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- Volume 129, Issue 2, 2016
Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis - Volume 129, Issue 2, 2016
Volume 129, Issue 2, 2016
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Het Eeuwig Edict en de Intredes van Don Juan in 1577
Authors: Violet Soen & Elisa MasscheleinAbstractThe ‘Eternal Edict’ and the Entries of Don Juan in 1577. Or the difficult mise-en-œuvre and mise-en-scène of a peace treaty during the Dutch Revolt
The Treaty of Marche-en-Famenne – the Eternal Edict of 12 February 1577 – was a peace treaty signed by the new Governor-General of the Netherlands, Don Juan de Austria, and the insurgent States-General of the region, dissatisfied under Spanish Habsburg rule. This contribution analyzes how peacemaking implied more than just signing a treaty: the Eternal Edict sparked a six-month long pacification process that aimed to put it into effect and to advance the recently concluded reconciliation. Moving from Leuven to Brussels to Mechelen, the Governor-General used his Entries in these cities to present himself as a peacemaker, while he commissioned printed editions of the treaty and of its ratification by Philip II. Meanwhile he engaged his secretaries and delegates to follow up on the implementation of the treaty. His opponents, however, opposed these peace initiatives swiftly with vetoes at the negotiation table and a relentless stream of counter-propaganda. In the early modern era pacification relied upon a complex process of aligning all parties through negotiations and ceremonies, yet in this case the interplay between the mise-en-œuvre and mise-en-scène failed within six months.
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De productie van een politieke stedelijke ruimte
More LessAbstractThe production of a political urban space. Antwerp city council and the construction and development of the Leopoldlei and its neighbourhood, 1857-1876
This paper examines nineteenth-century urban space from a political perspective. Local governments, institutions, and organisations used and produced (im)material urban spaces to express, legitimate, and expand their ideologies and power. In the nineteenth century new trends in urban planning enabled municipal authorities to claim the urban landscape in an even more visible and penetrating way. Although this urban space was the result of negotiations between multiple political actors, historical research usually interprets nineteenth-century urbanism in the light of a liberal idea of progress and romantic-nationalistic sentiments. By focusing on the development of a specific neighbourhood through streets, street names, and statues, this research scrutinizes how liberal as well as Catholic municipalities and interest groups contributed to the symbolic, aesthetic, and practical politicisation of the material landscape and how differently or similarly subsequent city councils integrated this space in their policies.
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Lawaai als modern onheil
More LessAbstractDin as modern evil. The portable radio and controlled modernization, 1955-1969
This article analyzes public opinion on the introduction and diffusion of portable radios in the Netherlands, in particular the discourse on the ubiquitous din the devices allegedly caused. This discourse, mainly comprising the digitized newspapers of the National Archive, shows that contemporaries deemed the portable and especially its use – thoroughly altering the country’s soundscape – emblematic of modernization. Examining this discourse casts new light on the way the Dutch dealt with modernization, a topic of fierce scholarly debate. The communis opinio was that portable radio users caused a nuisance that marked the beginning of a new era in which individualization eroded old values and led to hedonism. Almost all actors who addressed the topic of portable radio fiercely opposed these developments. To them the portable radio was part of a ‘modern disease’ which infected social manners and traditional values. They jointly and relentlessly – irrespective of social or religious background – condemned this aspect of modernization.
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Waarom wij studenten niet vertellen dat de Griekse cultuur uit ‘Zwart Afrika’ komt
Authors: Gerard Boter & Jaap-Jan FlintermanAbstractWhy we do not tell our students that Greek culture originates in ‘Black Africa’
The present contribution is an offshoot of a public debate on Afrocentric criticisms of the teaching of Ancient History, held at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in June 2015 (for a video recording of this event see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMu5IncT8OU). We argue that the central tenets of the Afrocentric view of Ancient History, viz. that the ‘Greek miracle’ was a derivative of Egyptian culture, and that pharaonic Egypt was a black civilization, are edifying myths rather than serious contributions to our understanding of the history of the Eastern Mediterranean in Antiquity and that they should not be taught in public educational institutions.
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De ideologie van de witte suprematie en de bestudering van de oudheid op de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Authors: Sandew Hira & Djehuti Ankh-KheruAbstractThe ideology of white supremacy
Professor Boter and Dr. Flinterman read ancient history at VU Amsterdam, but in reality they do not practice genuine scholarship, but white supremacy. This can be seen in their endorsement of books that can be regarded as white supremacist: Een kennismaking met de Oude Wereld by L. de Blois and R. van der Spek and Not out of Africa: how afrocentrism became an excuse to teach myth as history by Mary Lefkowitz. These books propagate and even romanticize racist colonial concepts, deny the blatant racism of the philosophers of the white enlightenment, deny the African character of Egyptian civilization and in particular the fundamental Egyptian influence on ancient Greece. This in spite of the fact that the chauvinistic Greeks themselves have admitted that the Egyptians were black and that their culture, philosophy, science, and religion originated in Egypt.
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De wetenschappelijke betekenis van archeologisch onderzoek naar de Tweede Wereldoorlog
By Ivar SchuteAbstractThe scientific meaning of the archaeology of the Second World War
The archaeology of the Second World War is an emerging discipline. For example, it is becoming increasingly common to consider soil archive remains from the Second World War, although the scientific output is debated. This article aims to give a short overview of this development and illustrates how archaeological research can contribute to historiography and how the two disciplines are related.
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De wetenschappelijke emancipatie van archeologisch onderzoek naar de Tweede Wereldoorlog en het belang van maatschappelijk engagement
More LessAbstractThe scientific emancipation of World War II-related archaeology and the importance ofsocietal commitment: a response to Ivar Schute
In his response to Ivar Schute’s paper on Second World War-related archaeology in the Netherlands, Martijn Eickhoff criticizes Schute’s predominantly positivist approach that focuses exclusively on material traces of ‘what actually happened’. In addition Eickhoff stresses the importance of developing an interdisciplinary approach among archaeologists and historians prior to the start of excavation projects. Only through this combined effort can archaeological excavations contribute to our understanding of the way societies and communities through time deal with (and try to make sense of) experiences related to war and mass violence.
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