Ancient China was characterized by a feudalism strikingly similar to what we find in medieval Europe. In both places, feudalism was used as a form of government based on a fragmentation and privatization of political power. Well, upon closer inspection China was not feudal after all. But then, neither was Europe. Feudalism had to be … Continue reading The Problem of History Revisited
On February 22, as the Ukraine crisis was unfolding and Russia was just hours away from invading its neighbor, Putin’s former Minister of Culture, Vladimir Medinsky, told journalists that Ukraine today has to be seen as “a historical phantom.” Putin, he said, is taking “historic” decisions in line with “the spirit of the times.” Five … Continue reading The Ghosts of History Haunt the Russia-Ukraine Crisis
Historical political economy (HPE) is a vibrant research field that traverses traditional disciplinary boundaries. In the past ten years, the number of articles in this tradition in top political science journals has more than doubled. In this post, I discuss some patterns and tendencies in the HPE articles in top political science journals that Eugene … Continue reading The Trajectory of a Booming Field: A Look Back at a Decade of HPE Research