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Journal Articles by Lukas Schemper
The International History Review, 2024
This article discusses the international conditions and actions that in the mid-nineteenth centur... more This article discusses the international conditions and actions that in the mid-nineteenth century have led to the creation of a service to prevent shipwreck and save lives at the entrance to the Bosporus, at the time an increasingly important strategic and commercial global passage. The initiative for its creation originated in lobbying by the western shipping and insurance industry in Constantinople, the provision of expertise from the British Board of Trade, and the diplomacy of several foreign missions to the Ottoman government. Why did these actors go to such lengths to create a lifesaving service that could not be found at any other transit point of global trade in the nineteenth century? How to make sense of the framing of this initiative as 'humanitarian'? The article uses the example of this Black Sea Lifesaving Service to address larger questions of the mixing of moral and material values in humanitarian projects.
Science Diplomacy and the Making of the United Nations International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, 2019
The article discusses the creation of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (id... more The article discusses the creation of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (idndr, 1990-1999), a global observance event that emanated neither from within the United Nations-for whom until then disaster management or rights of disaster victims had not been a real priority-nor from within civil society organizations or governments. In actuality, it was primarily a scientist-led initiative. This article suggests that this episode is a rare example of a joint effort on the part of a scientific community to create international scientific institutions to deal with the issue of disaster risk. The framing of the issue as "scientific" by earth scientists led the UN Secretariat and governments to embrace an issue that they had hitherto neglected. However, archival evidence also suggests that the eventual takeover of the project by the UN bureaucracy weakened the role of earth scientists in the idndr and changed its orientation.
The present article discusses how diasporas in the United States reacted to and were involved in ... more The present article discusses how diasporas in the United States reacted to and were involved in the process of German unification. For reasons linked to Germany’s
aggressive past, the Jewish-American and Polish-American communities – whose members (or family members) had suffered immensely from German fascism and expansionism – were among those who expressed the most concerns. However, the largely positive public opinion towards German unification in the United States generally corresponded to the sentiments of the German-American
community.
Résumé : À partir de l'analyse d'archives, cet article propose de retracer le processus d'interna... more Résumé : À partir de l'analyse d'archives, cet article propose de retracer le processus d'internationalisation de la gestion des catastrophes naturelles du temps de la sdn jusqu'aux années 1990. Les exemples choisis (uis, unesco, undro, dipcn) montrent que l'environnement et les catastrophes naturelles constituent le plus souvent deux agendas clairement différents : ces organisations internationales ont longtemps dissocié leur objectif principal – le secours ad hoc prévention. C'est pourtant à travers l'activité de prévention que ces mêmes acteurs ont commencé à s'intéresser à l'environnement sans nécessairement se préoccuper de la protection environnementale ou de créer un lien entre les régimes circulatoires de ces deux champs.
Abstract : Using archival analysis, this article retraces the international-ization of natural disaster management from the time of the League of Nations up to the 1990s. The chosen examples (uis, unesco, undro, idndr) show that the environment and natural disasters are usually two clearly separate agendas. These international organizations have long dissociated their main goal - ad hoc assistance - from scientific research focused on prevention. Yet prevention activities are the reason these actors came to be interested in the environment in the first place, though an interest in environmental protection or in building a bridge between these two fields did not necessarily follow.
Resumen : A partir del análisis de archivos, este artículo propone repasar el proceso de internacionalización de la gestión de las catástrofes naturales desde la época de la sdn hasta los años 1990. Los ejemplos seleccionados (uis, unesco, undro, dirdn) muestran que el medio ambiente y las catástrofes naturales constituyen muy a menudo dos agendas claramente diferentes : estas organizaciones internacionales han disociado por mucho tiempo su objectivo principal - la ayuda ad hoc - y la investigación al servicio de la prevención. Sin embargo, es a través de la actividad de prevención que estos mismos actores comenzaron a interesarse en el medio ambiente sin preocuparse necesariamente por protegerlo o crear un lazo entre los regímenes circulatorios de estos dos campos.
Book chapters by Lukas Schemper
Essays by Lukas Schemper
International History: Historically-informed perspectives on contemporary affairs, 2020
In the international governance of disaster which has emerged since the early twentieth century, ... more In the international governance of disaster which has emerged since the early twentieth century, governments have been reluctant to invest in disaster preparedness. In this article, Dr Lukas Schemper discusses the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of the historical and continuing problem of lack of action in preparing for national and global disasters.
Papiers d’actualité / Current Affairs in Perspective, 2020
East Africa and Pakistan are currently suffering from the worst invasion of desert locusts in dec... more East Africa and Pakistan are currently suffering from the worst invasion of desert locusts in decades. Threatening agricultural production in East Africa, the assault increases the danger of famine in a region where 19 million people already face food insecurity. When locust invasions such as the current ones occur, journalists like to refer to them as "biblical" implying that these disasters are analogous to the ones described in the Bible or by classical writers. However, as this article will illustrate, locust invasions are neither acts of providence nor ancient disasters. In fact, they result from the interplay between natural and human factors and they have been of great concern to western governments in the 19th and 20th centuries, first within the scope of colonial empires, then as a consideration of international development policies.
Though they are called “natural” disasters, earthquakes have a social, political and economic dim... more Though they are called “natural” disasters, earthquakes have a social, political and economic dimension; it is therefore possible to write their history. The 111th anniversary of the Messina earthquake is an opportunity to reflect on the multi-dimensionality of such events, and to outline avenues for historical research on “natural” disasters.
Newspaper articles by Lukas Schemper
Wiener Zeitung, 2020
Im März 1880 wurde das Österreichische Rote Kreuz gegründet. Sein eigentlicher Zweck war anfangs... more Im März 1880 wurde das Österreichische Rote Kreuz gegründet. Sein eigentlicher Zweck war anfangs die Unterstützung im Kriegsfall.
Der Standard, 2021
Das Istrien der k. u. k Monarchie war im 19. Jahrhundert stark von der Krankheit betroffen
Book Reviews by Lukas Schemper
Teaching Documents by Lukas Schemper
This course explores transnational, international, and global dimensions of disaster. The first d... more This course explores transnational, international, and global dimensions of disaster. The first dimension is largely a result of the transnational nature of disasters: nuclear clouds, volcanic eruptions or locust invasions do not stop at national borders and some may have global climatic, sanitary or environmental consequences. Hence, this may require collaboration between state and non-state actors of friendly as well as hostile states. The second and third dimensions mainly concern the phenomenon of international disaster assistance and cooperation, both of which have evolved significantly over the course of the 20th century. The moral responsibility of governments to come to the aid of its own citizens-and later of the citizens of other states-has only slowly materialized over the past two centuries. An emerging transnational civil society, international governmental and non-governmental organizations, scientific and technical organizations, international finance institutions, academia, media and private persons have also become players in what could be described as an international or global governance of disaster. They all contribute to the creation of disaster management as an international concern, which shares issues with international law, development, insurance, humanitarianism, the natural and social sciences or engineering.
Announcements by Lukas Schemper
Die Beiträge des Bandes liefern wichtige Ergänzungen zum relativ gut erforschten Besatzungsjahrze... more Die Beiträge des Bandes liefern wichtige Ergänzungen zum relativ gut erforschten Besatzungsjahrzehnt (1945–55), greifen neue Themen auf und sind um eine Einbettung der Untersuchungen zu Österreich in internationale Forschungsdebatten bemüht. Neben Fragen der internationalen Perzeption der Politik Österreichs greift der Band insbesondere rezente Fragestellungen wie die vieldimensionale atomare Herausforderung, kulturelle transnationale Interaktionen ebenso wie staatliche Repräsentationen in diesem Feld auf. Die ausgewogenen und fundierten Analysen beleuchten viele bisher nur wenig bekannte Aspekte, relativieren bisher tradierte Mythen und zeigen auf, wie wünschenswert neue Forschungen zu Österreich im Kalten Krieg sind.
The International History Review, 2024
This article discusses the international conditions and actions that in the mid-nineteenth centur... more This article discusses the international conditions and actions that in the mid-nineteenth century have led to the creation of a service to prevent shipwreck and save lives at the entrance to the Bosporus, at the time an increasingly important strategic and commercial global passage. The initiative for its creation originated in lobbying by the western shipping and insurance industry in Constantinople, the provision of expertise from the British Board of Trade, and the diplomacy of several foreign missions to the Ottoman government. Why did these actors go to such lengths to create a lifesaving service that could not be found at any other transit point of global trade in the nineteenth century? How to make sense of the framing of this initiative as 'humanitarian'? The article uses the example of this Black Sea Lifesaving Service to address larger questions of the mixing of moral and material values in humanitarian projects.
Science Diplomacy and the Making of the United Nations International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, 2019
The article discusses the creation of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (id... more The article discusses the creation of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (idndr, 1990-1999), a global observance event that emanated neither from within the United Nations-for whom until then disaster management or rights of disaster victims had not been a real priority-nor from within civil society organizations or governments. In actuality, it was primarily a scientist-led initiative. This article suggests that this episode is a rare example of a joint effort on the part of a scientific community to create international scientific institutions to deal with the issue of disaster risk. The framing of the issue as "scientific" by earth scientists led the UN Secretariat and governments to embrace an issue that they had hitherto neglected. However, archival evidence also suggests that the eventual takeover of the project by the UN bureaucracy weakened the role of earth scientists in the idndr and changed its orientation.
The present article discusses how diasporas in the United States reacted to and were involved in ... more The present article discusses how diasporas in the United States reacted to and were involved in the process of German unification. For reasons linked to Germany’s
aggressive past, the Jewish-American and Polish-American communities – whose members (or family members) had suffered immensely from German fascism and expansionism – were among those who expressed the most concerns. However, the largely positive public opinion towards German unification in the United States generally corresponded to the sentiments of the German-American
community.
Résumé : À partir de l'analyse d'archives, cet article propose de retracer le processus d'interna... more Résumé : À partir de l'analyse d'archives, cet article propose de retracer le processus d'internationalisation de la gestion des catastrophes naturelles du temps de la sdn jusqu'aux années 1990. Les exemples choisis (uis, unesco, undro, dipcn) montrent que l'environnement et les catastrophes naturelles constituent le plus souvent deux agendas clairement différents : ces organisations internationales ont longtemps dissocié leur objectif principal – le secours ad hoc prévention. C'est pourtant à travers l'activité de prévention que ces mêmes acteurs ont commencé à s'intéresser à l'environnement sans nécessairement se préoccuper de la protection environnementale ou de créer un lien entre les régimes circulatoires de ces deux champs.
Abstract : Using archival analysis, this article retraces the international-ization of natural disaster management from the time of the League of Nations up to the 1990s. The chosen examples (uis, unesco, undro, idndr) show that the environment and natural disasters are usually two clearly separate agendas. These international organizations have long dissociated their main goal - ad hoc assistance - from scientific research focused on prevention. Yet prevention activities are the reason these actors came to be interested in the environment in the first place, though an interest in environmental protection or in building a bridge between these two fields did not necessarily follow.
Resumen : A partir del análisis de archivos, este artículo propone repasar el proceso de internacionalización de la gestión de las catástrofes naturales desde la época de la sdn hasta los años 1990. Los ejemplos seleccionados (uis, unesco, undro, dirdn) muestran que el medio ambiente y las catástrofes naturales constituyen muy a menudo dos agendas claramente diferentes : estas organizaciones internacionales han disociado por mucho tiempo su objectivo principal - la ayuda ad hoc - y la investigación al servicio de la prevención. Sin embargo, es a través de la actividad de prevención que estos mismos actores comenzaron a interesarse en el medio ambiente sin preocuparse necesariamente por protegerlo o crear un lazo entre los regímenes circulatorios de estos dos campos.
International History: Historically-informed perspectives on contemporary affairs, 2020
In the international governance of disaster which has emerged since the early twentieth century, ... more In the international governance of disaster which has emerged since the early twentieth century, governments have been reluctant to invest in disaster preparedness. In this article, Dr Lukas Schemper discusses the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of the historical and continuing problem of lack of action in preparing for national and global disasters.
Papiers d’actualité / Current Affairs in Perspective, 2020
East Africa and Pakistan are currently suffering from the worst invasion of desert locusts in dec... more East Africa and Pakistan are currently suffering from the worst invasion of desert locusts in decades. Threatening agricultural production in East Africa, the assault increases the danger of famine in a region where 19 million people already face food insecurity. When locust invasions such as the current ones occur, journalists like to refer to them as "biblical" implying that these disasters are analogous to the ones described in the Bible or by classical writers. However, as this article will illustrate, locust invasions are neither acts of providence nor ancient disasters. In fact, they result from the interplay between natural and human factors and they have been of great concern to western governments in the 19th and 20th centuries, first within the scope of colonial empires, then as a consideration of international development policies.
Though they are called “natural” disasters, earthquakes have a social, political and economic dim... more Though they are called “natural” disasters, earthquakes have a social, political and economic dimension; it is therefore possible to write their history. The 111th anniversary of the Messina earthquake is an opportunity to reflect on the multi-dimensionality of such events, and to outline avenues for historical research on “natural” disasters.
Wiener Zeitung, 2020
Im März 1880 wurde das Österreichische Rote Kreuz gegründet. Sein eigentlicher Zweck war anfangs... more Im März 1880 wurde das Österreichische Rote Kreuz gegründet. Sein eigentlicher Zweck war anfangs die Unterstützung im Kriegsfall.
Der Standard, 2021
Das Istrien der k. u. k Monarchie war im 19. Jahrhundert stark von der Krankheit betroffen
This course explores transnational, international, and global dimensions of disaster. The first d... more This course explores transnational, international, and global dimensions of disaster. The first dimension is largely a result of the transnational nature of disasters: nuclear clouds, volcanic eruptions or locust invasions do not stop at national borders and some may have global climatic, sanitary or environmental consequences. Hence, this may require collaboration between state and non-state actors of friendly as well as hostile states. The second and third dimensions mainly concern the phenomenon of international disaster assistance and cooperation, both of which have evolved significantly over the course of the 20th century. The moral responsibility of governments to come to the aid of its own citizens-and later of the citizens of other states-has only slowly materialized over the past two centuries. An emerging transnational civil society, international governmental and non-governmental organizations, scientific and technical organizations, international finance institutions, academia, media and private persons have also become players in what could be described as an international or global governance of disaster. They all contribute to the creation of disaster management as an international concern, which shares issues with international law, development, insurance, humanitarianism, the natural and social sciences or engineering.
Die Beiträge des Bandes liefern wichtige Ergänzungen zum relativ gut erforschten Besatzungsjahrze... more Die Beiträge des Bandes liefern wichtige Ergänzungen zum relativ gut erforschten Besatzungsjahrzehnt (1945–55), greifen neue Themen auf und sind um eine Einbettung der Untersuchungen zu Österreich in internationale Forschungsdebatten bemüht. Neben Fragen der internationalen Perzeption der Politik Österreichs greift der Band insbesondere rezente Fragestellungen wie die vieldimensionale atomare Herausforderung, kulturelle transnationale Interaktionen ebenso wie staatliche Repräsentationen in diesem Feld auf. Die ausgewogenen und fundierten Analysen beleuchten viele bisher nur wenig bekannte Aspekte, relativieren bisher tradierte Mythen und zeigen auf, wie wünschenswert neue Forschungen zu Österreich im Kalten Krieg sind.