Giovanni Lista | Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg (original) (raw)

Articles by Giovanni Lista

History of European Ideas, 2024

This article offers a revised interpretation of the Scottish republican thinker and political act... more This article offers a revised interpretation of the Scottish republican thinker and political activist Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun’s views on the issue of militias and standing armies. Reconstructing both its English and Scottish contexts, it is shown that Fletcher’s republicanism incorporated strong constitutionalist elements by engaging with several forms of political discourses and practices. On the one hand, his Discourse concerning Militias (1697) issued in London went much further than the moderate neo-Harringtonian propaganda of the anti-army camp, arguing for delivering the right to use arms to the parliaments instead of the king. On the other, the second version of Fletcher’s tract published in Edinburgh in 1698 and his 1703 parliamentary ‘limitations’ enlarged the participation in the militia to landless subjects, transcending both the Buchananite ethos of the nobility in arms and James Harrington’s original agrarian model. As a result of this study, Fletcher’s idea of government emerges as much closer to English Civil War authors and the likes of Algernon Sidney and Henry Neville than to any of his contemporaries. The conclusions stress how Fletcher’s radical stance should be considered as the most important facet of his legacy, presenting some cases of reception in the age of revolutions.

History of European Ideas, 2020

Set within the framework of international intellectual history, the present article focusses on t... more Set within the framework of international intellectual history, the present article focusses on the propaganda campaign undertaken by the Company of Scotland to prove the legality of its settlement in the Darien province. It first shows how a group of Scottish authors appropriated sixteenth-century natural law arguments from Spanish sources to reject the claims based on the Bulls of Donation and conquest, which underpinned Spain's sovereignty over its American territories. Acting individually and collectively, anonymously and under pseudonyms, pro-Darien propagandists instrumentally quoted and restated the contents of major works from Francisco de Vitoria and Bartolomé de Las Casas. Additionally, the Scots also deployed the theories elaborated by Hugo Grotius and Samuel Pufendorf to refute discovery and occupation as further means of acquisition of American lands. In contrast with Spanish expansionism, the Scottish colony eventually grounded its claims on the consent of the indigenous Cuna rulers and on the official treaties recognizing the latter's sovereignty over Darien, emulating the Dutch commercial model of empire and colonial practices.

Public engagement and CFPs by Giovanni Lista

International Society for Intellectual History, 6th - 8th September , 2021

From the ancient world to the present day, different practices of coerced labor have constituted ... more From the ancient world to the present day, different practices of coerced labor have constituted an intrinsic feature of human societies. According to the latest figures, up to 40 million people worldwide currently live under a regime of imposed work. It is therefore for good reason that the issue has continued to occupy a central place in public debates aimed at reshaping the current market dynamics. Various forms of modern slavery, forced labor and human trafficking appear to be a structural part of the neoliberalist model, and have been dramatically reinforced by the interconnected, consecutive global economic crises of the last decades. Mass migrations to supply cheap manpower often expose individuals to conditions of reduced social and civil rights, which are compounded by cultural differences and the scarce implementation of the rule of law. More recently, the Covid-19 pandemic likewise engendered a feverish rhetoric of productivity, underpinned by nationalist justifications of the curtailing of individual rights in the name of financial stability and the common good.

Journal of the History of Ideas Blog, 2024

Blogpost for the Journal of the History of Ideas, July 2024.

Book reviews by Giovanni Lista

Diciottesimo Secolo, 2024

European Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoire, 2016

Papers by Giovanni Lista

In 1702, Queen Anne of England declared war on France and Spain in order to settle the Spanish su... more In 1702, Queen Anne of England declared war on France and Spain in order to settle the Spanish succession crisis. At stake was the unification of Louis XIV's monarchy with the Spanish crown and its extended colonial and continental territories. Such a union would have given birth to a potentially unopposed hegemonic power, able to subvert the rules of European international politics. Hence, after years of laborious negotiations, military action became the ultimate means at the disposal of diplomacies. The content of the declaration of war was perfectly in accordance with the contemporary English foreign policy, described as designed 'for preserving the Liberty and Balance of Europe, and reducing the exorbitant power of France' 1 . Once and for all, the concept of balance of power was embodied in an official act, after an evolution that made it a founding element of European interstate relations.

History of European Ideas, 2024

This article offers a revised interpretation of the Scottish republican thinker and political act... more This article offers a revised interpretation of the Scottish republican thinker and political activist Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun’s views on the issue of militias and standing armies. Reconstructing both its English and Scottish contexts, it is shown that Fletcher’s republicanism incorporated strong constitutionalist elements by engaging with several forms of political discourses and practices. On the one hand, his Discourse concerning Militias (1697) issued in London went much further than the moderate neo-Harringtonian propaganda of the anti-army camp, arguing for delivering the right to use arms to the parliaments instead of the king. On the other, the second version of Fletcher’s tract published in Edinburgh in 1698 and his 1703 parliamentary ‘limitations’ enlarged the participation in the militia to landless subjects, transcending both the Buchananite ethos of the nobility in arms and James Harrington’s original agrarian model. As a result of this study, Fletcher’s idea of government emerges as much closer to English Civil War authors and the likes of Algernon Sidney and Henry Neville than to any of his contemporaries. The conclusions stress how Fletcher’s radical stance should be considered as the most important facet of his legacy, presenting some cases of reception in the age of revolutions.

History of European Ideas, 2020

Set within the framework of international intellectual history, the present article focusses on t... more Set within the framework of international intellectual history, the present article focusses on the propaganda campaign undertaken by the Company of Scotland to prove the legality of its settlement in the Darien province. It first shows how a group of Scottish authors appropriated sixteenth-century natural law arguments from Spanish sources to reject the claims based on the Bulls of Donation and conquest, which underpinned Spain's sovereignty over its American territories. Acting individually and collectively, anonymously and under pseudonyms, pro-Darien propagandists instrumentally quoted and restated the contents of major works from Francisco de Vitoria and Bartolomé de Las Casas. Additionally, the Scots also deployed the theories elaborated by Hugo Grotius and Samuel Pufendorf to refute discovery and occupation as further means of acquisition of American lands. In contrast with Spanish expansionism, the Scottish colony eventually grounded its claims on the consent of the indigenous Cuna rulers and on the official treaties recognizing the latter's sovereignty over Darien, emulating the Dutch commercial model of empire and colonial practices.

International Society for Intellectual History, 6th - 8th September , 2021

From the ancient world to the present day, different practices of coerced labor have constituted ... more From the ancient world to the present day, different practices of coerced labor have constituted an intrinsic feature of human societies. According to the latest figures, up to 40 million people worldwide currently live under a regime of imposed work. It is therefore for good reason that the issue has continued to occupy a central place in public debates aimed at reshaping the current market dynamics. Various forms of modern slavery, forced labor and human trafficking appear to be a structural part of the neoliberalist model, and have been dramatically reinforced by the interconnected, consecutive global economic crises of the last decades. Mass migrations to supply cheap manpower often expose individuals to conditions of reduced social and civil rights, which are compounded by cultural differences and the scarce implementation of the rule of law. More recently, the Covid-19 pandemic likewise engendered a feverish rhetoric of productivity, underpinned by nationalist justifications of the curtailing of individual rights in the name of financial stability and the common good.

Journal of the History of Ideas Blog, 2024

Blogpost for the Journal of the History of Ideas, July 2024.

Diciottesimo Secolo, 2024

European Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoire, 2016

In 1702, Queen Anne of England declared war on France and Spain in order to settle the Spanish su... more In 1702, Queen Anne of England declared war on France and Spain in order to settle the Spanish succession crisis. At stake was the unification of Louis XIV's monarchy with the Spanish crown and its extended colonial and continental territories. Such a union would have given birth to a potentially unopposed hegemonic power, able to subvert the rules of European international politics. Hence, after years of laborious negotiations, military action became the ultimate means at the disposal of diplomacies. The content of the declaration of war was perfectly in accordance with the contemporary English foreign policy, described as designed 'for preserving the Liberty and Balance of Europe, and reducing the exorbitant power of France' 1 . Once and for all, the concept of balance of power was embodied in an official act, after an evolution that made it a founding element of European interstate relations.