World History Research Articles

Graeber and Wengrow's Middle Ages

David Graeber and David Wengrow's 2021 monograph The Dawn of Everything offers an anarchist approach to world history. It has received considerable critical and popular attention, and is a welcome historiographical contribution, due to its broad range, and rejection of technological and environmental determinism. This review article discusses the book's treatment of medieval Europe. It identifies serious limitations, which derive from Enlightenment assumptions which remain widespread, and create an impediment to understanding the Middle Ages in particular, and the social possibilities of religion more generally. Drawing on the observations of the anarchist medieval historian Ian Forrest, and the strengths of other elements of The Dawn of Everything, this piece suggests how medieval Europe can contribute to a historiography that is alert to possibilities for human freedom and solidarity.

Recent work on indenture in the British World

AbstractThis article provides an overview of the historiography of indentured labor in the 18th and 19th centuries, along with a brief narrative of the origin and definition of indenture. It traces the evolution of the history of indenture in the “British World” (defined here as the areas under both formal and informal British imperial control) from a neglected field to a major focus of historical study. The final section summarizes the current state of the field, assessing how it has moved beyond its earlier focus on social history, demographics, and diaspora studies to become an entry point for wider discussions about the history of imperialism and colonialism, the global history of capitalism, and the history of networks and exchanges between the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Ocean Worlds.

Teaching the Global History of Science in a Prison Classroom

Teaching the Global History of Science in a Prison Classroom

The characteristic time scale of cultural evolution.

Numerous researchers from various disciplines have explored commonalities and divergences in the evolution of complex social formations. Here, we explore whether there is a "characteristic" time course for the evolution of social complexity in a handful of different geographic areas. Data from the Seshat: Global History Databank is shifted so that the overlapping time series can be fitted to a single logistic regression model for all 23 geographic areas under consideration. The resulting regression shows convincing out-of-sample predictions, and its period of extensive growth in social complexity can be identified via bootstrapping as a time interval of roughly 2,500 years. To analyze the endogenous growth of social complexity, each time series is restricted to a central time interval without major disruptions in cultural or institutional continuity, and both approaches result in a similar logistic regression curve. Our results suggest that these different areas have indeed experienced a similar course in the their evolution of social complexity, but that this is a lengthy process involving both internal developments and external influences.

Towards a Global History of Religion: Editors’ Note

Towards a Global History of Religion: Editors’ Note

From the History of Religions in Asia to a Global History of Religion


 This article examines the relationship between two contemporary perspectives on conceptualizing a global history of religion. The first is anchored in an entangled conceptual history, reconstructing the genealogy of “religion” back to the colonial nineteenth century. The second favours a multicentred perspective in studying knowledge systems and general concepts independent of the West and predating global modernity. By analysing Japanese religious history, the article illustrates both the potential for and the necessity of integrating these two approaches.

Even When Historical Texts Are Not an Option

Seeking to extend Karénina Kollmar-Paulenz’s (2024) methodology for overcoming Eurocentric perspectives in the global history of religion, this commentary evaluates the challenges and alternatives for historiography when textual sources for religious practices are absent. Drawing on research into artistic, visual, and oral practices in Mongolia and the Himalayan region, the authors propose a critical reassessment of the foundational notions of globality, history, and religion.

Cinema and Revolution: Fifty years after the Carnation Revolution

This special section of Aniki is designed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Portuguese revolution of 1974-1975. The five articles included in it reflect the need to bring together international research, particularly on a theme with such a wide geographical scope as this one, highlighting the importance of adopting cross perspectives. The analyses proposed in these essays take a variety of approaches – critical film studies, the history of cinema’s modes of production, the ontology of the documentary, comparative analysis – and move through different filmic forms and revolutionary territories, namely: France, the Philippines, Spain, Romania and Brazil. Together, these essays allow us to update the links between cinema and revolution and extend them to other historical contexts and case studies, thus contributing to the global history of a cinema that has for a long time been confronting revolution and society in creative and inspiring ways.

Numerical calculation of shock wave overpressure produced by multiple cloud detonation

PurposeA model for calculating the global overpressure time history of a single cloud detonation from overpressure time history of discrete positions in the range of single cloud detonation is to be proposed and verified. The overpressure distribution produced by multiple cloud detonation and the influence of cloud spacing and fuel mass of every cloud on the overpressure distribution are to be studied.Design/methodology/approachA calculation method is used to obtain the global overpressure field distribution after single cloud detonation from the overpressure time history of discrete distance to detonation center after single cloud detonation. On this basis, the overpressure distribution produced by multi-cloud under different cloud spacing and different fuel mass conditions is obtained.FindingsThe results show that for 150 kg fuel, when the spacing of three clouds is 40 m, 50 m, respectively, the overpressure range of larger than 0.1 MPa is 5496.48 mˆ2 and 6235.2 mˆ2, which is 2.89 times and 3.28 times of that of single cloud detonation. The superposition effect can be ignored when the spacing between the three clouds is greater than 60 m. In the case of fixed cloud spacing, once the overpressure forms continuous effective superposition, the marginal utility of fuel decreases.Originality/valueA model for calculating the global overpressure time history of a single cloud detonation from overpressure time history of discrete positions in the range of single cloud detonation is proposed and verified. Based on this method, the global overpressure field of single cloud detonation is reconstructed, and the superimposed overpressure distribution characteristics of three cloud detonation are calculated and analyzed.

Global Islam and Local Action

In contemporary Napoli, Muslim spatiality is mainly located in the extended area of piazza Garibaldi. Seven Islamic places of worship, generally called mosques, stand there; in this area halal markets can be easily found; and it is there that Islamic forms of public life are mainly visible, including celebrations for the Islamic holidays. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the ways in which that social space (Lefebvre 1991) is produced, experienced, conceived, and imagined by the Muslim communities and the leadership of the Islamic centers. The local scale is embedded in global processes related to social, economic, and political change, and to religiously oriented action of transnational subjects, whether they are institutions, movements or individuals. Based on the theoretical frameworks of Global Islam and Global History, the discussion provides an analysis taking into account different scales. Therefore, the paper pays attention to connections, relations, systemic integration on a global scale (Conrad 2016), and to the “shared use of the opportunities of globalization” (Green 2020, 18). This paper is based on fieldwork that is still ongoing as part of a broader research project. The fieldwork consists of participant observation—attending political-religious activities, Islamic holidays, worship and celebrations, public discussions, meetings, and initiatives—and in-depth inter­views with the Muslim leadership of Neapolitan Islamic associations and members of the city’s government. Key words: Contemporary Islam, Muslim Spatiality, Islam in Italy, Muslims in Naples, Global Islam in Southern Europe.

The Parmalat Scandal: An Analysis of Financial Deception and Its Implications for Global Business

The Parmalat scandal, often compared to Europe's Enron case, highlights one of the biggest financial frauds in global business history. Revealed in 2003, the case exposed an astonishing €14 billion deficit in the company's accounts, resulting from fraud, mismanagement, and oversight failures. This case study delves into the complexities of the Parmalat scandal, exploring its causes, impacts, and lessons for global businesses. It examines inadequate corporate governance, strategic missteps, auditing failures, and ethical violations, highlighting the importance of maintaining an ethical and transparent corporate culture. The role of auditing is emphasized, pointing out deficiencies in both internal and external audits, and the need for stricter controls and a whistleblowing culture. Parmalat's strategic decisions are scrutinized to understand how they contributed to the company's decline. The problematic relationship between majority and minority shareholders is discussed, revealing internal conflicts. The response to the scandal included a push for better corporate governance standards, regulatory reforms, and the adoption of more robust governance models. The importance of an ethical corporate culture, financial transparency, and the empowerment of whistleblowers are underscored as essential for preventing future frauds. The Parmalat case serves as a warning of the need for transparent and ethical practices in business, reinforcing that profitability should not override ethical considerations. This study provides a blueprint for companies to avoid similar pitfalls, highlighting corporate governance, business ethics, and oversight as pillars for trust and economic stability.

The current state of the agricultural advisory activity and its importance for the development of the agricultural cooperation in Ukraine

The article is devoted to researching the current state of the agricultural advisory activity and outlining its importance for the development of the agricultural cooperation in Ukraine. It is established that development of the agricultural advisory activity has a rather long world history: the first references are found in Mesopotamia. In 1847, the first modernized agricultural advisory service was established in Ireland. Subsequently, agricultural advisory services, which at the present stage demonstrate high efficiency indicators for the development of the agricultural sector of the economy, in particular the development of the agricultural cooperation, have spread to other countries of the world, in particular, Germany, Denmark, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan, the USA, etc. In Ukraine agricultural advisory activity started at the end of the 19th century. In 1995, the first modern agricultural advisory service in Lviv region began to form. Legal regulation of the agricultural advisory activity was introduced in 2004 through the adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the Law of Ukraine «On Agricultural Advisory Activity». In the course of the study, it was determined that agricultural advisory activity is a necessary condition for the effective development of the agricultural cooperatives in Ukraine, because in the conditions of the appearance of the latest innovative agricultural technologies, active updating of the legal acts in the agricultural sphere, taking into account the fact that the level of cooperative education of Ukrainians is not satisfactory, members of the agricultural cooperatives need proper professional informational and advisory support from the agricultural advisory services. At the same time, at the current stage, there continues to be a significant number of factors that restrain the development of agricultural advisory activities and agricultural advisory services, which, as a result, negatively affects the development of the agricultural cooperation. The article concludes that the effective development of the agricultural advisory activities and agricultural advisory services requires proper support from the state.

The Global Evolutionary History of Orf Virus in Sheep and Goats Revealed by Whole Genomes Data.

Orf virus (ORFV) belongs to the genus Parapoxvirus (Poxviridae family). It is the causative agent of contagious ecthyma (CE) that is an economically detrimental disease affecting small ruminants globally. Contagious ecthyma outbreaks are usually reported in intensive breeding of sheep and goats but they have also been reported in wildlife species. Notably, ORFV can infect humans, leading to a zoonotic disease. This study aims to elucidate the global evolutionary history of ORFV genomes in sheep and goats, including the first genomes from Central America in the analyses. In comparison to the last study on ORFV whole genomes, the database now includes 11 more sheep and goat genomes, representing an increase of 42%. The analysis of such a broader database made it possible to obtain a fine molecular dating of the coalescent time for ORFV S and G genomes, further highlighting the genetic structuring between sheep and goat genomes and corroborating their emergence in the latter half of 20th century.

Historian A.S. Shofman and His Academic Environment

The article deals with the problem of academic environment evolution in which an antiquity historian, A.S. Shofman (1913–1993) conducted his research and taught students in different periods of his life. The author shows that Shofman’s personal qualities, such as determination, ability to work in any external conditions, considerate and, at the same time, demanding attitude to his students and colleagues, sense of humor, irony, self-deprecation, and others played an important role in his development as a scholar. It is also pointed out that fate often brought him to teachers and colleagues who facilitated his success. Different spheres of his scientific communication are studied: prominent scholars of Ancient History and Philology – his teachers at Leningrad State University; international scientific contacts with his colleagues from Macedonia and Serbia, which used to be the part of Yugoslavia, from Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia. His relationship with Russian historians and philologists from Moscow, Leningrad, Voronezh, Tomsk and Belorussian scholars from Minsk were also discussed as well as academic environment at Kazan State University, especially at the Department of World History which A.S. Shofman headed for several decades. The article reveals the influence of his scientific surroundings on his development as a scholar and on themes of his research. A.S. Shofman, in his turn, shaped the mode of activity of the Department he headed and set up a scientific school in Kazan State University well-known in the country

P.B. Umansky as a Scholar and Pedagogue: The Origins of American Studies in Kazan

Petr Borisovich Umansky (1930–1993), a distinguished scholar and Kazan University lecturer in the latter half of the 20th century, stands out as a key figure in the Kazan school of world history and American studies in Russia. After graduating from university in 1952, he was mentored by another famous Soviet historian, G.R. Levin. In 1962, he defended his Сandidate’s dissertation titled “F. Douglas and the abolitionist movement in the United States between the 1830s and 1850s” at the Leningrad State Pedagogical Institute. He later became widely recognized as the founder of the study of American historiography of the War of Independence. His works were featured in the publications of Kazan University and major central journals like “Novaya i Noveishaya Istoriya”, “Voprosy Istorii”, and “Istoriya i Istoriki”. He also actively participated in various scientific gatherings, such as the First All-Union Historiographical Conference and the First Symposium of Americanists in Moscow. At Kazan University, P.B. Umansky played a vital role in shaping the school of researchers specializing in American studies. Many of his former students now teach at his alma mater and continue to pass down their knowledge to new generations of historians. With a career spanning from the 1950s until his death, P.B. Umansky was widely hailed as one of the top international lecturers in Tatarstan. The article is supplemented with the memoirs of the historian’s son, E.P. Umansky.

The Structural-Genetic Theory Program as the Fundamental Theory Both of History and of Social Sciences and Humanities

The structural-genetic theory program is an off-spring of Piagetian theory. It has accomplished the task that Piaget had intended to carry out but did not seriously. He wanted to study children to understand better history of mind, science, philosophy, and culture. The new program has shown that world history of culture, society, politics, law, morals, science, philosophy, religion, and arts has gone through the same stages that are known from developmental psychology. Accordingly, psychogenetic advancements have shaped the historical trajectories of these collective systems or societal phenomena. The application of developmental psychology to history sheds also a new light on the rise of modern, industrial society, thus dwarfing competing materialistic, institutional, and economic approaches. It is held that the new program inherits positions provided by Elias, Weber, Wundt, Cassirer, and other classical authors. It cannot only rebuild single humanities and social sciences but can also unify them under one common roof, breaking apart borders previously separating them from each other.1

Race and systemic crises in international politics: An agenda for pluralistic scholarship

Abstract In recent years, scholars of global politics have shown that issues of race and white supremacy lie at the centre of international history, the birth of the field of International Relations, and contemporary theory. In this article, I argue that race plays an equally central role in the 21st century’s current and future crises: the set of systemic risks that includes intensifying climate change, deepening inequality, the endemic instabilities of capitalism, and migration. To make this argument, I describe the contours of the current crisis and show how racism amplifies its effects. In short, capitalism’s winners and losers and the effects of climate change fall along racial lines, amplifying both direct and indirect racial discrimination against non-white migrants and states in the Global South. These interdependent crises will shape the next 50 years of international politics and will likely perpetuate the vicious cycle of global racial inequality. Accordingly, this article presents a research agenda for all IR scholars to explore the empirical implications of race in the international system, integrate marginalised perspectives on global politics from the past and present into their scholarship, and address the most pressing political issues of the 21st century.

Global History through the Lens of Intellectual History

This article explores the evolving discourse surrounding global history. While historians initially embraced global history as essential for comprehending a globalised world, recent debates have questioned its desirability and feasibility. The author examines the intersection of global history with intellectual history, discussing the establishment of dedicated publications—such as the journal Global Intellectual History—and evaluating the three heuristic approaches proposed in the volume edited by Samuel Moyn and Andrew Sartori in 2013 (universalist interpretations, comparativist perspectives, and investigations into networks and interactions across space). The author highlights challenges such as translatability and the dominance of English-language scholarship. The article concludes with a call for a critical examination of the ‘global’ as a concept, acknowledging the need for reflectivity, collaborative efforts, and a nuanced understanding of historical contexts in shaping the future of global history. Image Caption: David d’Angers, plaster cast for the bronze bas-relief commissioned by the municipality of Strasbourg for the monument of Gutenberg in Gutenberg Square (1840), Angers, David d’Angers Gallery, inventory no. MBA 842.7, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0. Jean Pierre Dalbéra) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Statue_of_Johannes_Gutenberg_on_Place_Gutenberg_in_Strasbourg#/media/File:La_diffusion_des_id%C3%A9es_en_Asie_(!)_gr%C3%A2ce_%C3%A0_l'imprimerie_par_David_d'Angers_(Angers)_(15095158141).jpg

Introduction: The Balkans

This journal has in recent years published the Spotlight series, consisting of articles which each attempt to provide an overview of the historiographical landscape in various European countries and major themes in European history. The articles have highlighted methodological developments, significant debates, and risks and challenges to historical scholarship from hostile political directions. To date, the series has included profiles of Ukrainian, Norwegian, Albanian, Hungarian, Italian, Serbian and French history, as well as insightful overviews of right-wing populism, migration history, and environmental and global history.

The commercial and regional imagery of big things: Establishing a foundation for the study of oversized roadside landmarks

The highly visible yet poorly studied phenomenon of roadside colossi—oversized commercial buildings and statues in the shape of everyday objects, referred to in this article as Big Things—has often been dismissed as a kitschy by-product of American post-war consumerism and car culture. There are no universal definitions or typologies for this form of material culture, nor is there a sufficiently global history that explains the origin, spread and contemporary popularity of these landmarks. In this article, I address these gaps in the discourse, drawing attention to the rich yet largely untapped theoretical underpinnings of Big Things. In doing so, I highlight the potential for further study of these landmarks as material evidence of broader socio-cultural impulses, particularly in communities across North America and Australia, where Big Things can be found in their greatest numbers.