Modern England Research Articles

Callum G. Brown, David Nash and Charlie Lynch. The Humanist Movement in Modern Britain: A History of Ethicists, Rationalists and Humanists London: Bloomsbury, 2023. Pp. 344. $90.00 (cloth).

Callum G. Brown, David Nash and Charlie Lynch. The Humanist Movement in Modern Britain: A History of Ethicists, Rationalists and Humanists London: Bloomsbury, 2023. Pp. 344. $90.00 (cloth).

Radical Thought and Political Practice: Officeholding and Accountability in Seventeenth-Century Britain

Abstract This article connects changes in administrative and bureaucratic processes that historians associate with state formation in early modern Britain with overlooked developments in thinking about political accountability. It blends the social history of state administration with intellectual history, and involves synoptic analysis as well as striking case studies. It argues that innovative political thinking emerged from new forms of political practice, and from the experiences of humble officials in the localities. Such individuals were increasingly professionalized and specialized, and their work was increasingly described using the language of trust, public interest, and state’s service. The mid-seventeenth century accentuated the process by which they came to be accountable to a centralized state, not least through the routinization and intensification of quotidian practices associated with enhanced communication between center and locality. Ultimately, the article argues that such processes, as well as more regular and direct interactions between political elites and humble officials, encouraged new kinds of political thinking. These were not quite unintended, but they may not have been fully anticipated either, and they involved innovative attempts to subject higher officials to oversight from “below,” and to legitimize their accountability to an adjudicating public, in ways that may even have had a lasting effect on English political culture.

Brian P. Levack, Distrust of Institutions in Early Modern Britain and America. Oxford, Oxford University Press 2023

Brian P. Levack, Distrust of Institutions in Early Modern Britain and America. Oxford, Oxford University Press 2023

The poetics of geographical knowledge: For a genealogy of geographical aesthetics in history and philosophy of geography

This short reflection on forty years of the UK's History and Philosophy of Geography group reflects on the poetics of geographical knowledge. Whilst histories of geography have diverged from philosophies of geography over recent years, the intervention proposes that a useful avenue of enquiry for future work is to develop fuller historical and philosophical accounts of the forms and poetics of geographical writing. This includes: philosophical reflection on form and space; historical studies of the varying forms, styles, and poetics of geographical knowledge; and active experiments with formal aspects of writing. Through a short reflection on the ethics of Jean-Marie Guyau (a sociologist whose naturalist and vitalist ethics had an important influence on anarchist geographers) the paper proposes an approach to the authority of geographical texts that is animated by an anomic ethos that is: genetic; affirmative; and generous.

Pacifism and peace activism in modern Britain: A history of the ‘peace studies problem’

AbstractIt is over 40 years since Ceadel defined interwar British pacifism as a ‘faith’. During that time, pacifism has had little political significance and the influential peace movement of the interwar years is now scarcely within living memory. Yet, what Margaret Thatcher once described as ‘the peace studies problem’ is a diverse and interdisciplinary field, and one in which scholarship, peace activism and mainstream politics are all closely intertwined. Feminist scholars and peace activists have queried the links between militarism and patriarchy; historians and ethicists have explored medical pacifism and have asked whether medicine is (or should be) a pacifist profession. More recently, scholars have looked at interwar pacifism through the lens of the Empire and have challenged the imperialist pacifist delusion. Despite pacifism's limited political influence, its history over the last 40 years has explored the beliefs and motivations of men and women struggling to respond to militarism and the threat of war.

The Lord's battle. Preaching, print and royalism during the English Revolution. By William White. (Politics, Culture and Society in Early Modern Britain.) Pp. xii + 257. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2023. £85. 978 1 5261 6470 4

The Lord's battle. Preaching, print and royalism during the English Revolution. By William White. (Politics, Culture and Society in Early Modern Britain.) Pp. xii + 257. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2023. £85. 978 1 5261 6470 4

The Maritime World of Early Modern Britain, edited by Richard J. Blakemore and James Davey

The Maritime World of Early Modern Britain, edited by Richard J. Blakemore and James Davey

Colonizing Condiments: Culinary Experimentation and the Politics of Disgust in Early Modern Britain

Colonizing Condiments: Culinary Experimentation and the Politics of Disgust in Early Modern Britain

Narrative review: what constitutes contemporary, high-quality end-of-life care and can lessons be learned from medieval history?

In modern Britain, palliative and end-of-life care is governed by quality standards and guidance, which should consider spiritual and psychological needs. However, there are significant gaps in provision of services which was highlighted during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic where many individuals and families suffered profound spiritual and existential distress. Significant gaps remain in the provision of services to support patients with spiritual and psychological needs which can affect the management of physical symptoms. During the medieval period in Western Europe, it was important to prepare well for death throughout life. It has been suggested that lessons may be learned from medieval preparations for death which might benefit those approaching end-of-life in contemporary society. It is therefore timely to consider medieval attitudes to death and reflect on how these might inform modern end-of-life care. The objective of this review is to synthesise literature addressing modern end-of-life care in the UK and contrast this with literature on preparations for death during the medieval period in Western Europe. Our aim is to determine whether there is wisdom to be gained from history which could inform our approaches to end-of-life care today. Using online databases and broad keyword searches along with experts in the field of medieval history, we identified literature and translations of texts with a focus on preparations for death during both periods. These were narratively synthesised and discussed. A key finding is that the medieval attitude to death was as an integral part of life, whereas in modern society death is not usually considered until the situation arises. The review highlights a need for a better understanding of the individuality of spiritual and existential needs during end-of-life care in modern society, which will vary according to individual choice, culture, societal group, religion, and belief. The lessons we can learn from our medieval counterparts include the need for lifelong and individual preparations for the end of life, with emphasis on spiritual needs. Alongside palliative interventions, we need to take time to appreciate what gives individuals spiritual support and provide the resources to facilitate this.

‘Intelligible government’: rethinking the meaning of monarchy in the age of King Charles III

ABSTRACT At the beginning of a new reign it seems appropriate to re-assess the meaning of monarchy in modern Britain. The new King heads a fractured royal family, a divided nation, and a disaffected Commonwealth. How can we as scholars make sense of where the monarchy has been, and where it might be going? This article suggests a new scholarly approach is required. Through a critical analysis of three classic studies of monarchy: Walter Bagehot’s The English constitution (1867), Kingsley Martin’s The magic of monarchy (1937) and Tom Nairn’s The enchanted glass (1988), the lecture traces the lineage of modern interpretations of the British monarchy and points up their limitations. Preoccupied with the symbolism of monarchy, conventional scholarship neglects its important political functions. As the lecture argues, in the era of Brexit at home and populist regimes around the world, modern democracies may actually need monarchy more than ever before.

Von … bis, from… to: The Arc of Anthony Vidler's Architecture

Abstract Architectural historians often manifest a strong design impulse in their writing. This essay traces the theoretical arc traversing Anthony Vidler's individual essays and book projects as the parabolic imprint of his historiographic design. Based on unpublished manuscripts of the architectural historian's preliminary book outlines, drafts, and reading notes on authors such as Émile Zola, Sigmund Freud, and Georges Bataille, the article follows the route from Vidler's early research on utopia, Claude Nicholas Ledoux, and ideas of the French Enlightenment to his later books on “the architectural uncanny” and modern spatial psychopathologies in “warped space,” foregrounding the continuity of Vidler's “historical project” from the Enlightenment to the histories of twentieth-century architectural modernism. The article closes with an overview of Vidler's two latest book projects (currently unpublished), “Architecture After the Rain,” an autobiographically driven reevaluation of architectural modernism in Britain after World War II, and “Second Best Utopia,” a compilation of essays on “Utopics” from Plato to Fredric Jameson that argues for the abiding relevance of utopian ideas in the present.

The plague, the skill-premium, and the road to modern economic growth

Abstract When bubonic plague arrived in Britain in the mid-14th century, it caused dramatic economic and structural change. Within 50 years, the skill-premium was reduced by half, and another 50 years on, agriculture’s share of the labor force had declined by more than 20 percentage points. This paper develops a two-sector pre-industrial growth model and draws on recent data sources covering Late Medieval and Early Modern Britain to explain these and the ensuing developments. Our main findings are that the skill-premium’s decline was related to the guild and apprenticeship system and that it and the other post-Plague adjustments were crucial determinants of the British trajectory toward industrialization. In particular, prior sectoral transformation and the skill-premium’s determination were important when the Early Modern population boom (1525–1654) threatened to reverse the adjustments caused by the Plague.

Insignificant Inheritance: Repairing Domestic Interiors

ABSTRACT Drawing on James Clammer’s novel Insignificance, this paper explores the intersection of inheritance and repair. Marking its difference from 20th century concerns with the historiographical conditions of inheritance captured in such critiques as Stuart Hall’s account of “The Heritage,” Insignificance is set against the reality of modern Britain, where the possibility of inheritance has been undermined by decades of austerity and a mounting crisis of homelessness and housing stress. A material turn of inheritance studies is required. In Clammer’s novel, the question of inheritability becomes one of repairability and the novel recounts the repair work of plumber, Joseph Forbes. As Joseph labors however, disrepair overcomes him: the skin on his hands tears, becomes “old-womanly” and undermines the potential of his work. Looking to Martin Heidegger and Jacques Derrida who consider hands, if they are to be human, as necessarily mechanistic and caring tools, I understand hands as devices of repair, capable of realizing the project of inheritance by maintaining the conferral of the past through to the future. Whether the gift of repair that hands offer is received serves as the novel’s central problematic, one posed as much within the context of the novel as without.

Listening Projects: The BBC, Oral History, and the Nation in Fractured Times

ABSTRACT This article tunes in to the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) heart-warming radio program, The Listening Project (TLP), aired from 2012 until 2022. Comparing TLP to its source model from the US, StoryCorps, to previous British public access broadcasting initiatives (such as Open Door and Video Nation), as well as to social media, I highlight the interests at stake in the BBC’s presentation of listening in the service of imagined national community, an idea echoed by the British Library’s Oral History department where the TLP interviews are archived. I posit that TLP’s homely chats between family, friends, or caring strangers—about everything from bath times to Brexit—reflect a feminist and forgiving public, nurtured by the BBC civic ideals. This can be enjoyed and valued as a counterweight to social media riven with postdemocratic, divisive nationalism. After introducing the scope and scale of the project, I explore criticisms of TLP as cozy confessions for comfortable BBC audiences. I go on to weigh them against the BBC’s in-house oral history, which reveals the broadcaster’s people and policies, including its struggles to be as well as shape a national community that is multicultural, diverse, and inclusive. I argue that the BBC’s decision through a partnership with the University of Sussex to open the archive as a public catalog and online guided exhibit in Voices of the BBC is a listening project in its own way. These very different forms of interviews confirm, however, the serious civic ambitions behind TLP. The conversations testify to everyday resilience in the face of a troubled and unequal modern Britain, but the project’s closure reflects how difficult it is for the BBC to fulfill its mission, values, and public purposes in fractured times. 1

МУЛЬТИКУЛЬТУРНЫЙ АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК ЛОНДОНА В ЯЗЫКОВОМ КОНТИНУУМЕ БРИТАНИИ

The article explores the role and significance of Multicultural London English (MLE) in the linguistic context of modern London and Britain. The paper analyzes the features and unique characteristics of MLE, the history of its formation as a result of long-term immigration of various ethnic groups to the capital city. MLE serves as a vivid example of interaction and interpenetration of various cultures and linguistic traditions, reflects the ethnocultural diversity of modern British society. The study of this phenomenon contributes to the development of intercultural communication, tolerance, respect for other cultures and languages. The author emphasizes the relevance and importance of studying this multiethnic language in the context of modern linguistics.

Virgilian Continuities in Early Modern Britain

Virgilian Continuities in Early Modern Britain

More than just a tree: Ecolinguistics and responses to the felling of ‘Hadrian’s tree’

In the current climate ecolinguistic research has arguably never been more important, as its basic premises regard the survival of life on Earth and key philosophical questions hitherto under-acknowledged by mainstream science. In recent decades, environmental thinking has made great advances in shaping current opinions towards nature and the non-human world. The goal of this paper is to explore certain currents of mediated thinking in modern Britain regarding nature, in order to assess how far expressions of sorrow for the felling of a prominent tree might correspond to a genuine ecological sentiment. The study explores public responses to an apparent case of eco-vandalism, the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree in September 2023 in Northumberland, using data taken from social media and other online sources such as e-newspapers. From the point of view of Ecolinguistic theory and that of Positive Discourse Analysis it applies critical lenses such as Evaluation and Discourse Pragmatics to dig beneath the surface of texts produced on the topic, in order to explore diverse current attitudes to trees in the UK. The paper finds that, though there are instances in which people appear to express grief for the loss of the Sycamore Gap tree, it is possible to account for these in ways that lessen the likelihood that they are motivated by purely ecological sentiment. In practice human attitudes towards trees tend to be superficial and instrumental, and this tendency is also found here. The Sycamore Gap event brings many latent social attitudes into play, and this paper thus contributes to the developing field of Ecolinguistics by focusing on tree-centred narratives, distinguishing between inherent ideologies of pseudo- and authentic environmental sensitivity.

Cawood and Crook (eds), The Many Lives of Corruption: The Reform of Public Life in Modern Britain, c. 1750–1950

Cawood and Crook (eds), <i>The Many Lives of Corruption: The Reform of Public Life in Modern Britain, c. 1750–1950</i>

Between Hegemonic Masculinity and New Man-ism: The Shift from ‘Owning’ the Gaze to Being the ‘Object’ of the Gaze in the Representation of the Western Male in Men’s Health Magazine

This essay discusses how the representation of the Western male has shifted from one of hegemonic masculinity to one of new man-ism by exploring the British edition of Men’s Health magazine (henceforth MH). Beginning with a brief definition of the key terms, the essay explores how such a change has occurred via cultural construction by borrowing a theoretical perspective from Judith Butler, of how all forms of identity are not ‘fixed’, but are rather discursively ‘produced’ by popular culture media: ‘There is no gender identity behind the expression of gender; that identity is performatively constituted by the very ‘‘expressions’’ that are said to be its results’ Butler (1988). After highlighting the relevant history of men’s liberation, the essay then discusses the conditions in which the representation of men has become fetishised in modern Britain by adopting MH as a case study. Such exploitative use of idealised depictions of men’s bodies in MH has resulted in men becoming the ‘object’ of the gaze rather than ‘owning’ the gaze. To clarify this sociologically, the essay begins by discussing the feminist movement’s rejection of the men’s patriarchal image and how men thereby began to embrace new man-ism. Next, it discusses two other causes of this shift to new man-ism: (i) economic changes, and (ii) the crisis of masculinity. My concern here is not to unquestioningly accept the concepts associated with these factors or their implications; rather, I discuss them as dynamic elements within the above-mentioned change in how men are represented by MH, which has led men to become the objects rather than the subjects of the gaze. However, despite the historical performativity-related changes to men and masculinity, no real changes to masculinity’s hegemonic and dominant characteristics appear to have occurred. No further detail is given on the content of MH (as this can be studied easily enough), nor will I defend the ‘dumb’ excesses of some men’s titles to avoid a burlesque analysis. Instead, I discuss the most prominent themes in relation to men’s appearances and bodies to provide a better understanding of the shift from hegemonic masculinity to the New Man depicted in MH.

'A Kind of Sensory, Strange Thing to Experience': Speaking Environmental Disaster in the Sea Empress Project Archive

Abstract This article explores embodied encounters with the Sea Empress oil spill of 1996 and their representation in oral narratives. Through a close reading of the personal testimonies collected in the Sea Empress Project archive, I examine the relationship between intense sensory experiences of environmental change and everyday interpretations of the disaster and its legacy. The article first outlines the ways in which this collection of voices reveals sensory memories, embodied affects and narrative choices to be deeply entwined in oral representations of the spill, disclosing a 'sensory event' that created a powerful awareness of both environmental surroundings and their relationship to everyday social processes. Then, reading these narratives against-the-grain, I argue that narrators' accounts tell a paradoxical story of a disaster that most now wish to forget, and reveal an ambivalent legacy of environmental change that is similarly consigned to the past. Finally, I relate this social forgetting of the Sea Empress to the wider history of environmental consciousness in modern Britain.