"Corruption, Anti-Corruption, Vigilance, and State Building from Early to Late Modern Times challenges current historiographical approaches, proposing new interpretations to rethink the relation between corruption and the socio-political and economic transformations since early globalisation. Building on the latest research and offering new methods of inquiry, this book is a compelling resource for academics interested in political history and the history of corruption"--

Corruption, Anti-Corruption, Vigilance, and State Building from Early to Late Modern Times challenges current historiographical approaches, proposing new interpretations to rethink the relation between corruption and the socio-political and economic transformations since early globalisation. By adopting both transnational and long-term approaches, the book explores the historical dimension of notions such as accountability, transparency, and vigilance in their immediate political, social, and legal contexts. The starting point is to view corruption not as a moral category that emerged in 1789 to delegitimise past, foreign or present state systems, but as a constantly contested concept that must also be historicised in past societies. The collection revisits chronologies and examines different local, regional, and national frames, highlighting that the path to modernity was contested and affected by a variety of unique circumstances, such as revolutions and external political powers. Building on the latest research and offering new methods of inquiry, this book is a compelling resource for academics interested in political history and the history of corruption.

Chakarawarti explores the history of Indian eunuchs from the Mughal empire’s fall following the mutiny of 1857 A.D. to the Supreme Court of India’s historic ruling in 2014 A.D. This book examines the social, political, economic, and religious aspects of Indian eunuchs’ lives, providing a true narrative of this marginalized group that has been neglected for centuries. It contains detailed stories of Indian eunuchs from the 1857 uprising to the historic decision to grant them the title of third gender in the Supreme Court of India in 2014. This includes the actual account of the court proceedings and how this decision brought about an enormous transition to their lives by granting them fundamental rights under the Constitution of India and the right to self-identification of their gender as male, female, or third gender. This book serves as an important resource for scholars of Gender Studies, Transgender Studies, and Subaltern History, and especially for those who are interested in Transgender Studies in modern Indian history.

Following victory in World War II, the US and Western Europe claimed to be the champions of the political ideals of democracy and freedom, along with the economic ideal of free market capitalism. Two decades into the twenty-first century, these once noble ideals have been reduced to little more than myths – myths that bear scant resemblance to the realities of the powerful political and economic forces that dominate the Western world. This book examines the dangerous prospects we face as the societies built upon these myths begin to fragment and crumble. In an open and accessible style, this book argues that much of the confusion that currently plagues the West is due to the fact that its social, economic and political systems are saturated by a little understood and rarely acknowledged system of propaganda. This book seeks to clear away this propagandistic façade in order to reveal where power really lies in Western societies, examining how this power functions and how it has corrupted the ideals of democracy, freedom and capitalism to suit its own ends. This volume will be of value to those interested in modern history and social and political history.

Catholics and Political Violence in the Twentieth Century presents a historical reconstruction of the ways in which Catholics have justified the recourse to political violence during the twentieth century, a period marked by major wars, nationalisms, decolonization, ideological clashes, and episodes of genocide. Legitimation processes are particularly complex when this violence is not endorsed by the state, and perhaps used against it. Depending on perspective, the protagonists of this radical form of collective action may be seen as ‘terrorists’ or ‘freedom fighters’. Written by a leading historian of contemporary Catholicism, this book examines a series of case studies from different parts of the world, selected because of the central role played by the Catholic religion. They range from Northern Ireland to the Basque Country, from the Philippines to Colombia, and from Mexico to Rwanda. It highlights how theological sources, paradigms of martyrdom, and symbols of the Christian tradition have provided a catalogue of reasons to give moral value to violence and promote it in the name of God. By looking at the history of Catholicism in global terms and adopting a transnational perspective, Catholics and Political Violence in the Twentieth Century sheds a critical light on the themes that are crucial to understanding the relationship between religion and violence. It will appeal to scholars and students working and studying in the fields of Modern and Contemporary History, Religious Studies, Terrorism Studies, Cultural and Global Studies, Intellectual History, and the History of Political Thought.

This book is a primary source collection of 30 speeches of the Cold War from 1917 to 1991, representing a cross section of leaders on all sides of the conflict from North America, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia. As ideological conflict between superpowers returns to the world, it is more essential than ever to understand the superpower conflict which dominated the second half of the previous century. The Cold War was fought with rhetoric and propaganda as much as economic or military strength. The Essential Speeches of the Cold War explores all stages of the Cold War from its origins after the Russian Revolution to its conclusion with the collapse of the Soviet Union seven decades later, offering a clear understanding of its history and turning points as told through its public diplomacy. Each speech has a historical introduction written by the author, as well as extensive historical footnotes discussing its significance and historical context. This useful guide to how the rhetoric used during the Cold War helped shape our modern world will be a valuable resource for undergraduate and graduate scholars of the conflict, as well as for students of modern political rhetoric in international relations.

Anticorruption in History is a timely and urgent book: corruption is widely seen today as a major problem we face as a global society, undermining trust in government and financial institutions, economic efficiency, the principle of equality before the law and human wellbeing in general. Corruption, in short, is a major hurdle on the "path to Denmark" a feted blueprint for stable and successful statebuilding. The resonance of this view explains why efforts to promote anticorruption policies have proliferated in recent years. But while the subject of corruption and anticorruption has captured the attention of politicians, scholars, NGOs and the global media, scant attention has been paid to the link between corruption and the change of anticorruption policies over time and place, with the attendant diversity in how to define, identify and address corruption. Economists, political scientists and policy-makers in particular have been generally content with tracing the differences between low-corruption and high-corruption countries in the present and enshrining them in all manner of rankings and indices. The long-term trends & social, political, economic, cultural; potentially undergirding the position of various countries plays a very small role. Such a historical approach could help explain major moments of change in the past as well as reasons for the success and failure of specific anticorruption policies and their relation to a country's image (of itself or as construed from outside) as being more or less corrupt. It is precisely this scholarly lacuna that the present volume intends to begin to fill. The book addresses a wide range of historical contexts: Ancient Greece and Rome, Medieval Eurasia, Italy, France, Great Britain and Portugal as well as studies on anticorruption in the Early Modern and Modern era in Romania, the Ottoman Empire, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and the former German Democratic Republic.

Revolution and Its Past is a comprehensive study of China from the last quarter of the eighteenth century through to 2018. A fascinating and dramatic narrative, the book compels interest both as a history of an ancient civilization developing into a modern nation-state and as an account of how the Chinese as a people have struggled and continue to work to find their identity in the modern world. Beginning in the last two decades of the reign of the Qianlong emperor (1736–1795), the book provides a baseline that allows readers to understand China’s rapid decline in the nineteenth and part of the twentieth century, and extends into the present day, a time when China has the second largest economy in the world and aims to become a leading global power by 2050. The vast changes that have swept over China between these times are probed through the lens of the broad and important theme of "identities." This fourth edition has been updated throughout, providing a more thorough examination of recent history since 1960, and increasing coverage of such topics as "new Qing history," frontier and ethnicity, women and their roles, environmental concerns and issues, and globalization. Supported by maps, images, tables, online eResources and suggestions for further reading, and written in an engaging, concise, and authoritative style, Revolution and Its Past is the ideal textbook for all students of the history of modern China.