Interventions | The Intellectual History Podcast
By Interventions
(The theme song of "Interventions | The Intellectual History Podcast" was created at jukedeck.com)
Interventions | The Intellectual History PodcastNov 07, 2023
Representation, Public Debt, and the Ends of History (Dr Michael Sonenscher)
What is the relationship between war and representation? Why can't we understand the French Revolution without thinking about the political management of public debt? And what does the future have to do with how we write history? These are some of the questions answered by Michael Sonenscher, Fellow of King's College, University of Cambridge.
This episode's hosts: Michael Kretowicz & Charlotte Johann.
Hegel, Revolution and Historicism: Prof. Richard Bourke
How does skepticism serve history? What lessons does Hegel hold for the modern historian? Why is an understanding of historical consciousness so important across the humanities? These are some of the questions we asked Richard Bourke, Professor of the History of Political Thought at the University of Cambridge.
Publications mentioned in this episode include:
István Hont and Michael Ignatieff, Wealth and Virtue: The Shaping of Political Economy in the Scottish Enlightenment (CUP: 1983)
Richard Bourke, Peace in Ireland: The War of Ideas (Pimlico: 2003)
Richard Bourke, Empire and Revolution: The Political Life of Edmund Burke (Princeton University Press: 2015)
Richard Bourke and Quentin Skinner, eds. History in the Humanities and Social Sciences (CUP: 2002)
Richard Bourke, Hegel’s World Revolutions (Princeton University Press: forthcoming, 2023)
Spinoza, Feminism, and the History of Philosophy (Prof. Susan James)
What makes the seventeenth century such a fascinating period in the history of philosophy? In what ways does Spinoza speak to contemporary philosophical problems? And in what sense is philosophy an inherently historical discipline? These are some of the questions that we asked Susan James, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College London.
Some books and papers mentioned in this episode are:
- Augustine of Hippo: A Biography by Peter Brown
- The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt
- Spinoza on philosophy, religion, and politics: the Theologico-political treatise by Susan James
- 'Responding Emotionally to Fiction: A Spinozist Approach' by Susan James
- Early Modern French Thought by Michael Moriarty
Decolonisation, Freedom, and African Intellectual History (Prof. Emma Hunter)
What can decolonisation in twentieth century Africa tell us about the history of political thought? How might African intellectual history shed light on new methods and modes of inquiry? And what does it mean to ‘decolonise’ intellectual history? Emma Hunter, professor of global and African history at the University of Edinburgh and the 2018/19 Quentin Skinner Fellow, joins us to discuss these questions and more in this episode.
Weber, Liberty, and the Anthropocene (Prof. Duncan Kelly)
What can history contribute to the pursuits of contemporary political theory? What does the notion of the Anthropocene have to do with the history of political thought? And what exactly is the legacy of the political thought produced during the First World War? These are some of the questions discussed in this episode with Duncan Kelly, professor of political thought and intellectual history at the University of Cambridge, and the author of Politics and the Anthropocene (2019).
Law, History and Global Governance (Dr Megan Donaldson)
What is the place of history in the study of law? How do historians of international law conceive of emergent actors on the global stage? To what extent do legal histories shape the expectations and commitments of today’s international institutions? Dr Megan Donaldson, recently appointed to a lectureship in Public International Law at University College London, addresses these questions and shares her experience of a complex intersection between law, legal history and the history of political thought.
#Globalgovernance #legalhistory #internationallaw #deliberativedemocracy #publicity #interwarperiod
Gender and Political Thought (Dr Anna Becker)
How does an attention to gender change our understanding of Renaissance political texts and the history of ideas more broadly? How can we challenge the traditional divide between the political public and the apolitical private spheres? And in what ways is re-evaluating the conceptual relationship between disadvantaged groups in the early modern period fruitful for our own times? We spoke to Anna Becker, from the Centre of Privacy Studies at the University of Copenhagen, to discuss these questions and more.
#gender #Renaissance #household #Machiavelli #Bodin #power #sovereignty
Bodin, Self-Translation, and the Environment in early modern Europe (Dr Sara Miglietti)
Which ideas and values shaped the relationship between humans and their environment in early modern Europe? Why did authors become interested in translating their own work, and what ramifications could this have? How can the ways in which authors were read, copied, and censored in the past enrich our understanding of their work? These are some of the questions we discuss with Dr Sara Miglietti, Senior Lecturer in Cultural and Intellectual History at the Warburg Institute in London.
Socialism, Poverty, and the Century of Marx (Prof. Gareth Stedman Jones)
How do we write the history of both the theory and the practice of socialism and welfarism? How do historians negotiate the relationship between their politics and their scholarship? And in what way is Karl Marx's political thinking relevant for us today? Gareth Stedman Jones, Professor of the History of Ideas at Queen Mary, University of London, talked to us about the history of poverty in nineteenth century Europe, his recent biography of Karl Marx, and what Dickens can teach us about writing history.
#welfare state #poverty #socialism #nineteenth century #Marx #Marxism #New Left
Rome, Liberty, and Rhetoric (Dr Valentina Arena)
These are some of the questions we discussed with Dr Valentina Arena, Reader in Roman History at University College London.
Intellectual History, Critical Theory, and Method (Prof. Martin Jay)
Martin Jay reflects on his life and career as an intellectual historian.
Enlightenment, Science, and Political Authorship (Prof. Avi Lifschitz)
Avi Lifschitz talked to us about science, aesthetics, politics and philosophy in eighteenth century Europe, about scholarship then and now, and about the legacies of Enlightenment thinking for our own time.
Politics, Language, and Nature (Dr Annabel Brett)
These are questions we discussed with Dr Annabel Brett, who is a Reader in the History of Political Thought at the University of Cambridge.
Enlightenment, Scotland, Europe (Prof. John Robertson)
These are some of the questions we discuss in this episode with John Robertson, Professor of the History of Political Thought at Cambridge, whose books include 'The Case for Enlightenment: Scotland and Naples, 1680-1760', and 'The Enlightenment. A Very Short Introduction'.
Beyond Human Rights (Prof. Samuel Moyn)
These are some of the questions we discuss in this episode with Samuel Moyn, professor of Law and History at Yale, a major voice on the history of human rights and author of the forthcoming 'Not Enough: Human Rights in an Unequal World.'
Turkish Republicanism (Dr Banu Turnaoğlu)
These are some of the questions we discussed with Dr Banu Turnaoğlu, a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow and a Research Associate of St John's College Cambridge, who is a specialist in the history of Ottoman political thought.
Sources, Forgeries, and Discoveries (Dr Felix Waldmann)
Felix Waldmann, Junior Research Fellow at Christ’s College Cambridge, talked to us about manuscripts, forgeries, discoveries and his research on eighteenth century political thought and the Enlightenment in Italy.
Power, Republicanism, and Scholastic Thought (Dr Ben Slingo)
These are some of the questions we discussed with Dr Ben Slingo - a Junior Research Fellow at Clare College, Cambridge - who is currently working on a book manuscript entitled Scholastic Republicanism.
Globalism in History (Dr Or Rosenboim)
We explore these questions and the practice of intellectual history more broadly, with Dr Or Rosenboim, who recently finished her PhD in Politics at the University of Cambridge and is currently lecturer at City University in London.
Liberalism, Empire, and Utopianism (Dr Duncan Bell)
These are questions we discussed with Dr Duncan Bell, Reader in Political Thought and International Relations at Cambridge, who is a leading authority on modern British and American ideologies of empire.
Burke and Political Traditions (Dr Emily Jones)
Dr Emily Jones – a research fellow at Pembroke College, Cambridge – talked to us about her own biography, her research and her views on how to do intellectual history and what we can learn from it.
History and Theories of Politics (Prof. Sophie Smith)
These are some of the questions we discussed with Dr Sophie Smith, who is an Associate Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford and a Tutorial Fellow at University College.