Review Essay – Capitalism by Any Other Name: Towards a synthesis of competing visions Abstract: The concept of capitalism is bound up not only with how and why Europe came to dominate the globe, but also with bitter contemporary debates on modernity and global inequality. This article examines competing conceptions of capitalism as formulated by conservative social theorists and world
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Food for Thought: Five Ways to Think About (and Teach) the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict Steven A. Glazer is professor of History at Graceland University, in Lamoni, Iowa. The author would like to thank the reviewers and editors of THE MIDDLE GROUND for their helpful suggestions to improve an earlier draft. Portions of this first paper were originally presented at the Midwest
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Column: What Is Informal Imperialism? Mathieu Gotteland, M.A., Doctorant en histoire, allocataire du Ministère de la Défense, Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne Abstract: This article aims to explain in a theoretical way, but with practical historical examples the complex notion of informal imperialism. First analyzing imperialism(s) and colonialism as a whole, it will then try to characterize and categorize more specifically
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Girmit Connections to Global Networks: South Asians and the Pacific Labor Trade Abstract: This article considers how the experiences of South Asian indentured laborers in Fiji links the Pacific labor migrations of the late 19th and early 20th century to larger global movements of workers. In doing so, it offers one avenue through which to incorporate the Pacific into the
Read moreColumn: Partnership in the Japanese and American Imaginary: Gender and the Mediation of Difference in Hayao Miyazaki’s and Walt Disney Studio’s Animated Movies Abstract This paper compares two animated movies made by Hayao Miyazaki, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) and Princess Mononoke (1997) and two movies made by Disney Studios: Little Mermaid (1989) and Pocahontas (1995). The
Read moreAbstract: How can world historians take advantage of interdisciplinary general education requirements to introduce new students to the methods and uses of history? When survey courses are not institutionalized, specialized courses that draw on individual faculty members’ expertise and fit into general education curricular niches may be the best option. This essay describes my efforts in a First Year Seminar
Read moreThe Ancient Asheville Project: Making Ancient and Medieval World History More Meaningful Abstract: This essay introduces an assignment that leverages the local community and the interests of students to make learning about ancient and medieval world history more meaningful and engaging and helps students to better grasp the commonalities and differences between the ancient or medieval and the modern world.
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