Modern Britain

2012. Watching “Sharia Business” At Close Quarter. Verfassungsblog.

by Julie Billaud

A global mega-city with a colonial past like London is the place to study the interaction of Islamic law and the... more A global mega-city with a colonial past like London is the place to study the interaction of Islamic law and the modern world. This is what I am going to do during my three months of research at the Muslim College. Some first impressions:

The Burial of the Dead: the British Army on the Western Front, 1914–18

by Ross Wilson

War & Society, Vol. 31 No. 1, March, 2012, 22–41

This article examines the ‘war culture’ that developed within the British Army with regard to death and burial on the... more This article examines the ‘war culture’ that developed within the British Army with regard to death and burial on the Western Front. Soldiers on the battlefields responded to the presence of death and the bodies of the dead through a specific framework that was used to understand this perverse and violent landscape. This drew upon pre-war practices and emphasized the physicality of the corpse in the desire to ensure a ‘decent’ burial for a ‘pal’.

The Emergence of 'Sexualization' as a Social Problem

by Robbie Duschinsky

Draft only; Social Politics

The article explores the history of the way the idea of ‘sexualization’ has been problematized – situated as an object... more The article explores the history of the way the idea of ‘sexualization’ has been problematized – situated as an object of concern – in the USA and UK. My focus here will be on media discourses, having analysed policy and sociological discourses on sexualization elsewhere. I document that, from the early 1980s in the USA, the term ‘sexualization’ came to describe a mal-socialisation which causes the precocious entry by the child into adult forms of sexual subjectivity and desire. I will argue that the media problematization of sexualization has been the result of a ‘discursive coalition’ between a number of conservative and feminist commentators, who for quite different reasons wished to justify measures to protect and regulate the sexuality and morality of young women. Underpinning this coalition is an inadequate account of sexual and commercial choice, as either simply present or absent for young women.

"Reconceiving the Congregation as a Source of Authenticity"

by Mathew Guest

In Garnet, J. et al (eds) Redefining Christian Britain: Post-1945 Perspectives, London: SCM, 2007, pp. 63-72.

This chapter focuses on the different forms and functions which Christian congregations in Britain have adopted in... more This chapter focuses on the different forms and functions which Christian congregations in Britain have adopted in recent years, faced with a cultural context characterised by a fragmentation of local communities and the elevation of consumerist values. In deliberate contrast to visions of post-Christian Britain which emphasise secularisation and the inexorable breakdown of tradition, the intention here is to highlight creative processes of reconfiguration which illustrate the capacity of Christian collectives to adapt to cultural change. Alternative forms of Christian community are then explored through the examples of cell churches, parachurches and web-based communities.

Review: Pathik Pathak 'The Future of Multicultural Britain'

by Katie Keenan

The Big Picture: Britain and China and the Future of Capitalism

by paul cockshott

Cultivating kin in Lancashire: The Stansfields of Long Clough, Littleborough, c.1697-1861

by Robert E. Stansfield

(2011)

The Next War in the Air: Civilian Fears of Strategic Bombardment in Britain 1908-1941

by Brett Holman

PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 2009

During the First World War, several writers began to argue that the main strategic risk to Britain was the possibility... more During the First World War, several writers began to argue that the main strategic risk to Britain was the possibility of a sudden, intense aerial bombardment of its cities, which would cause tremendous destruction and large numbers of casualties. The nation would be knocked-out of the war very quickly, in a matter of days or weeks, before it could fully realise its military potential. The theory of the knock-out blow solidified into a consensus during the 1920s and by the 1930s had almost become an orthodoxy, accepted by pacifists and militarists alike.

My thesis examines the concept of the knock-out blow as it was articulated in the public sphere, the reasons why it came to be so widely accepted in public life, and the way it shaped the responses of the British public to the great issues facing them in the 1930s: armaments and appeasement, war or peace. It mainly draws on published, but little examined, sources -- books, journals, newspapers -- produced in the period between 1908 (when aviation was first perceived as a threat to British security) and 1941 (when the Blitz ended, and it was obvious that no knock-out blow was coming). And it shows how, after having been taught to fear the bomber as the bringer of destruction to all they knew and held dear, the British people were instead taught to regard it as their best hope for victory.

World police for world peace: British internationalism and the threat of a knock-out blow from the air, 1919-1945

by Brett Holman

War in History 17 (2010), 313-32.

This paper argues that the remarkably widespread enthusiasm in Britain after 1918 for an international air force was... more This paper argues that the remarkably widespread enthusiasm in Britain after 1918 for an international air force was due to a confluence of two factors: the long-standing liberal belief that international law could prevent war, and the emergence of a new theory of warfare which claimed that the bomber was a weapon which could not be defended against. The origins of the international air force concept in the 1920s, its apogee in the 1930s, and its decline (and revival) in the Second World War are examined, showing that its fortunes rose and fell with internationalism and the knock-out blow.

'Les Anglo Saxons', FIG and the rival Conceptions of'advanced'Armaments Research and Development Co-operation in Western Europe, 1956-1958

by Mervyn O'Driscoll

FREE TRADE, FREE LABOUR, AND SLAVE SUGAR IN VICTORIAN BRITAIN

by Richard Huzzey

Richard Huzzey, ‘Free Trade, Free Labour and Slave Sugar in Victorian Britain,’ _The Historical Journal_, 53 (2010), pp. 359-379.

This article reconsiders the sugar duties controversy in early Victorian Britain. Rather than representing the defeat... more This article reconsiders the sugar duties controversy in early Victorian Britain. Rather than representing the defeat of abolitionism by free trade zeal, the sugar question was a contest of two varieties of anti-slavery thought which had previously co-existed: one believing that slavery’s immorality was accompanied by its productive inferiority to free labour and the other asserting that slavery’s profits in this world were punished outside the marketplace. West Indian decline after the end of protection led to a revision of free labour superiority, with providential externalities replacing marketplace competitiveness. The episode demonstrates how little most Britons understood the welfare of black freedmen to be connected to anti-slavery after emancipation. A fuller appreciation of the slave sugar debate furthermore recovers an important abolitionist strand in the new ‘human history’ of free trade.

'The 1948 Belcher Affair and Lynskey Tribunal', Twentieth Century British History, 13 (2002), 384-411

by Mark Roodhouse

Although the Belcher affair was one of the biggest cases of political corruption in twentieth-century Britain, the... more Although the Belcher affair was one of the biggest cases of political corruption in twentieth-century Britain, the scandal and resultant judicial inquiry have received little attention in political histories of the 1940s due to their lack of electoral impact. This outcome was not apparent to contemporary political commentators. The allegations were serious and elements of the Conservative Party were willing to use them to smear the Labour government. The government successfully defused the scandal by appointing a judicial inquiry to investigate the allegations. They hoped this would dispel rumours of widespread corruption. However, it had the unintended effect of scotching public debate. The allegations became sub judice, hindering the activities of the scandalmongers. Tedious press coverage of the tribunal hearings bored many voters, who interpreted the scandal in line with their existing beliefs.

Press, Politics and the ‘Police and Public’ Debates in Late 1920s Britain

by John Carter Wood

Forthcoming in Crime, Histoire & Sociétés/Crime, History and Societies, 2011/12

Late 1920s Britain saw dramatic press and political debates resulting from a series of police scandals involving... more Late 1920s Britain saw dramatic press and political debates resulting from a series of police scandals involving questionable arrests, illegitimate interrogation methods and corruption. Although historians have downplayed the impact of politics on inter-war criminal justice, they played an important role in these debates: the Labour Party and the left-wing press pushed for in-depth inquires into and legal reforms of police powers while conservatives tended to defend the police and resist substantial changes. Despite the debates’ sensational nature (which shed light on significant cultural trends in the 1920s) they had little impact on police procedure.

MA Dissertation

by Ryan Wilson

International Relations Dissertation

‘A gigantic scheme of co-operation’: The Miners’ and Seamen’s United Association in the North East, 1851-1854.

by John Flanagan

Is the practice of equal opportunities management keeping pace with theory? Management of sex equality in the financial services sector in Britain and Turkey

by Mustafa Ozbilgin

Özbilgin, M. (2000) Is the practice of equal opportunities management keeping pace with theory? Management of sex equality in the financial services sector in Britain and Turkey, Human Resource Development International. 3, 1: 43-67.

Art for the masses or art for the few? Ethical issues in film marketing in the UK

by Mustafa Ozbilgin

Kerrigan, F. and Özbilgin M. (2002) Art for the masses or art for the few?  Ethical issues in film marketing in the UK, International Journal of Non-Profit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 7, 3, 195-207.

The way forward for equal opportunities by sex in employment in Turkey and Britain

by Mustafa Ozbilgin

Özbilgin, M. (2002) The way forward for equal opportunities by sex in employment in Turkey and Britain, International Management, 7, 1: 55-67.