The Treatment of Child Abuse as a Public Health Issue
The issue of child abuse raises challenging questions about collective responsibility and the privacy of the family. What is a desirable level of state interference in families that may (or may not) harm their most vulnerable members? If forcibly removing an ‘at risk’ child from the family unit is the most dramatic action that can…
Influences on Affection and Discipline in Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth century Parent-Child Relationships.
The period of 1850-1950 is associated with a shift from strict, authoritarian parenting to more affectionate, companionable parenting. At the turn of the century, parents could choose from old or new methods, or a mixture of the two. Middle class mothers in particular reportedly became more involved with childcare, especially as servitude declined. Upper class…
Demolishing ‘Modern Scotland’: A Political Vision in Ruins
The demolition of Cockenzie power station and Red Road flats two weekends apart from one another has changed the Lothian and Glasgow skylines forever. The destruction of the two mid-twentieth century behemoths provided major spectacles. Significant crowds gathered to see the controlled explosion of one of the last generation of coal-fired power stations; and what…
Curating Blue and White: Whistler’s Ceramic Collection at the Hunterian
James Abbot McNeill Whistler (1834 – 1903) was an influential artist of the nineteenth century whose paintings, drawings, watercolours, etchings and lithographs continue to be widely admired and studied. Whilst significant attention has been given to Whistler as an artist, the same cannot be said of him as a collector. It is clear that…
Henry Goings, Rambles of a Runaway (Book Review)
Emerging from obscurity amongst a literary genre dominated by the widely recognisable names of former slaves such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, and Olaudah Equiano, the name Henry Goings, an identity assumed by Elijah Turner in 1839, is relatively unfamiliar. Born around 1810, Goings was uncertain of his date of birth but sure of his…
Beyonce, Black Lives Matter and the Continued Omissions of Class from Discussions of Race and Resistance in America
Pop superstar Beyonce used her performance during the Super Bowl 50 halftime show to promote and support the Black Lives Matter campaign that has swept the United States in the wake of a number of high profile Black fatalities at the hands of law enforcement officials. Her routine featured backup dancers dressed similar to members…
Historical Perspectives 