Joanna Innes | University of Oxford (original) (raw)
Books by Joanna Innes
Mediterranean states are often thought to have 'democratised' only in the post-war era, as author... more Mediterranean states are often thought to have 'democratised' only in the post-war era, as authoritarian regimes were successively overthrown. On its eastern and southern shores, the process is still contested. Re-imagining Democracy looks back to an earlier era, the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and argues it was this era when some modern version of 'democracy' in the region first began.
By the 1860s, representative regimes had been established throughout southern Europe, and representation was also the subject of experiment and debate in Ottoman territories. Talk of democracy, its merits and limitations, accompanied much of this experimentation - though there was no agreement as to whether or how it could be given stable political form.
Re-imagining Democracy assembles experts in the history of the Mediterranean, who have been exploring these themes collaboratively, to compare and contrast experiences in this region, so that they can be set alongside better-known debates and experiments in North Atlantic states. States in the region all experienced some form of subordination to northern 'great powers'. In this context, their inhabitants had to grapple with broader changes in ideas about state and society while struggling to achieve and maintain meaningful self-rule at the level of the polity, and self-respect at the level of culture.
Innes and Philip highlight new research and ideas about a region whose experiences during the 'age of revolutions' are at best patchily known and understood, as well as to expand understanding of the complex and variegated history of democracy as an idea and set of practices.
NB INTRO CAN BE READ IN GOOGLE BOOKS Suffering and Happiness in England 1550-1850 pays tribute to... more NB INTRO CAN BE READ IN GOOGLE BOOKS
Suffering and Happiness in England 1550-1850 pays tribute to one of the leading historians working on early modern England, Paul Slack, and his work as a historian, and enters into discussion with the rapidly growing body of work on the 'history of emotions'. The themes of suffering and happiness run through Paul Slack's publications; the first being more prominent in his early work on plague and poverty, the second in his more recent work on conceptual frameworks for social thought and action. Though he has not himself engaged directly with the history of emotions, assembling essays on these themes provides an opportunity to do that. The chapters explore in turn shifting discourses of happiness and suffering over time; the deployment of these discourses for particular purposes at specific moments; and their relationship to subjective experience. In their introduction, the editors note the very diverse approaches that can be taken to the topic; they suggest that it is best treated not as a discrete field of enquiry but as terrain in which many paths may fruitfully cross. The history of emotions has much to offer as a site of encounter between historians with diverse knowledge, interests, and skills.
This book charts a transformation in how people thought about democracy in the North Atlantic reg... more This book charts a transformation in how people thought about democracy in the North Atlantic region in the years between the American Revolution and the revolutions of 1848. In the mid-eighteenth century, ‘democracy’ was a word known only to literate publics; it was associated primarily with the ancient world, and had negative connotations: democracies were conceived to be unstable, warlike, and prone to mutate into despotisms. By the mid-nineteenth century, by contrast, democracy had become an important category for thinking about the modern world, and had passed into general use – though it was still not necessarily an approving term; in fact, there was much debate about whether democracy could achieve robust institutional form in advanced societies. In this book, an international cast of contributors shows how common trends worked through in four settings: the United States, France, Britain and Ireland, with special attention to the eras of the 1789 and 1848 revolutions. It is argued that ‘modern democracy’ was not invented in one place and then diffused elsewhere, but instead was the subject of parallel re-imaginings, as ancient ideas and examples were selectively invoked and reworked for modern use in different ways in different environments. The book significantly enhances our understanding of the diversity and complexity of our democratic inheritance.
This book explores how social policy was created in Britain in a period when central government w... more This book explores how social policy was created in Britain in a period when central government was not active in making it. Parliament proved capable of generating national legislation nonetheless — and provided a forum for debate even when it was impossible to mobilise consensus behind any particular plan. In this setting, there was a lively, and surprisingly inclusive, ‘politics’ of social policy-making, in which ‘inferior’ officers of government (what we might call ‘local authorities’) figured prominently. The book explores the institutional structures which shaped these debates and their outcomes, and supplies several case studies of policy-making: one focussing on some of the less well-known activities of William Wilberforce, as he attempted to promote a national ‘reformation of manners’; others featuring such apparently marginal figures as imprisoned debtors and a lowly (and bigoted) London constable. A central chapter explores the history of social and economic empirical enquiry from the invention of ‘political arithmetic’ in the later 17th century through to the first census of 1801, detailing similar interaction between government and private enthusiasts.
The essays in this volume explore continuities and changes in the role of philanthropic organizat... more The essays in this volume explore continuities and changes in the role of philanthropic organizations in Europe and North America in the period around the French Revolution. They aim to make connections between research on the early modern and late modern periods, and to analyze policies towards poverty in different countries within Europe and across the Atlantic. Cunningham and Innes highlight the new role for voluntary organizations emerging in the late eighteenth century and draws out the implications of this for received accounts of the development of welfare states.
This book takes a look at the 'age of reform', from 1780 when reform became a common object of as... more This book takes a look at the 'age of reform', from 1780 when reform became a common object of aspiration, to the 1830s - the era of the 'Reform Ministry' and of the Great Reform Act of 1832 - and beyond, when such aspirations were realized more frequently. It pays close attention to what contemporaries termed 'reform', identifying two strands, institutional and moral, which interacted in complex ways. Particular reforming initiatives singled out for attention include those targeting parliament, government, the law, the Church, medicine, slavery, regimens of self-care, opera, theatre, and art institutions, while later chapters situate British reform in its imperial and European contexts. An extended introduction provides a point of entry to the history and historiography of the period.
Papers by Joanna Innes
Elaine Chalus and Perry Gauci eds, Revisiting The Polite and Commercial People , 2019
David Hitchcock and Julia McClure eds. History of Poverty in Europe 1450-1800, 2021
Michael Mosher and Anna Plassart eds, Cultural History of Democracy 1650-1800 , 2021
Bruce Kinzer, Molly Kraemer and Richard Trainor eds. Reform and its complexities in modern Britain. Essays inspired by Sir Brian Harrison, 2022
Jeppe Nevers, Jussi Kurunmäki and Henk te Velde eds, Democracy in modern Europe: a conceptual history, 2018
Mike Davis and Gordon Pentland eds, Liberty, Property and Popular Politics: England and Scotland, 1688-1815 , 2015
The Transformation of political culture: England and …, Jan 1, 1990
Open access - follow link.
Annales Histoire Sciences Sociales, Nov 1, 2010
... Nombreux sont ceux, parmi ces derniers, qui iront jusqu'à fonder ensuite leurs propr... more ... Nombreux sont ceux, parmi ces derniers, qui iront jusqu'à fonder ensuite leurs propres écoles. Et, au sein de cet effectif, les plus doués enseignent à leur tour le monitorat, ce qui contribue à diffuser cette méthode, par une réaction en chaîne. ...
Revue d'histoire du XIXe siècle, 2011
Proceedings of the British Academy, Jan 1, 2001
Parliamentary History, also reprinted in Inferior Politics, Jan 1, 2008
Journal of Victorian Culture, Jan 1, 2006
Structures and Transformations in Modern British History, 2011
Mediterranean states are often thought to have 'democratised' only in the post-war era, as author... more Mediterranean states are often thought to have 'democratised' only in the post-war era, as authoritarian regimes were successively overthrown. On its eastern and southern shores, the process is still contested. Re-imagining Democracy looks back to an earlier era, the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and argues it was this era when some modern version of 'democracy' in the region first began.
By the 1860s, representative regimes had been established throughout southern Europe, and representation was also the subject of experiment and debate in Ottoman territories. Talk of democracy, its merits and limitations, accompanied much of this experimentation - though there was no agreement as to whether or how it could be given stable political form.
Re-imagining Democracy assembles experts in the history of the Mediterranean, who have been exploring these themes collaboratively, to compare and contrast experiences in this region, so that they can be set alongside better-known debates and experiments in North Atlantic states. States in the region all experienced some form of subordination to northern 'great powers'. In this context, their inhabitants had to grapple with broader changes in ideas about state and society while struggling to achieve and maintain meaningful self-rule at the level of the polity, and self-respect at the level of culture.
Innes and Philip highlight new research and ideas about a region whose experiences during the 'age of revolutions' are at best patchily known and understood, as well as to expand understanding of the complex and variegated history of democracy as an idea and set of practices.
NB INTRO CAN BE READ IN GOOGLE BOOKS Suffering and Happiness in England 1550-1850 pays tribute to... more NB INTRO CAN BE READ IN GOOGLE BOOKS
Suffering and Happiness in England 1550-1850 pays tribute to one of the leading historians working on early modern England, Paul Slack, and his work as a historian, and enters into discussion with the rapidly growing body of work on the 'history of emotions'. The themes of suffering and happiness run through Paul Slack's publications; the first being more prominent in his early work on plague and poverty, the second in his more recent work on conceptual frameworks for social thought and action. Though he has not himself engaged directly with the history of emotions, assembling essays on these themes provides an opportunity to do that. The chapters explore in turn shifting discourses of happiness and suffering over time; the deployment of these discourses for particular purposes at specific moments; and their relationship to subjective experience. In their introduction, the editors note the very diverse approaches that can be taken to the topic; they suggest that it is best treated not as a discrete field of enquiry but as terrain in which many paths may fruitfully cross. The history of emotions has much to offer as a site of encounter between historians with diverse knowledge, interests, and skills.
This book charts a transformation in how people thought about democracy in the North Atlantic reg... more This book charts a transformation in how people thought about democracy in the North Atlantic region in the years between the American Revolution and the revolutions of 1848. In the mid-eighteenth century, ‘democracy’ was a word known only to literate publics; it was associated primarily with the ancient world, and had negative connotations: democracies were conceived to be unstable, warlike, and prone to mutate into despotisms. By the mid-nineteenth century, by contrast, democracy had become an important category for thinking about the modern world, and had passed into general use – though it was still not necessarily an approving term; in fact, there was much debate about whether democracy could achieve robust institutional form in advanced societies. In this book, an international cast of contributors shows how common trends worked through in four settings: the United States, France, Britain and Ireland, with special attention to the eras of the 1789 and 1848 revolutions. It is argued that ‘modern democracy’ was not invented in one place and then diffused elsewhere, but instead was the subject of parallel re-imaginings, as ancient ideas and examples were selectively invoked and reworked for modern use in different ways in different environments. The book significantly enhances our understanding of the diversity and complexity of our democratic inheritance.
This book explores how social policy was created in Britain in a period when central government w... more This book explores how social policy was created in Britain in a period when central government was not active in making it. Parliament proved capable of generating national legislation nonetheless — and provided a forum for debate even when it was impossible to mobilise consensus behind any particular plan. In this setting, there was a lively, and surprisingly inclusive, ‘politics’ of social policy-making, in which ‘inferior’ officers of government (what we might call ‘local authorities’) figured prominently. The book explores the institutional structures which shaped these debates and their outcomes, and supplies several case studies of policy-making: one focussing on some of the less well-known activities of William Wilberforce, as he attempted to promote a national ‘reformation of manners’; others featuring such apparently marginal figures as imprisoned debtors and a lowly (and bigoted) London constable. A central chapter explores the history of social and economic empirical enquiry from the invention of ‘political arithmetic’ in the later 17th century through to the first census of 1801, detailing similar interaction between government and private enthusiasts.
The essays in this volume explore continuities and changes in the role of philanthropic organizat... more The essays in this volume explore continuities and changes in the role of philanthropic organizations in Europe and North America in the period around the French Revolution. They aim to make connections between research on the early modern and late modern periods, and to analyze policies towards poverty in different countries within Europe and across the Atlantic. Cunningham and Innes highlight the new role for voluntary organizations emerging in the late eighteenth century and draws out the implications of this for received accounts of the development of welfare states.
This book takes a look at the 'age of reform', from 1780 when reform became a common object of as... more This book takes a look at the 'age of reform', from 1780 when reform became a common object of aspiration, to the 1830s - the era of the 'Reform Ministry' and of the Great Reform Act of 1832 - and beyond, when such aspirations were realized more frequently. It pays close attention to what contemporaries termed 'reform', identifying two strands, institutional and moral, which interacted in complex ways. Particular reforming initiatives singled out for attention include those targeting parliament, government, the law, the Church, medicine, slavery, regimens of self-care, opera, theatre, and art institutions, while later chapters situate British reform in its imperial and European contexts. An extended introduction provides a point of entry to the history and historiography of the period.
Elaine Chalus and Perry Gauci eds, Revisiting The Polite and Commercial People , 2019
David Hitchcock and Julia McClure eds. History of Poverty in Europe 1450-1800, 2021
Michael Mosher and Anna Plassart eds, Cultural History of Democracy 1650-1800 , 2021
Bruce Kinzer, Molly Kraemer and Richard Trainor eds. Reform and its complexities in modern Britain. Essays inspired by Sir Brian Harrison, 2022
Jeppe Nevers, Jussi Kurunmäki and Henk te Velde eds, Democracy in modern Europe: a conceptual history, 2018
Mike Davis and Gordon Pentland eds, Liberty, Property and Popular Politics: England and Scotland, 1688-1815 , 2015
The Transformation of political culture: England and …, Jan 1, 1990
Open access - follow link.
Annales Histoire Sciences Sociales, Nov 1, 2010
... Nombreux sont ceux, parmi ces derniers, qui iront jusqu'à fonder ensuite leurs propr... more ... Nombreux sont ceux, parmi ces derniers, qui iront jusqu'à fonder ensuite leurs propres écoles. Et, au sein de cet effectif, les plus doués enseignent à leur tour le monitorat, ce qui contribue à diffuser cette méthode, par une réaction en chaîne. ...
Revue d'histoire du XIXe siècle, 2011
Proceedings of the British Academy, Jan 1, 2001
Parliamentary History, also reprinted in Inferior Politics, Jan 1, 2008
Journal of Victorian Culture, Jan 1, 2006
Structures and Transformations in Modern British History, 2011
Rethinking the Age of Reform: Britain, Jan 1, 2003
Parliaments, nations and identities in Britain and …, Jan 1, 2003
The Cambridge urban history of Britain, Jan 1, 2000
Law, Crime and English Society, Jan 1, 2002
Manley and Mandelbrote eds, The Cambridge History of Libraries in Britain and Ireland, 2006
This is a collaborative, international research network, which I have been organising since 2004 ... more This is a collaborative, international research network, which I have been organising since 2004 with Mark Philp (Politics, Oxford).