Net Werk voor de Geschiedenis van Hygiene en Milieu, 1999-2001 ...

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Oproepen
The Book of Nature.
Continuity and Change in European
and American Attitudes
Towards the Natural World
22 - 25 Mei 2002 Groningen
The metaphor of the ‘Book of Nature’
is a recurrent theme in the
history of Western attitudes towards
the natural world. In this tradition,
nature is seen as a text - a system of
signs - that refers to and provides
insights into the wisdom, providence
and omnipotence of God the
Creator. Through the ages, however,
smaller and greater changes have
taken place concerning the use of
this concept. The conference will
explore this interplay of change and
continuity, from Classical Antiquity
to and beyond Darwin.
Proposals for papers should be submitted
to the conference secretary
at the following email-address:
m.r.b.wubbolts@let.rug.nl. Please
include your name, affiliation, a
title and a short summary (15-20
lines).
More information on the conference
can be gathered via the following
website: http://odur.let.
rug.nl/gscc/. Deadline: Proposals
should reach the secretary before 1
february 2002.
Technology, Cultural
Interchange and Globalization
29th Symposium ICOHTEC
The International Committee for
the History of Technology
June 22-26, 2002 in Granada
ICOHTEC http://www.icohtec.
org is an international scholarly
organization associated with the
International Union for the History
and Philosophy of Science and
UNESCO, and in addition to its
annual symposium, publishes an
annual journal ICON.
The general theme of the 29th
Symposium is Technology, Cultural
Interchange and Globalization, and
it will have sessions on a number of
themes.
Other sessions are welcomed; please
see the general symposium announcement
on H-Net Announce
or at the ICOHTEC web site.)
If you are interested in participating
in the Technology and Environment
session particularly, please
email me. The overall session proposal
must be completed by January
15, 2002, so if you are interested
in giving a paper, I will need
a 500-word abstract and a one-page
c.v., by email, not later than January
1st. I’d prefer to have proposals
by early December, if possible.
Actual presentations at the symposium
are about 20 minutes in length
plus lots of discussion. If you have
a longer version of the paper, the
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contactblad van de
stichting net werk voor de
1116-1117
geschiedenis van hygiëne en milieu
redactie: myriam d a r u
webversie: jan van den n o o r t
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editor of ICON urges participants
to submit them for possible publication.
James C. Williams Professor of History,
Vice President & 2002 Program
Chairperson, International Committee
for the History of Technology
Office: History Department
De Anza College,
Cupertino CA USA
Mailing address:
790 Raymundo Avenue,
Los Altos CA 94024-3138
Phone: +1 650-960-8193
Messages: +1 408-864-8964
Email: Techjunc@pacbell.net
Trade, Merchant Capital and
Welfare: Port Cities and Public
Health, 16th - 20th Centuries
Regular Session at the XIIIth International
Economic History Congress,
Buenos Aires, 22 to 26 July 2002
Port Cities have played a critical
role in international development
and urbanization. Even in the
pre-industrial period, marketing
and trade were important factors
which affected the pattern
of urban expansion or decline,
and ports, after capital cities,
frequently registered the greatest
growth. Maritime commerce,
therefore, was a powerful factor
behind urbanization, and port
cities served as the nexus of the
growing world market.
As a consequence of this function,
port cities were invariably prone
to an increased risk of exposure,
particularly to infectious diseases.
Many of the dominant epidemic
diseases, such as plague, cholera,
typhoid and yellow fever, were
imported via port cities which, in
turn, accelerated disease diffusion
in coastal areas and dependent hinterlands.
The individual demographic regimes
of large ports were moulded
by similar factors and extending
trading networks, together with
high levels of in-migration, aggravated
the latent exposure risks of
the indigenous population. At the
same time, many ports were characterized
by flexible labour markets,
a strong reliance on casual work,
extensive in-migration and a broad
ethnic mix.
Moreover, the dominance of merchant
capital directly affected the
contemporary response to public
health issues and had a profound
impact on the selection and implementation
of specific strategies. On
the one hand the need to confront
health risks was initially apparent in
port cities, on the other hand there
was an unusually high dependency
on charity and philanthropy, and a
general absence of collective commitment
to social welfare provision.
Considerable work has been undertaken
in the last few years to
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Net Werk 69 - oktober 2001
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