Histories, Volume 4, Issue 4 (December 2024) – 11 articles

The evolution of men’s fashion and lifestyle magazines in Spain since the 1970s reflects shifts in male identity, influenced by the country’s transition from dictatorship to democracy and the liberalizing period of el Destape. This study examines how these magazines capture the adaptations of the “modern man”, emphasizing his pursuit of freedom and alignment with global trends. By analyzing the content of men’s magazines and contrasting them with women’s publications, this study identifies gendered consumption patterns and the role of magazines as both historical records and consumer products. Comparisons reveal how men and women were positioned as both subjects and objects. Results show that men’s magazines initially centered on lifestyle and erotic themes, with successful titles like MAN outlasting less defined publications. Over time, male-targeted magazines broadened their content, increasingly presenting men as consumers of lifestyle topics. This shift parallels the growth of new male-focused magazines since the 2000s, which now leverage social media-driven trends to attract audiences. The study concludes that these magazines have not only shaped male identity but have also reflected capitalist consumer strategies, adapting to digital contexts. Modern male lifestyle magazines, while diversifying themes, remain influenced by traditional gender dynamics that underscore male dominance in cultural narratives. Full article

This research provides a systematic reconstruction of nine botanical names from the Papuan languages spoken on Alor Island. Although genealogical links among the Papuan Timor–Alor–Pantar languages have been previously investigated, linguistic micro-studies of the hypothesized ‘shared’ ancestor languages within languages of the individual islands remain sparse. This study has three main aims: Firstly, to provide etymological reconstructions of Alor–Pantar Papuan words on a micro-level, focusing on Alor Island and specifically on plant names, which represent a cornerstone of Alor culture and history. Adopting the Comparative Method comparing cognates of 15 local languages, this research postulates historical phonetic shifts and language alignment phenomena and proposes proto-forms of the words in proto-Alor. Secondly, to shed light on possible prehistoric language contact and settlement patterns. A key finding suggests that the initial consonantal shifts *b > b > f > p in the languages is a probable loanword feature originating from the Austronesians. The geographical spread could indicate the influence of external trade and/or settlement patterns within the Papuan populations. Lastly, to provide a backbone for future etymological research on Papuan languages in Alor (and beyond) by mapping out aspects of language origins and phonetic influences and establish features of the shared proto-language(s). Full article

This article re-examines the history of the Mongol Empire’s rule over Tibet, analyzing the complex institutional and religious relationships between the Mongol Empire and Tibet from an innovative perspective. We find that, unlike its military conquests in other parts of the world, the Mongol Empire actually formed a kind of federation with Tibet based on Buddhism. The Mongol Empire embraced Tibetan Buddhism as its state religion and venerated the head of the Sakya school as a spiritual guide. Concurrently, the establishment of the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs in the Mongol capital served as a nominal governing body over Tibet, while in reality, it ensured a significant degree of autonomy for the region. Furthermore, the leaders of the Mongol Empire felt endowed with the legitimacy to conquer the world after being blessed by Tibetan Buddhism as Mahakala, the dark incarnation of Avalokiteshvara. In addition, the article also provides a detailed account of the prosperity of Buddhism within the Mongol Empire, in terms of its economic, artistic, and philosophical aspects. The discovery of this evidence is of great significance, since it not only supports reinterpretation of the historical evolution of the Mongol Empire and Tibet, but also allows us to observe the status of Tibetan Buddhism in the Mongol Empire from a new perspective, and to explore the unexpected institutional innovations of the federation reflected in the Mongol-Tibetan relationship. Full article

The work of the Spanish friar Bernardino de Sahagún is widely recognized in the field of anthropology, primarily due to his methodological contributions. The research techniques he employed—such as learning the native language, placing emphasis on linguistic aspects to understand the culture and worldview of “the others”, carefully selecting informants from all social strata, and designing open-ended questionnaires—seem more akin to those of modern British social anthropology than to practices from 500 years ago. In 2015, his work was designated as part of UNESCO’s Memory of the World program, an acknowledgment aimed at highlighting his cultural contributions and preserving the world’s documentary heritage as a symbol of humanity’s collective memory. This designation has renewed Sahagún’s prominence as a precursor of this discipline. This study explores the impact of such recognition and the enduring value of his work. In a time like the present, where interethnic tensions and rejection of difference are on the rise, Sahagún’s work stands as an unquestionable legacy against intolerance and ethnocentrism. Full article

By all accounts, Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) is virtually synonymous with process thought, including its more specific expressions as process philosophy and theology. This is most often assumed with little regard for the origins of modern process thought itself. Nicholas Rescher, reflecting on this fact, has called the pluralization of the field the “cardinal task” of all process proponents. This charge, given nearly thirty years ago, remains unfulfilled. Despite the fact that other candidates are available, the preeminence of this singular figure, and subordinately his later interpreter Charles Hartshorne (1897–2000), has led to what may be called “The Whitehead/Hartshorne Factor” in virtually all aspects of process thought. This has functioned as a limiting factor in the promotion of processual ideas, a phenomenon noted during the earliest years of modern process history. This historiographical review will outline the features of these limitations and suggest a broader process approach that works to the benefit of its theological branch in particular. This paper dares to ask the “heretical” question, what would process philosophy and theology look like without Whitehead? Ironically, with the most recent analysis of Whitehead scholarship, the answer is hidden in plain sight. Full article

Access to raw materials has always been one of the main drivers of economic growth. In Italy, where the relationship between exports and imports has always been negative, during the fascist period, several new opportunities and limits were introduced and many efforts were made to promote the exploitation of Italian resources to support the energy transition, focusing on energy autonomy. But were these efforts sufficient to ensure the achievement of the objectives, or did the internal demand for coal always make trade and technological exchanges with foreign countries necessary, despite what fascist propaganda showed through its communication strategy during the so-called Ventennio? This research, which is part of a significant debate regarding the role of mines in the economic, social, and cultural development in Italy during fascism, was based on the analysis of several series of unpublished data regarding energy consumption, imports, and production in Italy and the international technological debate about Sardinia Island, where the most productive Italian coal mines were opened. Based on a comparison of results, this research aimed at refuting the hypothesis that during the energy transition from wood to coal, Italy was closed both to the international technical, scientific, and methodological debates regarding the mining sector and energy imports. Full article

A key question in the literature of technology in society is the degree to which technology is a product of society and vice versa. A related question is how the differing cross-causal lines between the two change both technological and social forms. This paper considers these questions by conducting a review of the literature on technology and society, and then conducting a structured historical examination of the social, economic, and technical dimensions of the rolling-out and utilisation of the automobile in the United States since the early 20th century in light of that literature. This examination is broken into analytical “phases”, starting with the early days of the auto steeped largely (but not exclusively) in technological idealism, moving through an age of car-ascendancy that peaked in the 1950s and 1960s (with the birth of a literal “car culture”), and into the present day of automobile dependency and changes in auto technology that have varying societal implications that are still largely unexplored. This history is assessed according to three different broad approaches offered by the literature, including (1) an instrumental approach viewing technical change as largely socially “neutral” and technology as primarily driven by the need to solve specific material problems; (2) a values approach in which technology is viewed as having technical components but with technical change driven largely as an expression of social values, both of particular interest groups and societal idea-systems more broadly; and (3) a relational approach in which social and technical change arises from an interplay of different entities, human and non-human, relating to each other in dynamic ways. The American historical experience with the automobile suggests that all three models apply at different times, but that instrumental technological approaches have dominated there, often subordinating the human to the machine, rather than the other way around. Full article

The Oxford Times ran a headline in May 1896 that stated in bold capitals ‘STRANGE DEATH OF A HINDOO’, detailing the circumstances of the death of Baboo Mookhi Singh, who, it seems, was the first (known) Indian grocer in Oxford. While today, the pioneering research by Rozina Visram related to the presence of Asians in Britain, that of Antoinette Burton in the late-Victorian period, or Michael Fisher’s work on counterflows to colonialism, is not new, the majority of research regarding the presence of Indians in the British Isles is either scant for this period of time, or related to ayahs and lascars, or to poets, intellectuals, and aristocrats, with considerable research also related to the Indian military. The majority of times, that research has also focused solely on London. The originality of this research paper provides material heretofore undocumented related to an early settler in Oxford from India (1880s–1890s): Baboo Mookhi Singh (1867–1893), Oxford’s first grocer, and tea importer from India. He originated from Benaras (Varanasi) and arrived in Britain, where he set up a business in the centre of Oxford. However, what he encountered there was name-calling, verbal as well as physical harassment, and ultimately his death in strange circumstances. He seemingly came alone, although his import business, which boasted the best tea not only in Oxford, but in the whole country, was run by the ‘Singh Brothers’ (his brother remaining in India). While Singh most certainly travelled via the Suez Canal to Britain, the country to which he was travelling would have been both familiar and unfamiliar to him. However, due to the lack of resources available, all too often common people, such as Singh, have been neglected. In this article, newspaper reports and material from the numerous trials (mostly initiated by Singh against the local people and his immediate neighbours) are brought together, as well as the coroner’s reports, and the police notes to determine Singh’s struggle for recognition, and his attempt at resistance. This paper documents his struggle for cultural/geographic space, to redress the imbalance of power, and gain agency. Despite his attempts at resilience, he did, in the end, die. However, Singh was a pioneer in a struggle for power, a stand for resistance, and how the law perceived him, in his difference, changing the community around him, albeit on a small scale. It is a telling story that resurfaces an early Indian settler in Britain, his alterity in Victorian society, and the latter’s attitudes towards race. It steps outside of the traditional image of the empire at home, in Britain, in everyday life. Full article

At the intersection of memory and feminist studies, this article examines the issue of suffrage and feminist monumental commemoration in the United States. Starting from the deficit of statues representing female historical figures in the public space, it analyzes the conception and reception of two important monuments honoring women’s suffrage (Portrait Monument 1921 and the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument 2020). While those monuments have somewhat broken the “bronze ceiling”, they testify to the mechanics of exclusion and inclusion at work both in the construction of history and memory. Then, the article takes on a broader perspective, questioning the extent to which traditional monuments, as products of a patriarchal culture and memory, can properly commemorate modern feminism. The essay identifies two trends, one consisting of transforming the bronze through various strategies, the other of “breaking the bronze” by replacing it with other materials and proposing new memory frameworks belonging to what James E. Young has labeled countermonuments. Still, the article ultimately questions the limits of the monument itself and points to the notion of interactive spaces as perhaps the most adequate sites of memory for the complex, multifaceted, contested, and contemporary movement that feminism(s) stand(s) for. Full article

Immediately after the Second World War, Jean-Paul Sartre offered a history of literature as part of his project to launch a new era of literary activity guided by his concept of littérature engagée or committed literature. This article examines Sartre’s approach to the construction of literary history, highlighting his use of periodisation, a thematics of shifting relationships between writers and readers, and frequent deployment of gendered rhetoric to support his arguments. It shows that Sartre repeatedly used gendered tropes that worked to associate women, females and/or femininity with characteristics generally devalued in European and other Western societies, such as passivity, ignorance and indecision. It is argued that the touchstone to which Sartre continually referred in formulating his literary history was Julien Benda’s La Trahison des Clercs (Treason of the Intellectuals). The argument to be developed takes broad inspiration from the work of Hayden White on the analysis of historical texts, and follows his injunction that historians and readers of history need to become more conscious of how histories are made. Full article

In 1933, Renato Ricci, President of the Opera Nazionale Balilla, proposed to move the place of Benito Mussolini’s gatherings from Piazza Venezia to the slopes of Monte Mario, into the Foro Mussolini, a complex mainly dedicated to sport activities. Ricci entrusted Luigi Moretti with the design of the vast esplanade of the Arengo delle Nazioni and a huge bronze statue of the Genius of Fascism upon the hill of Monte Mario, which was to incarnate the physiognomy of Mussolini himself. For the first time, the projects produced by a group of engineers, architects—Mansutti and Miozzo, Paniconi and Pediconi, Del Debbio, and Moretti himself—and Aroldo Bellini, the sculptor chosen to create the new Colossus of Rome, are here systematically reordered, analyzed, and discussed in the historical, political, and artistic scenarios of 1930s Italy to reconstruct a forgotten chapter of the megalomaniacal plans promoted by the fascist regime to turn Rome into the capital of a new empire. Full article