Universität Wien

070121 SE Seminar zu Geschichte (PM 4) (2016S)

Drugs and Empires. A Global Historical Perspective.

6.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 7 - Geschichte
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Tuesday 08.03. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Tuesday 15.03. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Tuesday 05.04. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Tuesday 12.04. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Tuesday 19.04. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Tuesday 26.04. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Tuesday 03.05. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Tuesday 10.05. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Tuesday 24.05. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Tuesday 31.05. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Tuesday 07.06. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Tuesday 14.06. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Tuesday 21.06. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Tuesday 28.06. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Saturday 02.07. 09:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum Geschichte 1 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 10

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

We define drugs as naturally occurring substances that have been consumed by almost every society in history for their mind- or mood-altering properties. This broad definition thus not only includes narcotics like opium, cocaine or heroin, but all kinds of alcohol as well as tobacco, sugar, tea, cacao and coffee. Empires are seen as polities with political and military dominion of populations who are culturally and ethnically distinct from the imperial ethnic group and its culture. They extend relations of hegemony over territorial spaces for the purpose of extracting and centralizing value. This definition includes formal as well as informal empires.
Throughout human history drugs have played a major role in the political economy and culture of empires. Their production, trade and consumption have been important constituents of the relations between centers and peripheries within empires and a major source of the extraction and accumulation of value. The seminar intends to investigate this relationship between the production, distribution and consumption of drugs and the constitution of empires on a global scale in a wide historical perspective spanning from antiquity to the present.

Possible research topics include (among others):

Greek colonization of the Mediterranean area and the diffusion of viticulture
Wine and the Roman Empire
Beer and the merchant empire of the Hansa
Coffee and Islamic Empires
Sugar and the Atlantic plantation complex
Tobacco and the Atlantic plantation complex
Brandy and the Castillian Empire
Vodka and the Russian Empire
Tea and the British Empire
Opium and the British Empire
Cacao and the colonization of Africa
Cocaine and US imperialism in Latin America
Heroin in Afghanistan, the Golden Triangle and War in Southeast Asia
War on Drugs and the informal US empire

After several sessions of intense reading and input, students are required to deliver a research proposal by mid-term. The final paper is due mid-June. The seminar ends with a full-day workshop where students present their papers.

Assessment and permitted materials

Presence, participation and seminar paper

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Examination topics

Reading list

Sidney W. Mintz, Sweetness and power. The place of sugar in modern history, New York 1986 (Penguin Books-Reprint)
Carl A. Trocki, Opium, empire and the global political economy. A study of the Asian Opium trade 1750-1950, London/New York 1999.

Association in the course directory

MA Geschichte: Seminar aus Geschichte im PM4 (6 ECTS) | MA Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte: Seminar Vertiefung 1 oder 2 (6 ECTS) | MA Globalgeschichte und Global Studies Seminar Vertiefung 2 (6 ECTS) |Diplom UF Geschichte: Seminar Vertiefung zu Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte (6 ECTS)

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:30