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Think critically when you see a historical reference and comparison to the present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