciplinary histories through the personal stories of forerunners creates compelling narratives of the craft of evolving professions. By looking to our intellectual and practitioner ancestors, we participate in a dialogue with a history that shapes our contemporary professional identities and aspirations for the future. Grounded in a decolonizing approach to social work, this article examines how the discipline shapes its professional identity and ways of knowing by centering the role of canonical founders in the social work curriculum. The global social work origin story in the curriculum often centers on Anglo-American ancestors that illustrate the development of the disciplinary boundaries of the international profession. One method of decolonizing social work epistemology at the intersection of ancestors and professional lineage could be to look to public history as a pedagogical tool in the curriculum. The article concludes by examining the use of podcasts as having the potential to decolonize the process of collecting, analyzing, and disseminating local knowledge of ancestors thus challenging the top-down approach to expert-driven epistemologies.

Art and Argument: Indigitization of a Kiowa Historical Map for Teaching and Research

How might we teach undergraduate students about Indigenous geographies using historical maps? This paper describes processes associated with the bridging of a historical Kiowa map with computerized geographic information systems (GIS) and undergraduate geography curriculum. The authors applied an indigital framework as an approach for melding Indigenous and Western knowledge systems into a third kind of construct for teaching undergraduate students about historical/contemporary spatial issues. Indigital is the blending of Indigenous knowledge systems, such as storytelling, language, calendar keeping, dance, and songs, with computerized systems. We present an origin story about the indigitization of a historical Kiowa pictorial map, known as the Chál-ko-gái map, at the University of Missouri, USA. Undergraduate student engagement with the map resulted in new questions about Indigenous geographies, particularly map projections, place names, and the meaning of Kiowa symbols.

Legends of Lace: Commerce and Ideology in Narratives of Women’s Domestic Craft Production

Although a relatively recent invention (c. 1500), many legends have accumulated around the origins of lace, more than have been recorded for other crafts. Almost every region involved in pillow or needle lace had its own origin story: I will concentrate on those circulating in Italy, Catalonia, France, Belgium, and England. Lacemaking was a poorly paid, dispersed and overwhelmingly female occupation, but none the less it had a strong craft tradition, including the celebration of particular saints’ feastdays. The legends drew on elements of this work culture, and especially the strong connections to royal courts and the Catholic Church, but they did not originate among lacemakers themselves. Rather they were authored by persons – lace merchants and other patrons – who in the nineteenth century took on the task of defending homemade lace in its drawn-out conflict with machine-made alternatives. Legends first circulated in print, in lace histories, newspapers and magazines, before transferring to other media such as the stage, historical pageants, even the visual arts. More recently they have continued to propagate on the web. While not originally oral narratives, they behave much like legends in oral storytelling environments: they are usually unsourced; they accumulate and shed motifs; they adapt to new circumstances and audiences. They were told with the intention of creating a special status for handmade lace, and to mobilize protectors and consumers.