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Gef the talking mongoose
No full textThe strange saga of ‘Gef the Talking Mongoose’ began in Autumn 1931 in an isolated farmstead on the Isle of Man; a local farmer and his family claimed that a small animal had appeared to them, having the ability to talk, sing, and perform other feats. This soon became a media sensation, with worldwide news coverage. Psychic investigators such as Harry Price and Nandor Fodor attempted to discover the truth behind the seemingly fantastic events, but were unable to ascertain whether it was a hoax, a poltergeist outbreak, a collective delusion, or a combination of all three. This article draws on contemporary news reports and archival material from the personal papers of Price and Fodor to re-examine the episode
Representations of fame: the National Portrait Gallery in post-war Britain
No full textThis article, published in the IHR's 'Past and Future' magazine, outlines the development of the National Portrait Gallery in the second half of the 20th century
Civil recovery and international issues in relation to restraint and confiscation
No full textThis article is taken from a presentation given at a seminar held at the IALS in 2009 on "Civil recoveries and criminal confiscation: UK and EU interventions against fraud". The author is a barrister and Senior Restraint and Confiscation Lawyer, Serious Fraud Office. The article was published in Amicus Curiae – Journal of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. The Journal is produced by SALS at the IALS (Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London)
Intestacy and family provision claims on death
No full textBrief article by Professor Elizabeth Cooke, Law Commissioner for England and Wales, commenting on a lecture held at the IALS in November 2009 on Inheritance Law and the Law Commission's consultancy. Published in Amicus Curiae – Journal of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. The Journal is produced by SALS at the IALS (Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London)
Welfare's forgotten past: a socio-legal history of the poor law
No full textArticle based on a seminar presented by Dr Lorie Charlesworth (Reader in Law and History at the Law School, Liverpool John Moores University) at the IALS in February 2010 to launch the publication of her book of the same title. The author considers the role of the Poor Law as law, tracing the legal underpinnings of the early system of relieving poverty in England and Wales. Published in Amicus Curiae – Journal of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. The Journal is produced by SALS at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London
“A delightful stillness and amazement in the soul” – the tragic sublime and commoditised communication
No full textThis paper explores the significance of the emergence of an aesthetic of the sublime in the same context as that in which, according to Habermas, the modern public sphere emerged. The necessity to rethink the sublime beyond its classical rhetorical instrumentalisation, its Kantian interpretation and the post-modern rhetoric of totality (the sublime of ideology) is examined and defended.A paper given at the European Communication Conference (European Communication Research and Education Association) University of Barcelona, November 2008
Yardtapes: History, Identity and Diaspora in a Dancehall Style
No full textA thesis submitted in part-fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of M.A., Institute for the Study of the Americas, 2008
Fazio and His Demons: Girolamo Cardano on the art of storytelling and the science of witnessing
No full textFazio Cardano, Girolamo Cardano’s father, plays a key role in Girolamo’s philosophi-cal investigations. This article focuses on Girolamo’s use of Fazio as an authoritative figure in matters of demonic apparitions and explores the boundaries – not always clearly defined – between storytelling and reliable witnessing in Cardano’s accounts of family memories, reported speeches and preternatural phenomena
Cuban Popular Resistance to the 1953 London Sugar Agreement
No full textIn 1953, faced with a catastrophic fall in the price of sugar, representatives of the major sugar producing and consuming nations of the world met in London to agree a mechanism for stabilising the international sugar market. Cuba was heavily dependent on the export of sugar and any change in either the price received for the sugar crop, or the amount that could be sold, had a huge effect on the island's economy. Despite having failed to diversify its economy into other areas to any great extent, by the 1950s Cuba had two independent markets for its sugar exports, one provided by the United States quota system and the other being the so-called ‘world market'. However, when the political threat of a reduction in the US quota coincided with a heavy fall in the price on the world market, the Cuban sugar industry faced a crisis. The Cuban government, which had come to power in a military coup in March 1952, had more economic problems to solve than just the falling price of sugar. A report for the World Bank had recommended wage cuts, easier dismissal regulations and mechanisation of industry as part of a package to raise productivity and increase profitability by reducing the share of the national income that went to labour. Cuban workers had a long tradition of militant defence of their wages and conditions, and so any attempt to increase productivity – which would have resulted in increased unemployment and lower standards of living for Cuban workers – required an authoritarian regime capable of overcoming resistance from the trade unions. Given the importance of sugar for the economy, any attempt to generally increase profitability could not succeed unless profits from sugar could be maintained, which in turn was dependent upon arresting the fall in world prices. The method chosen to implement the cut in exports, as required by the London Sugar Agreement, was to cut production by shortening the harvesting period. This served the double objective of reducing the amount of sugar on the world market, while reducing the plantation owners' wage bill because the cane cutters were only paid during the actual harvest. Such an approach, given the militant traditions of the sugar workers, would bring the Batista regime into direct confrontation with the sugar workers and lead to their biggest strike for 20 years.
As both the London Sugar Agreement and the sugar workers' strike of 1955 are largely ignored in modern historiography, this paper traces the course of events and argues that, in an economy dominated by an industry that was so dependent on international market conditions, the contradiction between the needs of capital and labour would give the Cuban workers good reason to support the revolution in 1959. Starting from a discussion of the detailed relationship between sugar price fluctuations and the crisis in the Cuban economy, it can be seen how this led to participation in the London Sugar Agreement. The fact that this in turn brought the government and employers into conflict with the sugar workers requires an explanation of Cuban working-class politics and traditions of struggle. Before recounting the details of the 1955 strike, the paper continues with an analysis of the US sugar-quota system and an explanation of the manner in which American domestic politics exacerbated the already grave problems of the Cuban sugar industry. Finally, it argues that the different perceptions of the sugar workers and their employers as to the outcome of the strike led to increased working-class support for the revolutionary forces at the same time as many capitalist interests became disillusioned with the dictatorship