Dhobi Scabies: Domestic Servants and Hygiene in English Homes in Colonial India

In colonial India the sickness and mortality rate among the British was significantly higher than among their compatriots in the metropolis. The native servants working for the British, who were in close contact with their masters and connected between the colonial houses and the outside tropical world, were considered one of the sources of infections. They themselves were its carriers, or carried out their duties in such a way that they unwittingly provoked the spread of disease. Thus, the servants not only crossed the boundaries of the masters’ private spaces, which was dictated by their professional mission, but also unauthorizedly violated the integrity of the physical shells of English bodies, exerting a harmful effect on their internal organs and nervous systems. The fear, anxiety and physical malaise acquired by the European masters through this negative contact were an incentive for the development of protective mechanisms, some of which can be combined with the concept of hygiene...

From East / West to Global Historiography

The article considers the historiographical situation in the world science, the exhaustion of the heuristic potential of the traditional East/West binary opposition and the displacement of its new West / Rest. The formation of «global historiography» is traced, its cultural and historical prerequisites in the origin of the discipline «general history» in Russia are revealed. At the same time, the initial assumptions of the anti-globalist trend in modern historiography, associated with the search for national identity, are revealed. It is noted the appeal of conservative Russian thought to the Byzantine heritage, to the spiritual potential of Asian societies.

History of world Indology in modern historiography

The reason for the article was «History of Indian History» by Leonid Alaev. The book poses several general theoretical questions about the importance of historiography as a «self-reflection» of historical science, the relationship between historical knowledge and historical consciousness. It focuses on the impact on the scientific process of political interests and the search for national identity, which determines the difference of individual national schools. The author of the book shows that for all the differences of the latter, the common logic of the scientific process, which is represented by the folding and evolution of Indology as a world scientific discipline, breaks through the road.

CHIPKO: BREAKING AN ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT IN INDIA

The article examines the formation of the Chipko environmental movement, whose activity in 1980 led to the suspension of long-term deforestation in northern India. The historical connection of Chipko with the campaigns of forest satyagraha, which were widespread in northern India during the struggle for independence, is examined. It is shown what role such Gandhian leaders as Mira Behn and Sarala Behn played in transforming the goals of satyagraha. Attention is drawn to the role of such a women's organization as Sarvodaya Mandal, which has become Chipko's organizational basis. The important organizational and philosophical role of such an environmental movement leader as Sunderlal Bahuguna, who became Chipko's true soul, is shown. The role of Vandana Shiva, which is not only a researcher of the Chipko movement, but is also a leading environmental theorist and practitioner of modern India, is examined.

Epidemics and the changing world order: China and its perception by Western observers in the context of global history

The article is analyzed the place of China in a context of a global history of epidemics, representations of the western observers about the reasons of occurrence of dangerous infections in territory of this country, and changing role of China within the limits of a changing world order. The long period of history from the outbreak of the bubonic plague in Hong Kong in 1894 to the pandemic of coronavirus infection that began in late 2019 in Wuhan is considered. In the context of the global history of epidemics, China was long perceived as having poor governance mechanisms. In the first two decades of the 21th century, China confidently became a country with a powerful economy and an efficient administrative and political system. The article concludes that the current world crisis, which symbolizes this pandemic, will not only strengthen China's position on the international arena, but will contribute to changing the world order, where China will take its place as one of the main centers of power in the XXI century.