This thesis maps the end of the millenium in terms of the geostrategic flux of the post Cold War world system. Using the concept of turbulence developed in the physics of fluids, and Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari's liquid microphysics of the war machine, a materialist analysis of violence is developed which cuts through the binary oppostions of order/chaos, law/violence, war/peace to construct a cartography of speeds and slowness, collective compositions and power. Sector 1 defines postmodernity in terms of cybernetic culture, delineating the distinction between Deleuze & Guattari's concept of cartography and steering the problem out of the remit of a juridico/politico/moral discourse telwards physics. Sector 2 develops a fluid physics of turbulence and connects it to a materialist analysis of social systems by mapping turbulent and laminar flow onto Deleuze & Guattari's war machine and apparatus of capture. A fluid dynamics of insurgency is then outlined with reference to the geo-strategic undercurrent constituted by Chinese martial theory. Sector 3 reconfigures social evolution in relation to the non-linear social physics developed in Sector 2, unmasking the racism and Imperialism of linear narratives of progress. Instead of progression from one historical phase to another, the planet is seen to be composed of a virtual co-existence of modes stretched out on a continuum of war. This continuum connects the martial modes of despotic states, disciplinary states and packs. These modes differ in their degree of compositional laminarization. Sector 4 deploys the cartography on the emergence of a planetary cybernetic culture and its relation to a global machinery of war. Postmodern control is designated as turbulence simulation or programmed catastrophe- a runaway process of accident or emergency quantizing typified by implosive turbulence in the core of the world system and its overexposure. Sector 5 pushes the cartography towards an antifascist fluid mechanics otherwise denoted as an ethics of speed or a tao of turbulence.

In this thesis I argue that Foucault's dispersive historiography is a deepening rather than a purifying of historical existence. This emphasis upon dispersion as a critical principle is contrasted with, and delimited by the possibility of the narrative comprehension of historical existence exemplified by the hermeneutics of Paul Ricoeur. Insofar as the responsibility to act is an important field where tfphis deepening takes place it cannot be subordinated to the responsibility to otherness which aims at dismantling the action orientated frameworks of traditional ethics and politics. Ricoeur's promotion of narrative refiguration as a response to the aporias of time is thus, a timely rejoinder to dispersive genealogy. I argue further that Foucault's historiography exhibits the productive tension of history as both difference and meaning and that the ethical thrust of such writing is to address the concerns of the present in a way that metamorphosizes rather than challenges the narrative function. Insofar as it connects with the struggles of disenfranchised and marginalized groups, and discourses, it also echoes a powerful element In traditional emancipatory historiography which attempts to fully embrace the slaughtered possibilities of the past The emancipatory potential of dispersive historiography is examined further by comparison with the aims and values of traditional critical theory. Two positions are delineated: (1) Complementarity, in which genealogy produces valuable insights into hitherto unacknowledged power structures; (2) Delimitation, in which Foucault's work is seen to be an important limitation on the epistemological and ontological interventions of critical theory. This JOIns the philosophical hermeneutical critique of critical theory In its delimitation of the finite horizon of all emancipatory discourse. Finally I argue that Foucault's work is itself limited by its refusal to countenance the utopian dimension of social reproduction in which the social imaginary is to be considered not as a delusory projection of desire, but as a driving force behind the projection of freedom. Dispersive freedom sees the formation of political, cultural, and social identities as always constraints upon the real practice of freedom. It is this marginalisation of liberation as a process with ends that I seek to dispute. I conclude that Foucault's dispersive principles are belied by the important contribution his work has made to the necessarily ceaseless task of the refiguration of the concepts of history, freedom, power and truth.

This thesis argues that the role played by the concept of remembrance (Eingedenken) in Walter Benjamin's 'theory of the knowledge of history' and in his engagement with Enlightenment universal history, is a crucial one. The implications of Benjamin's contention that history's 'original vocation' is 'remembrance' have hitherto gone largely unnoticed. The following thesis explores the meaning of the concept of remembrance and assesses the significance of this proposed link between history and memory, looking at both the mnemonic aspect of history and the historical facets of memory. It argues that by mobilising the simultaneously destructive and constructive capacities of remembrance, Benjamin sought to develop a critical historiography which would enable a radical encounter with a previously suppressed past. In so doing he takes up a stance (explicit and implicit) towards existing philosophical conceptions of history, in particular the idea of universal history found in German Idealism. Benjamin reveals an intention to retain the epistemological aspirations of universal history whilst ridding that approach of its apologetic moment. He criticises existing conceptions of history on the basis that each assumes homogeneous time to be the framework in which historical events occur. Insight into the distinctive temporality of remembrance proves to be the touchstone for this critique, and provides a paradigm for a very different conception of time. The thesis goes on to determine what is valid and what is problematic both in this concept of remembrance and in the theory of historical knowledge which it informs, by subjecting both to the most cogent criticisms which can be levelled at them. What emerges is not only the importance of this concept for an understanding of Benjamin's philosophy but the pertinence of this concept for any philosophical account of memory.

<p>This dissertation traces the complex factors that influenced the World War II-era transition of some archaeologists and physical anthropologists who studied the ancient Middle East into roles that impacted U.S. policy towards the Middle East. The first chapter focuses on the archaeological expeditions and disciplinary practices that first exposed these social scientists to the inhabitants of the region that came to be known as the Middle East. Their experiences during the 1920s and 1930s influenced the opinions they formed and would later put to political use. The second chapter traces the various roles they took on in service of the U.S. government during the Second World War. Although many academics performed a variety of duties during the war, they were all united by a common belief: that academic knowledge of foreign peoples was going to be necessary in the postwar world. The third chapter analyzes two attempts, at the University of Chicago and Princeton University, to institutionalize the teaching of knowledge about the modern Middle East. Both efforts failed to fully implement the visions of their founding scholars, who each attempted to modulate the impact of some of the negative practices they had witnessed during their wartime government work. The fourth chapter argues that one archaeologist who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency during the Cold War exemplifies the cozy manner in which scholars and the U.S. government collaborated during the postwar period. That chapter analyzes the modifications the scholar made to his published work on Iran, changes that were made in light of his government activities there.

No description available.

No description available.

<p> In 2002, Salt Lake City joined an elite group of cities, in the world, when it hosted the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. This "once in a lifetime" chance gave the city, community, and state of Utah an opportunity to show the world a different side of the community than just the home to the peculiar people known as Mormons. The city took the chance and pulled it off beautifully. Salt Lake not only managed to stage one of the most impressive Olympic Winter Games ever but ended up with an unprecedented amount of profit. But what do you do after the party is over? In an effort to keep the spirit of the Olympics alive, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) wanted to build a legacy park where locals and tourists could visit and relive the thrill and excitement the Olympics. The announcement of the legacy park brought great support from the people, the city, and state government officials but unfortunately, it also brought along all of the politics and personal agendas involved when working with these entities. In the end, the legacy park was merged with a park which was originally planned to showcase just the Olympic cauldron at Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah. The following thesis is the story of how the legacy park came to reside at the University of Utah, the planning and design of the park, the operations and maintenance, and the celebrations it hosted in the ten plus years since the Olympic Winter Games. This thesis focuses on whether or not the Olympic Cauldron Park served as a legitimate and appropriate legacy for the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games and if that legacy should continue now that original contracts are expiring. Primary research was gathered through local and national newspaper articles, oral interviews, personal experience, and official documents such as contracts between SLOC and the University of Utah. As time and the outdoor elements take their toll on the park, contracts are finished and expansion of the stadium for the Pac 12 Athletic Conference pending, the future of the Olympic Cauldron Park looks bleak. Although there are plans to have some items from the park live on at another Olympic legacy destination, the Olympic Cauldron Park story needed to be told before it ceases to exist.</p>

<p> This dissertation examines the cultural and religious dynamics of the North Carolina Piedmont's non-planter social order. I look in depth at the modernizing elements of antebellum religion, particularly the sensibility of liberality that accompanied institutional development, how church disciplinary procedures adapted to changing social reality, and the formation of middle class style nuclear families under the aegis of evangelical prescription. In addition to using denominational records, I utilize four diaries of ordinary Piedmont residents in extended explorations of how individuals enacted in their private lives the public lessons of evangelicalism. I conclude that an evangelical ethic developed that existed alongside the dominant planter ideology, and that ethic formed the basis for both unity, and dissent, in the late antebellum period.</p>

This thesis traces the social networks of company directors involved in multinational commerce during the seventeenth century. It places commerce and directors at the centre of key economic, political and social developments during the seventeenth century, answering three interrelated questions: how did relationships between different corporate spheres change during the seventeenth century? How did the director develop as a socioeconomic agent during the seventeenth century? How did directors influence the formation of the English political economy? The first chapter defines the company director and places them in the wider historiographical traditions, while also outlining the methodological approaches used throughout the thesis. Chapter two examines how debates concerning the Virginia Company affected the wider community of company directors in the first decades of the seventeenth century, demonstrating how disparities in visions for trade created friction, which in turn affected the formation of governance in other companies. The third chapter analyses how the networks of different groups of directors developed during the civil wars and Interregnum period. The tension between the varied parties drove fertile debates on company formats, which stretched existing notions of corporate governance. Following on from this, chapter four traces how directors purged and counter-purged one another in during the Restoration. New networks were shaped by private trade overseas, by new extra-company institutions and by increased competition between companies. The growing differences between the Levant Company and the East India Company inspires renewed debates over directors' role. The fifth chapter investigates how directors became familiar in England during the late seventeenth century. The joint stock boom of the 1690s gave a new presence to commercial corporate governance in England, while the links between the director community and the English state were further cemented by foundation of the Bank of England. The final chapter examines the foundation of the New East India Company in 1698, as well as the subsequent merger of the old and new companies. The new company fractured and expanded of the director community. However, the merger between the two companies ignored contemporary political ideologies, and forged the directors' networks into a corporate superstructure. The dissertation challenges the assumption that conflicts between insiders and outsiders in the commercial community accelerated the formation of the English political economy by tracing networks across a community of diverse individuals. It offers a new understanding of the relationship between commerce, politics and society in seventeenth century England, and demonstrates the importance of company directors as socioeconomic agents, emphasising the social nature of the early modern trading corporation.

This thesis aims to illuminate the economic and social world of the Glasgow-West India merchants, planters and the temporary economic migrants who travelled across the Atlantic during the period, 1776-1846. The city of Glasgow and her satellite ports was the premier Scottish transatlantic hub with connections across the British Atlantic world. This thesis has focused on the period after the American War of Independence ended the city of Glasgow’s tobacco monopoly. Thus, the rise to prominence of the city’s West India elite is assessed as well as the social, political, financial and commercial networks that underpinned their rise. This thesis offers new insights on religious affiliations of the merchants of Glasgow and traces the exportation of Presbyterianism to Jamaica in 1814. This thesis has implications for other aspects of the incipient Scottish-Atlantic historiography. In particular it contributes to T.M. Devine’s recent view that Caribbean slavery made Scotia great. However, this thesis is deliberately placed into a British-Atlantic context. Although this research demonstrates how a distinctly Caledonian operation promoted the flow of capital to Scotland, the ‘Glasgow West India interest’ themselves were part of a wider international network which in turn dictates the scope of this thesis and the historiography with which it engages. Specifically, this body of research traces direct investments of capital by West India merchants into Scottish industry and land, thus providing qualified support for Eric Williams’ main thesis in Capitalism and Slavery. However, this work goes significantly beyond the work of Williams to trace the connections between commerce and banking institutions in Scotland and the plantations of the West Indies. This thesis has examined in some detail the political activities of the Glasgow West India Association from inception in 1807 up to 1834. The Association’s sophisticated operations at a national and regional level supported the exploitative activities of the Glasgow-West India elite. Indeed, this research demonstrates that the members of the Association collected the bulk of the compensation awarded to individuals resident in Glasgow on the emancipation of slavery in 1834. This thesis has adopted a transatlantic approach that connects Scotland and the West Indies. In particular, these connections are illuminated through the prism of the careers of the young Scotsmen who sojourned to Jamaica and Grenada in particular. This thesis suggests there were increasing levels of emigration to the West Indies in this period and the skilled and educated young men sought economic opportunities not available at home. By examining wealth repatriation in life and post-mortem property transmission strategies, this thesis offers a revision on the view that such young men struggled to repatriate colonial profits. This has implications for the work of Alan Karras and others. The transatlantic approach is developed in case study examinations of Glasgow-West India merchant houses. This connects Scottish banks, commerce and industry with the British Parliament and the planters of the West Indies. The world of Scottish planters, merchants and sojourners is now becoming increasingly well known. The life, wealth and legacy of the Glasgow West India elite traced here provide innovative insights into their living conditions and material culture. It is further argued that a West India career could propel even those of modest means into the British super-wealthy. Finally, this thesis recognises the contribution of enslaved peoples to the economic development of Scotland which will hopefully stimulate further research in a Scottish-Atlantic context.