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Class notes

Class notes Global History (6441HGH)

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These are my class notes for the course "Global History". It is a single document in which you can find notes for lectures 1 to 13. These notes were taken with Notion. The links at the very beginning of each class are not accessible, these were just the lectures' outlines I put in order for my note...

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  • April 16, 2022
  • 78
  • 2021/2022
  • Class notes
  • Dr. c. vergerio
  • All classes
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GH CLASS 1

https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/af9ec3c3-7b90-4880-b
5b8-2bbb44fbdfb3/GH_LECTURE_1.pdf




https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/1f76cc9f-7909-4388-8
c28-2f784833c665/GH_LECTURE_1_OUTLINE.pdf




Why study global history in an international
politics degree?
ISIS claims to have broken Sykes-Picot

Sykes-Picot: 1916 agreement between France and Britain about how to divide the middle
east - one of the reasons why the borders in the middle east are just straight lines that
perhaps don’t always properly separate populations as they normally should

Important for ISIS identity and its appeal - example of the contemporary importance of
history (framing - propaganda)

Actually the Sanremo conference did this, but people think it was Sykes-Picot

Most of the course focuses on pre-1900 history, some on the 20th century
Myth of Westphalia - supposed creation of the modern state system - wrong because it
ignores the fact that there were already a number of polities in other parts of the world + it's a
very blunt assertion to claim that the state system was made overnight

Also allowed for freedom of religion – this is actually a myth, this was actually
established in the Peace of Augsburg in 155 but Westphalia reversed it!

The treaties of Westphalia says nothing about sovereignty, non-intervention and balance
of power - all of those pere projected onto these treaties by 19th century historians


GH CLASS 1 1

, Now this has become a known truth/accepted norm

If you look at the treaties it gives you a good basis on how to create peace in the middle
east (Why an old framework could work, Foreign Affairs, October 2016)

Could be another Sykes-Picot? Westerners imposing their will on the middle east

There already borders and lines existing?

A lot of things exist now that did not exist then: national identity!

Analytically some things were fundamentally different about the way the world and
conflicts operated then and now (national identity, new sovereign states)

Purpose of the course:

Tools that help you use history when looking at and understanding the present

Think critically when you see a historical reference and comparison to the present

FAQs

Why study the past instead of analysing the present and analysing the future? Our
knowledge of the past is the most useful tool for understanding the present and we can't
really predict the future. Perhaps it is impossible to understand the present fully.

The owl of minerva only spreads its wings only with the falling of dusk (Hegels) -
you only have the knowledge of what happens when its getting close

Do theorists really need to study history? “History is your lab” - shows patterns that may
allow for causality to be established etc - a closet of facts that theorists can use to test
their theories. Good theory comes from good history - otherwise you will miss out on
key points that undermine your theories.

What is good enough history for future IR specialists and how much do you need to
know? Perhaps they are not so separate disciplines. 20 year crisis by EH Carr is one of
the foundational texts of IR - he also wrote “What is history?’Carr was a historian!

Approaches to history in IR: a spectrum

Closet fo facts (neorealism)

The past is just a bunch of facts that you use to test your theories

Considers history to be this monotonous repetition of stuff (e.g. anarchy point in the
international system)

“History never changes”

Emphasises continuities


GH CLASS 1 2

, Shopping list (poststructuralism)

Past is just a series of minor events and accidents that end up having huge impacts
(butterfly effect)

Instead of identifying patterns, anything that happens is super random

No discernable patterns - history changes for really random reasons and its different
all the time

Emphasises discontinuity

Two polar opposites and very extreme ways of thinking about history

Middle way approaches

Constructivism,, english school, historical sociology etc

Nuanced, but sitting between the two aforementioned - somehow uncomfortable but
helps theorise a bit clearer

Use history in some detail

Still try to establish patterns

This is where we are going to be operating in this class (both continuity and
discontinuity)

What has remained the same? What has changed?

Essential conceptual tools to study history

History

The general study of the past

Non-fictional account of the past

Neither an art nor a science - it is a craft

Constructs and tells stories about the evidence of the past

Historians need to source through evidence as best as they can in order to
reconstruct an event

They also have to try and explain why events matter - interpret the meaning of
events

Try to find structure and meaning in the chaos of the past




GH CLASS 1 3

, Misconception: just stories =/= but historians don't just tell stories, they make
arguments and eventually answer a number of questions (why? How? Who? What is
the meaning of the events studied in terms of the past and the present?)

Metahistory

Emphasises patterns and regularities and tries to tell a story about the larger meaning
of history

Its about big ideas

Super popular in the 19th century, history towards an end-point, teliology

E.g. marxists: all of history is about class struggle, liberals: all is about progress etc

After WWII historians focused on microhistory (focus on specific events)

Over the past 10 years, meta/macrohistory has made a comeback (maybe because it
can be so politically powerful)

Longue duree: take a long view of history to to identify long term patterns

Antihistory

The idea that because historians interpret things to tell us why they matter, and
because there is so much subjectivity, history might be in the fictional realm

Fiction and nonfiction are identical

Particularly relevant in the age of “fake news” and “post-truth”

E.g. the moon landing was a hoax, the holocaust never happened etc

Relativism: there is no truth out there and all narratives are equal

Antihistory is fiction and NOT history

Big history is not the same as global history

It is also called universal history and also world history

Refers to the history of the world since the big bang

Integrates a bunch of natural sciences

E.g. The history of our world in 18 minutes by David Christian (video - probably
available on Youtube)

Global history

Also called world history



GH CLASS 1 4

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