Finding Comrades – which (non-policy) group based appeals can parties employ to improve their association with the working class

How can parties influence their associations with social groups? The impact of differential policy platforms on group structured voting behaviour is well recognised. Increasingly, however, scholars are also examining the effect of parties’ rank and file make-up as well as that of direct rhetorical group appeals on such associations. Some moreover argue that attachments to parties are sticky heuristics, based on a running tally of both past and present party performance. In light of these predictions I propose a conjoint experimental study of class voting in the UK.

Gendered work: Onset and consequences

All organizations have work that no one wants to do: planning the office party, screening interns, attending to that time-consuming client, or simply helping others with their work. From office housework to more important assignments, the work that goes unrewarded, is more often handled by women than by men. The talk will present research on how and when gendered work arises, and how differences in assignments impact compensation, negotiation and advancement.

Imperialism and Ethnology: The Ottoman Case

Historians have long asserted the close connection between ethnology—the practice of systematically describing cultural differences—and the politics of imperial domination. But in this respect, the Ottoman Empire presents an apparent paradox. Despite expanding across a territory that encompassed all or part of over 30 modern nation-states, early Ottoman authors almost avoided describing the cultural diversity of the empire’s subject peoples.

The global nature of Mughal Early Modernity

The Mughal (Timurid) empire in its prime (1526-1707) was markedly different in its institutional makeup and cultural outlook than the Delhi Sultanate in its era of expansion (1206-1414). If the Delhi sultans ruled as vassals of the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad and Cairo, the Mughals ruled as kings of the world, a fact reflected in their regnal titles such as “World-Seizer” (Jahangir); “King of the World” (Shah Jahan); “Alamgir” (World-Seizer), which had not been thinkable in the time of the Delhi sultans. This change can be attributed to the Mongol heritage of the Mughals.

Medicine for Ghosts: Visions, Possessions, and Medical Exchange in Early Modern Southeast Asia

In cosmopolitan port-cities across sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Southeast Asia, a variety of healers plied their trade. Changing patterns of commerce brought new materia medica, new ideas about sickness and health, and new approaches to prophylaxis against misfortune, disease, and disaster. Movements of religious proselytization and reform across the region similarly expanded the range of materials, strategies, and skilled personnel available to call upon in times of crisis.

Circulation: Object memory, global exchange, and the first English embassy to India

When Thomas Roe arrived in India in 1616 as the first English ambassador to the Mughal Empire, the English barely had a toehold in the subcontinent. Their understanding of South Asian trade, culture, and the complexities of Indian society was sketchy at best. To the Mughal court, with its vast wealth and influence, the English were minor players on a very large stage.

Folksongs and Inclusion in Early Modernity: A Comparative Study

Chinese elites of the late Ming dynasty (1368-1644) were, like many writers elsewhere in the early modern era, obsessed with the ideal of authenticity (zhen). This showed nowhere more clearly than in their appreciation of folksongs. Supposedly composed by lower class people in the “streets and alleyways,” folksongs represented a form of poetic utterance free of the literary constraints that stifled elite writing. Praised and cited across a wide spectrum of literary opinion, folksongs appeared in collections by Yang Shen (Gujin fengyao,1543), Li Kaixian (Shijing yanci, c.

Beyond Boundaries: Developing Indigenous Intellectual History

This paper examines the challenges and opportunities of centring Indigenous thought in imperial, legal, and political history before 1900, contributing to the growing field of Global Indigenous Intellectual History. It addresses key issues, including the interpretation and representation of Indigenous concepts, the description of their norms, and the shift from Eurocentric to Indigenous perspectives.

Oxford Conservative Thought Reading Group, Meeting 1: What is Conservative Thought?

The Oxford Conservative Thought (OCT) Reading Group is a non-partisan group devoted to academic exploration of small-c conservative political thought. We welcome, and actively encourage, viewpoint diversity and constructive engagement across ideological divides (all good-willed participants are welcome!)

Please register here: https://forms.gle/W4tX5qFgSAU171ap9

Each week we read one assigned text, and we recommend more for anyone who is very keen!

The OCT meets weekly in term time on Fridays from 4-5:30pm.

You can view our reading list here:
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