Gender as a Modernising Force in the German CDU
German Politics, Volume 22, Issue 1-2, Page 172-190, March–June 2013.
Archiv für Juni 2013
Societal Transformation and Programmatic Change in the CDU
German Politics, Volume 22, Issue 1-2, Page 46-63, March–June 2013.
Le Monde Maçonnique des Lumières: A Prosopographic Dictionary of Eighteenth-century Freemasons
Le monde maçonnique des Lumières. Europe-Amérique et colonies. Dictionnaire prosopographique, edited by Charles Porset and Cécile Révauger. Paris: Champion, 2013 . This essay describes the conception of this ground-breaking three-volume work, and its ten-year gestation.
Paths to Masonry Today: Social Factors Behind Joining the Craft among Twentieth and Twenty-first Century Canadian Freemasons
Despite increased academic attention to freemasonry, the predominant historical focus means relatively little attention has been paid to its meaning for contemporary members. In this paper I empirically reverse this focus. Drawing upon qualitative interviews, film footage, and observation of freemasons in two Canadian provinces, I outline six interactional elements that lead up to a person’s decision to become a freemason. These include: (1) predisposing factors in one’s social background; (2) the dramaturgical interplay between secrecy/mystery and curiosity; (3) organized/organizing encounters; (4) attractive/attracting aspects; (5) unattractive factors/hurdles to get over; and (6) strategies employed to overcome such hurdles. While one or another element may be emphasized to a greater or lesser extent in specific cases, they occurred with sufficient regularity to shed light on the significant question of attracting new members to the craft in the opening decades of the twenty-first century.
Le Monde Maçonnique des Lumières: A Prosopographic Dictionary of Eighteenth-century Freemasons
Le monde maçonnique des Lumières. Europe-Amérique et colonies. Dictionnaire prosopographique, edited by Charles Porset and Cécile Révauger. Paris: Champion, 2013
.
This essay describes the conception of this ground-breaking three-volume work, and its ten-year gestation.
Le Monde Maçonnique des Lumières: A Prosopographic Dictionary of Eighteenth-century Freemasons
Le monde maçonnique des Lumières. Europe-Amérique et colonies. Dictionnaire prosopographique, edited by Charles Porset and Cécile Révauger. Paris: Champion, 2013
.
This essay describes the conception of this ground-breaking three-volume work, and its ten-year gestation.
Paths to Masonry Today: Social Factors Behind Joining the Craft among Twentieth and Twenty-first Century Canadian Freemasons
Despite increased academic attention to freemasonry, the predominant historical focus means relatively little attention has been paid to its meaning for contemporary members. In this paper I empirically reverse this focus. Drawing upon qualitative interviews, film footage, and observation of freemasons in two Canadian provinces, I outline six interactional elements that lead up to a person’s decision to become a freemason. These include: (1) predisposing factors in one’s social background; (2) the dramaturgical interplay between secrecy/mystery and curiosity; (3) organized/organizing encounters; (4) attractive/attracting aspects; (5) unattractive factors/hurdles to get over; and (6) strategies employed to overcome such hurdles. While one or another element may be emphasized to a greater or lesser extent in specific cases, they occurred with sufficient regularity to shed light on the significant question of attracting new members to the craft in the opening decades of the twenty-first century.
discussions 8 (2013) – Freundschaft. Eine politisch-soziale Beziehung in Deutschland und Frankreich, 12.–19. Jahrhundert
Freundschaft. Eine politisch-soziale Beziehung in Deutschland und Frankreich, 12.–19. Jahrhundert (8. Sommerkurs des Deutschen Historischen Instituts Paris in Zusammenarbeit mit der Universität Paris-Sorbonne, der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freibur…
‘Father’ Upchurch: A Founding Myth and a Founder’s Cult in American Fraternalism
The alleged role of J.J. Upchurch (1822-1887) in the creation of the Ancient Order of United Workmen as a successful fraternal order is a fine example of an invented tradition. A set of repetitive narrative, ritual and symbolical practices were constituted around his personality that were designed to promote fraternal values, to enhance group cohesion and to represent the order’s activities as continuous with a partly fictional past. While Upchurch was key to the start of the order, his fame as the creator of the order’s mutual benefit system – its most notable feature – was a fiction. The growth of a cult around Upchurch resulted from a campaign by a leading Californian fraternity man with political ambitions. While the latter widely toured Upchurch as a fraternal icon through his State, it was Upchurch himself who proved to be instrumental in generating his own personality cult. This cult eventually found its way to the order’s narratives and “iconic practices”, generating a secular version of what David Morgan calls “visual piety”. The mythical Upchurch image became constitutive of the collective identity of the order, steered the collective memory regarding its foundational myth and helped to symbolize fraternal relationships of protection, charity and mutuality.
‘Father’ Upchurch: A Founding Myth and a Founder’s Cult in American Fraternalism
The alleged role of J.J. Upchurch (1822-1887) in the creation of the Ancient Order of United Workmen as a successful fraternal order is a fine example of an invented tradition. A set of repetitive narrative, ritual and symbolical practices were constituted around his personality that were designed to promote fraternal values, to enhance group cohesion and to represent the order’s activities as continuous with a partly fictional past. While Upchurch was key to the start of the order, his fame as the creator of the order’s mutual benefit system – its most notable feature – was a fiction. The growth of a cult around Upchurch resulted from a campaign by a leading Californian fraternity man with political ambitions. While the latter widely toured Upchurch as a fraternal icon through his State, it was Upchurch himself who proved to be instrumental in generating his own personality cult. This cult eventually found its way to the order’s narratives and “iconic practices”, generating a secular version of what David Morgan calls “visual piety”. The mythical Upchurch image became constitutive of the collective identity of the order, steered the collective memory regarding its foundational myth and helped to symbolize fraternal relationships of protection, charity and mutuality.