History Congress Research Articles

Faith in the Stars and Architecture: Astrology as an Interpretation of Religious Permanence and the Birth of Modernity

In 1912, Aby Warburg presented his interpretation of the frescoes at the Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara at the 10th International Congress of Art History in Rome. The decision to expound his theory in an academic setting was no coincidence: Warburg’s work, and the subsequent studies of Fritz Saxl, sought to centre the attention of art history on the complex world of astrological studies. The history of astrology demonstrated—via iconological analysis—the migration of knowledge from East to West. Warburg’s innovation was to superimpose the trauma of historical-artistic paths on this network. Through the Schifanoia frescoes, he could reflect upon how an international comparison with the surviving figurative concepts of Eastern Mediterranean civilisations had generated the stylistic transformation of the human figure in Italian art. Warburg defined astrology as ancient religion’s most tenacious form of hidden survival. He traced a path of continuity through art and its relationship to the architectural space hosting it. Astrological illustrations not only enable us to reconstruct the warp and weft of religious permanence but serve as a tool to explain the procedures of iconographic change that led to the Renaissance. After the collapse of paganism, many astrological images survived into the Middle Ages as symbols associated with the essences appropriated by Christianity as its own. A complex store of astrological iconography that migrated from classical cultures and reappeared during the Renaissance's construction of a universal language. Some foretastes emerge in medieval buildings; after a long period in which Christianity and astrology were considered incompatible, astrological language completed and provided meaning to the architecture that welcomed it. Such is the case of the Palazzo della Ragione in Padua. This paper aims to retrace the most significant paths of this migration of symbols through the analysis of such examples of Renaissance architecture as Villa Farnesina in Rome and the aforementioned Palazzo Schifanoia. It will also reflect on the position and training of the architect during the Renaissance and on how astrology was considered both magical thought and a mathematical description that would lead to the discovery of infinity. It is notable that the Farnesina’s astrological contents were dictated by Baldassarre Peruzzi, the building’s architect.

A Man of Intellectual Integrity: А Philosopher, a Culturologist, a Logician (Solonin Yury Nikiforovich – Scientist of St. Petersburg State University)

The 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg (Leningrad) State University (February 2024) is an occasion to remember the wonderful scientists who devoted their entire lives to their beloved university. The article is devoted to the scientific work of the philosopher Yu. N. Solonin, noted for his contribution to the theory of philosophy, cultural studies, and communication studies. Yury Nikiforovich was born on June 5, 1941 in Tbilisi. After graduating in 1966 from the Faculty of Philosophy of Leningrad State University, named after A. A. Zhdanov, majoring in logic, he stayed to work at the university, until 1980 he taught at the Faculty of Philosophy, and in 1980 he became a professor at the Faculty of Journalism and Head of the Foreign Press Department, then Dean of the Faculty of Journalism, and in 1989, having defended his doctoral dissertation “Science as a subject of philosophical analysis”, was elected dean of the Faculty of Philosophy. He was elected to the State Duma as a single candidate from such parties as the Unity Party of Russia, Fatherland, SPS and Yabloko. In 2005 Yu. N. Solonin became a member of the Federation Council of Russia, putting the issues of culture and the development of civil society on a practical plane. The range of scientific interests of Yury Nikiforovich Solonin is practically inexhaustible. He addresses not only the history of philosophy and culture, but also the political and ideological life of Russian society, the role of mass media in its development. A scientist is an excellent organizer of science. In the 1990s he managed to preserve the best traditions and maintain the scientific educational status of philosophy. The famous scientist became vice-president of the Russian Philosophical Society and led the work of the first Russian Philosophical Congress in Russian history in 1997. The tradition of the Days of St. Petersburg Philosophy, conceived by Yury Nikiforovich as a large-scale scientific event, is still alive. As part of the Days, several international and all-Russian representative conferences are held annually in November. Circle of scientific interests of Yu. N. Solonin is practically inexhaustible. He addresses not only the history of philosophy and culture, but also the political and ideological life of Russian society, writes about the role of mass media in its development. A scientist is an excellent organizer of science. In the 1990s he managed to preserve the best traditions and maintain the scientific educational status of philosophy. The famous scientist became vice-president of the Russian Philosophical Society and led the work of the first Russian Philosophical Congress in Russian history in 1997. The significance of this scientific publication is the fact that it contains the philosophical ideas of Solonin, which were ahead of their time in many respects and have not lost their relevance and today can be filled with new meanings.

China, the Awakened Giant

The history of Chinese medicine is as long and legendary as that of the country itself. Its origins date back 3000 years [1]. Scientific knowledge and medical practice has gone through numerous stages. Between the 8th and 3rd centuries BC, China went through a period of great cultural and intellectual development called the “Hundred Schools of Thought” [2]. An attempt was made to seek the explanation of the phenomena of the universe in nature itself, leaving aside explanations based on magic and myths [2]. The new ideas discussed and developed during this period have profoundly influenced philosophical views and lifestyles up to the present day in East Asian countries. A fundamental milestone was the publication of “Huangdi Neijing“. Also known as the “Inner Canon of Huangdi“ or “Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor“, it is the earliest surviving work on Chinese medicine[3]. Its author, Emperor Huangdi, is not only considered the initiator of Chinese Traditional Medicine but also the father of Chinese civilization. Caring for the health of the population has been a priority in this country throughout the centuries. As a history lover, it is difficult for me to find another example of a nation embarking on an unequal war to defend its public health. This happened when the Western powers, led by the British Empire, sought to create opium addiction among the Chinese population in order to balance their trade balance by trafficking drugs [4]. These infamous conflicts went down in history as the “Opium Wars” and cost the lives of thousands of Chinese citizens. In the last decades, China’s healthcare system has made great achievements in the management of medical services and public health for the Chinese people[5]. Average life expectancy at birth was 35 years before the founding of new China, and it reached 77.0 years in 2018 [6]. The projected life expectancy at birth in mainland China in 2035 is 81,3 years [7]. On April 6, 2009, China presented an action plan to undertake a radical and ambitious reform of the health system [8]. The goal is to achieve universal health coverage. The history of shock waves in this country is a reflection of the described dynamism and historical background. The beginnings of its use in China can be traced back to the 1980s in the urological field. Prof. Xing Gengyan was the pioneer of indications in musculoskeletal pathology starting in 1993. Since that moment he has been a promoter not only of research and clinical applications, but also of medical education. In 2019, he organized in Beijing the largest international shock wave congress in history. It is a great honor that he has contributed to this issue by writing about the development of this therapeutic practice in China. In parallel with healthcare and academic development, the Chinese industry has risen to the occasion by providing high-quality devices. The content of this volume reflects not only the ability of our Chinese colleagues but also their openness to the world and their generosity in sharing information. Numerous universities and hospitals from different regions throughout China have collaborated selflessly. This could not have been accomplished without the monumental task of Dr. Sun Wei, our Guest Editor. Napoleon Bonaparte is credited with the phrase “China is a sleeping giant, when she wakes she will shake the world“. Two hundred years later the giant is awake and brimming with energy.

WEO Newsletter.

WEO Newsletter.

Six by five: Soviet and emigrant historians at the 7th International congress of historical sciences

The focus of the authors’ attention is the dialogue between emigrant historians and their Soviet colleagues during the International historical congress that was held in Warsaw in August 1933. It was the first congress that took place in a Slavic country. The main sources of research are the reports and accounts of the participants of the congress, presented in the form of publications in Soviet scientific magazines («Historian Marxist», «Class Struggle»), in emigrant periodicals («Russia and Svadom») and in European reviews («Revue historigue de droit francais et etranger»). The authors also use paperwork documents from the Foundation of the Institute of History of the Comacademy. The Soviet delegation consisted of six members, while there were five emigrant scientists, who were at the same time members of national delegations of other countries where they were living. The common interest of both sides, which appeared behind the congress venues, was recorded, the features of self-descriptions and presentations and self-presentation to the world scientific community were revealed. The constructed corporate portraits of each other were demonstrated. The conclusion was made that there was not a constructive dialogue between different sides. At the same time it was noted that there was not a provocative dialogue either, like one that occurred during the congress at Oslo. The reasons for this stagnation were identified. The authors of this article characterize prevailing atmosphere at the congress (let’s not quarrel) as «communicative plateau», that was connected with the increasingly complicated international situation of the early thirties.

A history of sport historiography in Brazil

The Brazilian Congress of Sport History, Leisure and Physical Education (CHELEF) is a traditional event in Latin America which has been celebrated for more than 25 years in Brazil. Current paper, focusing on bibliographic production, investigates sport historiography in Brazil as provided by the proceedings of the Brazilian Congress of Sport History, Leisure and Physical Education between 1993 and 2016. Proceedings provided 1517 texts, of which 694 focus on sports. The history of sport historiography took into account themes, source types, historical periods, theory and methodology and the most quoted authors/papers in the texts in the Proceedings. Current sports historiography in Brazil has tried to break away from the legitimization of official narratives which proved to be universals and based on the myth of their origin. New aims, sources and theories of history were required for the social and dynamic conditions of academic events and post-graduate courses.

Yamin’s sociocultural and mythical creation of colonized Indonesia by the Dutch for 350 years

This research aims to assess Muhammad Yamin’s sociocultural aspects in the process of developing the 350-year Dutch colonization of Indonesia myth. Descriptive qualitative research and Kuntowijoyo’s socio-cultural approach were used. A bibliographic search, document analysis, and data from the 1957 first national history congress, and M. Yamin’s profiles and academic manuscripts were used. Our results show that the myth of the 350-year Dutch colonization of Indonesia was deliberately created in 1936 to weaken the fighting spirit and unity of the Indonesian people. Then, M. Yamin adopted the myth to foster a fighting spirit of nationalism, patriotism, and unity in the Indonesian people during the colonial period. Critical historians eventually began to challenge Yamin’s version of philosophy of history. Moreover, G.J. Resink, in 1968, studied the myth of the 350-year Dutch colonization of Indonesia, successfully dispelling it. Finally, Indonesia accepted Resink and other researchers’ findings as a new historical fact in 2012.

The critique of the Westphalian peace narrative

The article studies perceptions of the Peace of Westphalia that were formed in the fields of international relations history and the general theory of international law as a result of conflicting doctrines, with some claiming the Westphalian treaties of 1648 are of universal significance for these scientific fields, and others, conversely, denying that these treaties had any sort of influence on the formation of a modern system of international relations and the formation of international law as a legal system. The article concludes that the treaties of the Peace of Westphalia does not actually contain many of the provisions attributed to them. These norms often arise only from their interpretation. However, the critics of the treaties’ significance for the history of international relations and their international legal regulationwho focused their attention only on the verbatim text of these documents while ignoring the historical conditions surrounding their development and adoption, failed to properly assess their impact. The Westphalian Congress was the first congress in world history that was pan-European in character. Its widely representative nature, the lengthy period of time during which it was held, the content of the treaties and the universally binding nature of their provisions, as well as the protocol rules, allow us to claim that the states of this world region started to identify themselves as part of a single pan-European international community. Moreover, the Congress also saw the creation, in a relatively short time, not only of treaties, but also of customary norms of general international law that were of fundamental importance for the formation of a new system of international relations. Despite the fact that most of the provisions of the Peace Treaty of Westphalia of 1648 havean applied nature, it is by no means an insignificant medieval treaty, the only virtue of which lies in it ending the Thirty Years' War. The Peace of Westphalia is an example of the first pan-European international treaty in world historywhich formulated a number of binding norms for all states of this part of the world. To sum up, the Westphalian Peace Treaty was, a historic breakthrough the creation of treaty norms of general international law, and therefore the it should be deemed a historical milestone in the creation of international law as a legal system.

Panoramic Ambitions: Collecting Rubens’s Oeuvre in Reproduction, 1877–1927

The art historical congress organised for the 1877 Rubens Year in Antwerp led to the establishment of a committee to collect Rubens’s works through engraved and photographic reproductions (1880–1910). Arguing that the art historical notion of oeuvre originated from the increasing reproducibility of works of art, this article contextualises the Committee’s collection and the fifty-year history of its public display. It does so to reveal the changing perception of graphic and photographic reproductions between the end of the nineteenth century and the interwar period. Whereas the two technologies were originally used interchangeably to obtain a comprehensive picture of Rubens’s oeuvre, they were eventually understood to fulfil separate functions; the first artistic, the second documentary. As a consequence, the Antwerp collection of Rubens’s oeuvre became dispersed.

THE RELATIONS BETWEEN KOSOVO NATIONAL PROTECTION COMMITTEE AND THE ALBANIAN GOVERNMENT DURING (1918-1924)

The Kosovo National Protection Committee (KNPC), which was founded in Shkodra on May 1, 1918, was one of the most important organizations of Albanian political pluralism in the years 1918-1924. The Committee had a broad political, democratic and national program that would have played the role of the government for Kosovo and strongly represented its voice. With such a status, the Committee could play an important role in Albanian political life at that time. Hoping that the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 would resolve the Albanian question, the leadership of the Committee sent successive memoranda and telegrams respecting the independence of Albania and reversing the injustices inflicted by the Great Powers on the Albanian people in 1913. During these years, the Committee established close relations with the Albanian governments. At first, it objected to the pro-Italian capitulation policy of the Durres government and condemned its actions. Later, when the patriots decided to convene a new national congress due to the international political circumstances and the danger of the disintegration of the country, they endorsed this initiative and praised it as a historic congress. They joined the decisions of the Lusnya Congress and participated as members of the resulting national government. If one recognizes the names of the members of this organization, one can say that the KNPC was one of the most important influences in the history of Albanian statehood in the years 1918-1924.

Rethinking History, Science, and Religion: An Exploration of Conflict and the Complexity Principle

Rethinking History, Science, and Religion: An Exploration of Conflict and the Complexity Principle

Is Dodd-Frank the Biggest Law Ever?

ABSTRACT The passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010 continued a trend toward lengthier and more complex acts of Congress. In this article, we use novel metrics of the size, scope, and complexity of acts of Congress to assess Dodd-Frank’s place in this trend. Our analysis is consistent with the hypothesis that, in terms of its regulatory effects, Dodd-Frank is the biggest act of Congress in recent history and may become the biggest ever. We argue that this trend toward longer and more complex laws can cause deterioration in the quality of the regulations the laws authorize for two procedural reasons. First, a large act can create a regulatory surge that overwhelms the quality control process. Second, because a large act can precipitate the creation of many regulations by different agencies that target the same industry, the agencies create rules in relative ignorance of their potential interactions.

Review of the III International historical and legal congress “Legal traditions of the formation of Russian statehood”

The review of the III International historical and legal congress “Legal traditions of the formation of Russian statehood", dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the proclamation of the Russian Empire, is given. One of the main tasks of the event was to bring together representatives of science from different states, different scientific schools and directions to solve topical historical and legal problems of the state and law. Following the results of the congress, a declaration was adopted, in which the importance of continuing legal research of domestic state-legal traditions was noted, the main directions for the further development of historical and legal science were outlined.

The Struggle for Objectivity: Gramsci’s Historical-Political Vistas on Science against the Background of Lenin’s Epistemology

Abstract This contribution interprets the intertwined issues of science, epistemology, society, and politics in Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks as a culturalist approach to science that does not renounce objectivity. Gramsci particularly criticized the scientist positions taken by the Bolshevik leader Nikolai Bukharin in Historical Materialism (1921) and the conference communication he delivered at the International Congress of History of Science and Technology in London in 1931. Gramsci did not avoid, at least implicitly, engaging with the theses of Lenin’s Materialism and Empiriocriticism (1909). Gramsci’s reception of these Russian positions was twofold: on the one hand, he agreed with the centrality of praxis (and politics) for a correct assessment of the meaning of epistemological positions; on the other hand, he disagreed with the reduction of the problem of epistemology to the dichotomy of materialism and idealism at the expense of any consideration of the ideological dimension of science.

Is Dodd-Frank the Biggest Law Ever?

The passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010 continued a trend toward lengthier and more complex acts of Congress. We use novel metrics of the size, scope, and complexity of acts of Congress to assess Dodd-Frank’s place in this trend. Our analysis is consistent with the hypothesis that, in terms of its regulatory effects, Dodd-Frank is the biggest act of Congress in recent history and may become the biggest ever. We argue that this trend toward longer and more complex laws can cause deterioration in the quality of the regulations the laws authorize for two procedural reasons. First, a large act can create a regulatory surge that overwhelms the quality control process. Second, because a large act can precipitate the creation of many regulations by different agencies that target the same industry, the agencies create rules in relative ignorance of their potential interactions.

The Intersectional Effects of Diverse Elections on Validated Turnout in the 2018 Midterm Elections

The 2018 midterm elections in the United States were unprecedented in their gender and racial diversity. Voters across the country, especially younger voters, elected the most diverse U.S. Congress in history. Despite increased electoral diversity along lines of gender, race, and the intersections of both, extant literature has remained siloed, focusing on the effect of either gender or race on turnout but rarely examining both in relation to one another. Using a novel data set of racially diverse young adults that includes demographic information for congressional candidates and vote-validated data, this study investigates how the intersection of race and gender influence voter turnout across diverse electoral contexts. Our study provides important insights for both unpacking the 2018 elections and more generally understanding how race and gender interact to influence youth voter turnout as candidate profiles and electoral contexts continue to diversify.

A rewarding experience in many ways: The 3rd World Congress of Environmental History

The 3rd World Congress of Environmental History, held in Florianópolis, Brazil had the theme: “Convergences: The Global South and the Global North in the Era of Great Acceleration”. The short paper gives an overview of the rewards such congresses can bring. It specifically deals with the plenary talks by Robert Billot and Brigitte Baptiste, highlights the role of scholarly co-operation and makes a case for the opportunity offered by such congresses to review the environment of the hosting country, for which the plenary roundtables, the excursions, and field trips and comparative panels are referred to as examples. World congresses might have an environmental cost, but they do provide unique opportunities for scholarly exchange, in terms of themes, methods, conceptual approaches, and sources used. Behaving in an environmentally conscious way but at the same time enabling and fostering international and intergenerational exchange is a challenge that will have to be taken up in the future.

A rewarding experience in many ways: The 3rd World Congress of Environmental History

The 3rd World Congress of Environmental History, held in Florianópolis, Brazil had the theme: “Convergences: The Global South and the Global North in the Era of Great Acceleration”. The short paper gives an overview of the rewards such congresses can bring. It specifically deals with the plenary talks by Robert Billot and Brigitte Baptiste, highlights the role of scholarly co-operation and makes a case for the opportunity offered by such congresses to review the environment of the hosting country, for which the plenary roundtables, the excursions, and field trips and comparative panels are referred to as examples. World congresses might have an environmental cost, but they do provide unique opportunities for scholarly exchange, in terms of themes, methods, conceptual approaches, and sources used. Behaving in an environmentally conscious way but at the same time enabling and fostering international and intergenerational exchange is a challenge that will have to be taken up in the future.

Considerações sobre a produção historiográfica no primeiro quartel do século XX a partir do I Congresso Internacional de História da América (1922)

O presente artigo visa apresentar resultados finais de pesquisa de mestrado que versou sobre a circulação de intelectuais e a produção historiográfica na América Latina no primeiro quartel do século XX. Tomando como objeto de estudo o I Congresso Internacional de História da América realizado entre os dias 08 a 15 de setembro de 1922 como parte das comemorações do Centenário de Independência do Brasil, objetiva-se demonstrar como a produção historiográfica no Brasil estava se configurando e como ela não estava alheia a realizada em outros países, assim como a circulação de intelectuais fazia parte da política de diplomática de diferentes países. Ao final, conclui-se que como a estratégia de realizar Congressos Internacionais de História fazia parte da política de diplomacia cultural estabelecida pelo Itamaraty e que no Brasil já era possível observar contornos da disciplinarização da História no período estudado.

Book Reviews

Robert F. Bruner of University of Virginia reviews “Coping with Financial Crises: Some Lessons from Economic History,” by Hugh Rockoff and Isao Suto. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Seven papers, emerging from a session at the World Economic History Congress in Kyoto in August, 2015, consider how governments and private individuals cope with the problems created by financial crises.”