How did behaviour change become an integral part of public health strategies in the twentieth century? And what insights can this history offer in tackling the unique challenge of Covid-19?
Historians’ Watch
Solitude and Covid-19
These are exceptional times. But the dangers of solitude are a very old theme. Barbara Taylor and David Vincent reflect on the fine historical line between loneliness and solitude in light of Covid-19.
Against Monolingualism
In the first of a series on ‘Radical History after Brexit’, John Gallagher highlights how monolingualism is historically strange, and calls for a greater focus on multilingualism and language learning.
COVID-19: When history has no lessons
What value do the lessons of the past have in shaping strategies for managing the COVID-19 outbreak? In this article, Guillaume Lachenal and Gaëtan Thomas argue that an over-reliance on the allure of ‘pandemic precedents’ needs to be replaced with an enhanced understanding of the capacity of present crises to resist historical interpretation.
Skin before Colour in Early Modern Europe
When, how, and why did skin colour matter in early modern Europe? Hannah Murphy explores how science could make the known strange.
Lies, damned lies, and racist statistics
How has the whitewashing of race science and eugenics shaped racist ideologies in the present-day political mainstream? Anne Hanley argues that genetic determinism continues to shape deep-seated assumptions about ‘natural’ racial and gender differences.
Debating “Discoveries”: Colonialism & Public History in Portugal
With debates over the public history of empire and colonialism intensifying across Europe, Afonso Dias Ramos explores the controversy in Portugal over the use of the term “Discoveries” to encompass the country’s complex colonial past.
