In this dreariest and most unsettled of Novembers, we’ve riffled through our back catalogue to see how DHP contributors might shine a light on recent developments in world politics. This did not disappoint. We bring you five voices from the not-so-distant past that tackle themes thrown up by the election in the United States last week. Putting these in chronological order, starting in June 2017 and ending in February 2024, they form their own archive. At risk of sounding preachy amid the global cull of humanities departments, we’ve also included a further three posts that discuss what history and historians might offer in a changing world order.
Is Trump the new King Henry II? David Runciman, June 2017.
Runciman picks up upon an unexpected medieval phrase in the testimony of Former FBI James Comey before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Written within the first year of Trump’s presidency, Runciman’s piece highlights some early Trumpian strategies.
Build The Wall? The Perspective of an American in the Philippines. Tom Smith, January 2018.
Smith discusses one of the more famous points of Trump’s rhetoric, tying this back to what is perhaps one of the United States’s lesser-known former territories, the Philippines. In doing so, Smith casts doubt on the Americanness of the famous ‘wall’.
What is legitimate political power? Zoë Jackson, November 2020.
Using a few themes emerging in the 2020 US election alongside contemporary issues in UK politics, Jackson brings us an early modern piece which discusses these questions through the experiences of seventeenth-century people.
“#Thank a Black Woman”: The Legacy of African-American Women in U.S. Politics. Tionne Paris, January 2021.
Highlighting the pivotal role played by Black women in US history and activism, Paris examines the tension between the positive narratives in political commentary around Black women as enacting political change and the political burden that these are often expected to shoulder.
Adding Nuance to Tucker Carlson’s Interview with Putin. Noam Bizan, February 2024.
If recent news has meant that the world has looked West over the past week, we might also look East. Noam Bizan fact-checks Tucker Carlson’s infamous interview with Vladimir Putin from earlier this year.
Where does History fit into all of this?
Should we learn from history? Fred Smith, July 2017.
With a title reminiscent of a Cambridge interview question, Smith examines the disconnect between historian perceptions of this issue and that of political commentators and journalists.
How to abuse and misuse history: a guide from twentieth-century politics. Spike Lister, 2019.
Lister makes an explicit nod to American history and politics in unpacking modern US political rhetoric. This is worth reading in conjunction with Smith’s piece – if Smith asks whether we should be learning from history, Lister discusses how best (or rather, how not) to do so.
In Praise of History Teachers. Carys Brown, September 2016.
To end your reading on a gentler note, Brown’s piece considers the role of history in education, unpacking the pivotal role of teachers in inculcating a love for the subject and strong foundations in the discipline in young people who go on to a range of career paths.
doinghistoryinpublic.org 