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Abstract
In this article I argue that Thomas Hobbes’s theory of the “state of nature” should be understood as describing a thoroughly political situation. Hobbes’s exemplification of the state of nature by resorting to the “savages” of America should be taken in its ultimately paradoxical character, one that puts in question the stark opposition between a prepolitical natural state and the properly political state resulting from the “social contract.” Through the lenses of ethnographic studies and anthropological theory, I propose a reinterpretation of Hobbes’s characterization of the state of nature as a state of war. In the first section, I present my interpretation of Hobbes’s understanding of war, arguing that war is characterized not by actual battle but by the uncertainty of conflict, already entailing a social dimension to it. In the second section, I engage with Pierre Clastres’s theory of the society against the State to discuss how, for Amerindian peoples, war not only has a social character but is itself the basis of sociality. In the last section, I discuss Eduardo Viveiros de Castro’s theory of potential affinity to propose that Hobbes’s state of nature is also a form of schematization of alterity as enmity. I conclude by showing how this provides an understanding of peace as a precarious situation, one that is the outcome of ethical practices ultimately independent from the State.
Abstract
The article explores the role of military treatises and manuals as objects and factors in cultural and technology transfer from Western Europe to Russia in the 17th century in a comparative perspective. Listing the treatises on military tactics, organization and technology, translated for the needs of the Russian monarchs before the radical Westernizing reforms under Tsar Peter I started in 1700, the article analyses how these texts were perceived by their Russian readers and how they might have contributed to the military change in Eastern Europe. It defines the Russian military culture of the age as an elite culture, centred around the ruler’s person. The article also contextualizes the history of translated military books within knowledge transfer, in particular the transfer of Early Modern scientific ideas in Russia, as these books provided an attractive insight into European science and technology, not available for the Russian elite from other sources.
Abstract
Is it anachronistic to talk about racism in Hobbes? After all, racism is usually seen as biological: the disliked group must have innate characteristics which are inherited biologically. This is mostly said to be a modern idea. Yet biological racism can be found in medieval and early modern times, as with the Spanish doctrine of limpieza de sangre (cleanliness/purity of blood). Racism, including biological racism, was much more common in Hobbes’s England than we might think, including in texts he may have read; the language of race was hardly uncommon either. Moreover, someone can be called a racist whether or not their dislike of a group is based on characteristics of a group that are inherited biologically, I argue. Whether Hobbes was a racist remains open to debate; this paper offers evidence both for and against that proposition. But we should not reject the question of Hobbes’s racism as anachronistic.
Abstract
The Song dynasty established a standing naval force, which was ignored by some historians since Song lost its defensive wars to the Jin and Mongol forces. This article examines improvements and innovations of Chinese naval operations during Song and pays particular attention to how the state economic reforms and state-centered financial system supported naval development. Song’s population growth and demographic changes also provided manpower for the government to maintain a huge army while establishing a large navy. As the new age of naval and siege warfare emerged, gunpowder weapons and new naval technology became more widespread. The Chinese military adapted to naval warfare during the Southern Song because it was economically and technologically possible. The south’s mastery of riverine warfare created a substantial defensive advantage against the north. Thus, when the Mongols later mastered riverine warfare, they penetrated throughout the south.
Abstract
The article is dedicated to Hinko Gottlieb (1886–1948), who is introduced here as the first Yugoslav Jewish writer who dealt with the theme of the Holocaust in real time. The personal biography of this forgotten author presents his life in the historical context of the pre-Holocaust and Holocaust periods. The inception of Holocaust literature in Yugoslavia is manifested in Gottlieb’s works, imbued with irony and satire, written prior to the occupation of Yugoslavia in 1941. Special attention is paid to his works written during the Holocaust in Yugoslavia (1941–1945), highlighting key issues regarding the presentation of the Holocaust in literature as art, the function of intertextuality and the use of literary genres, such as the science fiction novel, not traditionally associated with Holocaust literature. Attention is also given to the reception of Gottlieb’s works in the post-Holocaust period.
Abstract
This article charts the history of hundreds of Punjabi labourers who migrated to Argentina in 1912 and then onward to the United Kingdom. It argues that both worker agency and imperial concerns about mobility shaped this episode of migration and exclusion. Drawing from sources produced in Britain and Argentina, in English and Spanish, it shows how both workers and bureaucrats pursued competing goals, and how the ideas and activities of both groups mattered. It examines these migrant labourers’ voices and goals in Argentina and the United Kingdom. These Punjabi men repeatedly weighed their options and pursued opportunities for advancement, often taking advantage of their imperial subjecthood to do so. This research also shows how those strategies coexisted with the efforts of bureaucrats in Buenos Aires and London who sought to repatriate these migrants.