Littérature scientifique sur le sujet « Paris (France) – Politics and government – 20th century »

On 13 November 2017, Yannis Hamilakis, Felipe Rojas, and several other archaeologists at Brown University engaged in a conversation with Alain Schnapp about his life and career. Hamilakis and Rojas were interested in learning about how Schnapp’s early academic and political interests intersected with the history of Classics and classical archaeology in France, Europe and elsewhere in the world, and also about the origins and current aims of Schnapp’s work on the history of archaeology and antiquarianism and the cross-cultural history of ruins. Schnapp and his interlocutors began by discussing Schnapp’s formative years and the intersections between archaeology and politics in mid-20th-century France. Their conversation turns to the role of individual scholars, specifically classicists and archaeologists, in the momentous social events in Paris in 1968. The final part of the dialogue concerns Schnapp’s contributions to the history of archaeology and the possibilities of engaging in the comparison of antiquarian traditions.

The aim of this article is to present the roles of Miloš Marten (1883–1917) in the Czech–French cultural events of the first decade of the 20th century in the background of his contacts with Hanuš Jelínek (1878–1944). The first part of the article deals with Marten’s artistic and life experience during his stays in Paris (1907–1908). The consequences of those two stays to the artist’s life and work will be accentuated. The second part takes a close look at Miloš Marten’s critique of Hanuš Jelínek’s doctoral thesis Melancholics. Studies from the History of Sensibility in French Literature. To interpretate Marten’s reasons for such a negative criticism is our main pursued objective. Such criticism results not only from the rivality between Czech critics oriented to France, but also from different conceptions of the role of critical method and the role of the critic and the artist in the international cultural politics. The third part concludes with the critics’ „reconciliation‟ around 1913 by means of the common interest in the work and personality of Paul Claudel.

ABSTRACTThe causes and consequences of the quarrels between Louis XV and the parlements in the third quarter of the eighteenth century continue to provoke a lively debate amongst historians. In France, the traditional thesis of a reforming monarchy confronted by the selfish obstructionism of the judiciary has many adherents. However, few Anglo-American scholars favour such an interpretation and some have gone as far as to reject the existence of a crisis altogether. Research is also concentrated upon the consequences of these disputes, and their importance to the development not only of parlementaire constitutionalism, but even of a new political culture. In order to contest these conflicting interpretations, this article takes afresh look at the Besançon affair of 1757–1761. In one of the most heated political battles of the reign, thirty judges were exiled from the parlements of Besançon, provoking a lively response from the other parlements, headed by that of Paris. By examining the origins of the dispute in Franche-Comté, and the subsequent reaction of both the government and the Parisian magistrates, this article offers a new picture of the causes of crisis and of how judicial politics actually worked.

Etienne Dumont became famous in the early nineteenth century for taking Jeremy Bentham's incoherent manuscripts and editing them into readable books which he translated into French. This article focuses on Dumont's earlier life, and specifically his Genevan background, to explain his work for Mirabeau in the first years of the French Revolution and his ultimate sense of the importance of Bentham's system of legislation. The article explains why Dumont's Genevan origins caused him to promote reforms in France intended to establish domestic stability and international peace. Dumont believed that states across Europe needed to combine free government with moral reform, in order to stifle the growth of democracy. The extent of the danger posed by popular government to modern societies was, in Dumont's view, the major lesson of the French Revolution. An alternative reform project to democracy was necessary, but one that did not entail a return to monarchical or aristocratic despotism. The characteristics of Dumont's planned reform became clear by adopting a comparative perspective on events in France. In developing a comparative perspective, Dumont argued that the history of Britain since 1688 needed to be in the foreground. He was perplexed by the French rejection of Britain's political and constitutional model, and explained many major developments at Paris in 1789 by reference to what he considered to be this peculiar fact. After the Terror, Dumont lost his faith in experiments in constitution building as a means of securing the independence of free states like Geneva. Bentham's great achievement was to have provided an alternative system of legislation that would transform national character gradually, making reform politics compatible with domestic and international peace. For Dumont, Bentham established a bulwark against the enthusiasm and democratic excess, and this was the key to utilitarianism as a moral reform project.

In the 1980s and 1990s West European welfare states were exposed to strong pressures to ‘renovate’, to retrench. However, the European social policy landscape today looks as varied as it did at any time during the 20th century. ‘New institutionalism’ seems particularly helpful to account for the divergent outcomes observed, and it explains the resistance of different structures to change through past commitments, the political weight of welfare constituencies and the inertia of institutional arrangements – in short, through ‘path dependency’. Welfare state institutions play a special role in framing the politics of social reform and can explain trajectories and forms of policy change. The institutional shape of the existing social policy landscape poses a significant constraint on the degree and the direction of change. This approach is applied to welfare state developments in the UK and France, comparing reforms of unemployment compensation, old-age pensions and health care. Both countries have developed welfare states, although with extremely different institutional features. Two institutional effects in particular emerge: schemes that mainly redistribute horizontally and protect the middle classes well are likely to be more resistant against cuts. Their support base is larger and more influential compared with schemes that are targeted on the poor or are so parsimonious as to be insignificant for most of the electorate. The contrast between the overall resistance of French social insurance against cuts and the withering away of its British counterpart is telling. In addition, the involvement of the social partners, and particularly of the labour movement in managing the schemes, seems to provide an obstacle for government sponsored retrenchment exercises.

The article deals with the life and career path of Serge Lifar, a Ukrainian world-class dancer, choreographer, theorist of choreography, historian and reformer of the 20thcentury ballet, Honorary President of the UNESCO International Dance Council. Serge Lifar was a prolific artist, choreographer and director of the Paris Opéra Ballet, one of the most preeminent ballet companies in Western Europe. Attention is drawn to the fact that pedagogical activity constituted a significant part of Lifar’s work. In 1947, he founded the French Academy of Dance, from 1955 he taught his-tory and theory of dance at Sorbonne University, having developed his own system of ballet dancers’ training and authored more than 20 works on ballet. In the same year, he was recognized as the best dancer and choreographer in France and was awarded the ‘Golden Shoe’. In 1957, he became the founder and rector of the Paris University of Dance. The author emphasizes that Lifar’s creative heritage is huge. He choreographed more than 200 ballets and wrote 25 books on dance theory. Serge Lifar trained 11 ballet stars. Serge Lifar’s style, which he called choreographic neoromanticism, determined the ways of development of the European ballet art of the second half of the 20th century. At the age of 65, Lifar showed his talent as a visual artist. His heritage includes more than a hundred original paintings and drawings, the main plot of which is ballet, dance, and movement. In 1972–1975, exhibitions of his works were held in Cannes, Paris, Monte Carlo and Venice. His yet another passion was books. It all began with Serhii Diahiliev’s personal archive, which included a collection of theatrical paintings, scenery and a library. Lifar bought it from the French government for a one year’s salary at the Grand Opera. In the USSR, Lifar’s name was concealed. Only in 1961, did he and his wife visit it for the first time as the Soviet authorities did not allow him to stage any ballet in the USSR. He always felt he was Ukrainian and ardently promoted the history and culture of his people. In honour of the outstanding countryman, the Serge Lifar International Ballet Competition and the festival ‘Serge Lifar de La dance’ have been held since 1994 and 1995, accordingly. Keywords: cultural diplomacy, art of artistic vision of choreography, Serge Lifar International Ballet Competition.

The Tartu Peace Treaty of 1920, signed between Estonia and Soviet Russia, has been credited with laying the foundation for stability in Eastern Europe in the interwar period. Ants Piip, a member of the Estonian delegation at Tartu, attributed this achievement to the equitable character of the agreement, comparing it favourably with the Treaty of Versailles, widely seen as a dictated peace already in the immediate aftermath of its signature. A similar view was expounded by the Soviet government, which portrayed the Tartu Peace Treaty as an expression of the principles underlying the November Revolution. It especially emphasised the self-determination of peoples, proclaimed repeatedly by the Soviet government as a sine qua non for a just peace. According to the Soviet narrative, the principle of selfdetermination had been hailed by the Entente only to be later betrayed at the Paris Peace Conference. The Tartu Peace Treaty, where the principle of self-determination figured prominently in Article II, thus became, in this telling, an ideological counter model to the results of the Paris Peace Conference. Despite their anti-Bolshevik outlook, Estonian diplomats and politicians inclined towards a comparable interpretation: they had accepted the Soviet peace proposal, with the offer to recognise their right to selfdetermination and independent statehood, only after the Allies had failed to live up to their promises at Paris. The refence to the principle of self-determination in the Tartu Peace Treaty has not received much attention from historians. As Lauri Mälksoo has noted, it remains a well-nigh forgotten chapter in the history of international law. Mälksoo argued that the reference is all the more noteworthy since the Soviet government gave the principle a remarkably wide scope, joining to it the right to secession, which was not yet enshrined in general international law at the time. Assuming that the principle of selfdetermination was mentioned in the Tartu Peace Treaty at the initiative of the Soviet side, Mälksoo suggested two motives that might have prompted it: the need to recognise the fait accompli of Estonian independence, and the wish to justify within Russia itself the decision to relinquish territories that had formerly belonged to the Tsarist Empire. This article shows that the Estonian side was also keen to refer to the principle of self-determination, quite independently of Soviet wishes, as demonstrated by a draft peace treaty drawn up two months prior to the start of the Tartu negotiations by a commission of experts convened by the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs. This fact is indicative of the broader diplomatic significance that the Estonian delegation – and its head, Jaan Poska, in particular – attached to peace talks with the Bolsheviks. The article demonstrates that Poska did not start the negotiations in December of 1919 with the sõle aim of signing a peace treaty with Soviet Russia. Just as important, if not more so, was the prospect of using the talks to convince the Entente to recognise Estonian independence de jure. The Estonian government had founded its claim to international recognition on the principle of self-determination. Upon the outbreak of the Bolshevik revolution, the Estonian Provisional Assembly had availed itself of the Soviet decree proclaiming the right of all peoples of Russia to selfdetermination, including secession and the formation of a separate state. Without being confident in the resolve of the Soviet government to adhere to the letter of its public pronouncements, Estonian politicians nonetheless saw the usefulness of invoking the decree, since the latter could be seen as ratifying Estonia’s decision to secede from Russia. They were already positioning themselves vis-à-vis the Entente Powers, whose freedom to recognise the nascent republic was constrained by rules of international law regarding the validity of secession. The principle of self-determination had great value for a seceding state, especially in circumstances where the mother country did not have a lawful government and was thus unable to consent to any separation of territories (as Russia was regarded in the eyes of most governments at the end of 1917). The Estonian position was buttressed by a string of diplomatic statements made by the Entente Powers in 1918, assuring Estonia that its status would be determined at a forthcoming peace conference in accordance with the principle of self-determination. Such assurances filled Estonian diplomats with great optimism when they set out for the Paris Peace Conference at the beginning of 1919. The principle of self-determination was tantamount to independence in their mind. It was therefore with growing disappointment that they observed the unwillingness of France and Great Britain to recognise their independence at Paris, intent as the latter were to reconstitute their former eastern ally. This is not to say that Estonian claims were completely ignored. British politicians did not think that they were failing to honour their promises when offering Estonia internationally guaranteed autonomy, under the aegis of the League of Nations, instead of independence. Autonomy did not satisfy Estonians, however, who were canvassing all options at their disposal to arrive at their aim. The quest for ‘other ways’, beginning in earnest in the summer of 1919, has been mostly interpreted by scholars as a decision to reach a peace settlement with the Bolsheviks. The article shows that the Estonian strategy was more multi-faceted. International recognition remained their chief aim, and their receptiveness to Bolshevik peace feelers should be seen in this light. The emphasis placed on the principle of self-determination from the very start of negotiations with Soviet Russia in September of 1919 was a part of this Western-directed diplomatic approach. The Bolsheviks had their own aims in mind when foregrounding this principle. The consternation that the Treaty of Versailles had caused in Germany offered them an opportunity to depict the Paris Peace Conference as the latest manifestation of Great Power imperialism, to which the Soviet proposal of a ‘democratic peace’ (no annexations, no contributions, self-determination to all peoples) was allegedly the only viable alternative. The peace talks between Estonia and Soviet Russia were thus caught in an ideological struggle between the Soviet government and the Western Allies concerning ‘just peace’. But they also fitted in with the – apparently contrary – Soviet strategy of abandoning outright military aggression and preparing the ground for ‘peaceful coexistence’ with capitalist states, with a view to buttressing the Soviet regime economically. The reference to the principle of self-determination in the Tartu Peace Treaty can be explained by all the considerations mentioned above. The Estonians had their sights set on reinforcing their international status by tying it to the principle. The Bolsheviks were showcasing their adherence to ‘democratic peace’ and contrasting their favourable attitude to small peoples with the hypocrisy of the Great Powers (the fact that it was Soviet Russia that had initiated the war with unprovoked military aggression in 1918 was conveniently ignored). Moreover, on a less public level, Soviet Russia was signalling that it was willing to consent to self-determination in the Russian borderlands in order to reach an agreement with its Western foes, and that it would rely on the long-term superiority of the Bolshevik system in lieu of head-to-head collision with capitalist states. In this last sense, the Treaty of Tartu marks a strategic turn for the Soviet government that became so consequential for the 20th century that the treaty with Estonia acquires truly foundational significance.

The issue of the journal opens with an article dedicated to the formation of metrology as government regulated activity in France. The article has discussed the historical process of development of metrological activity in France. It was revealed that the history of metrology is considered as an auxiliary historical and ethnographic discipline from a social and philosophical point of view as the evolution of scientific approaches to the definition of individual units of physical quantities and branches of metrology. However, in the scientific literature, the little attention is paid to the process of a development of a centralized institutional metrology system that is the organizational basis for ensuring the uniformity of measurements. The article by Irena Grebtsova and Maryna Kovalska is devoted to the of the development of the source criticism’s knowledge in the Imperial Novorossiya University which was founded in the second half of the XIX century in Odesa. Grounding on a large complex of general scientific methods, and a historical method and source criticism, the authors identified the stages of the formation of source criticism in the process of teaching historical disciplines at the university, what they based on an analysis of the teaching activities of professors and associate professors of the Faculty of History and Philology. In the article, the development of the foundations of source criticism is considered as a complex process, which in Western European and Russian science was the result of the development of the theory and practice of everyday dialogue between scientists and historical sources. This process had a great influence on the advancement of a historical education in university, which was one of the important factors in the formation of source studies as a scientific discipline. The article by Tetiana Malovichko is devoted to the study of what changes the course of the probability theory has undergone from the end of the 19th century to our time based on the analysis of The Theory of Probabilities textbook by Vasyl P. Ermakov published in 1878. The paper contains a comparative analysis of The Probability Theory textbook and modern educational literature. The birth of children after infertility treatment of married couples with the help of assisted reproductive technologies has become a reality after many years of basic research on the physiology of reproductive system, development of oocyte’s in vitro fertilization methods and cultivation of embryos at pre-implantation stages. Given the widespread use of assisted reproductive technologies in modern medical practice and the great interest of society to this problem, the aim of the study authors from the Institute for Problems of Cryobiology and Cryomedicine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine was to trace the main stages and key events of assisted reproductive technologies in the world and in Ukraine, as well as to highlight the activities of outstanding scientists of domestic and world science who were at the origins of the development of this area. As a result of the work, it has been shown that despite certain ethical and social biases, the discovery of individual predecessor scientists became the basis for the efforts of Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe to ensure birth of the world's first child, whose conception occurred outside the mother's body. There are also historical facts and unique photos from our own archive, which confirm the fact of the first successful oocyte in vitro fertilization and the birth of a child after the use of assisted reproductive technologies in Ukraine. In the next article, the authors tried to consider and structure the stages of development and creation of the “Yermak”, the world's first Arctic icebreaker, and analyzed the stages of preparation and the results of its first expeditions to explore the Arctic. Systematic analysis of historical sources and biographical material allowed to separate and comprehensively consider the conditions and prehistory for the development and creation of “Yermak” icebreaker. Also, the authors gave an assessment to the role of Vice Admiral Stepan Osypovych Makarov in those events, and analyzed the role of Sergei Yulyevich Witte, Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev and Pyotr Petrovich Semenov-Tian-Shansky in the preparation and implementation of the first Arctic expeditions of the “Yermak”icebreaker. The authors of the following article considered the historical aspects of construction and operation of train ferry routes. The article deals with the analysis and systematization of the data on the historical development of train ferry routes and describes the background for the construction of train ferry routes and their advantages over other combined transport types. It also deals with the basic features of the train ferries operating on the main international train ferry routes. The study is concerned with both sea routes and routes across rivers and lakes. The article shows the role of train ferry routes in the improvement of a national economy, and in the provision of the military defense. An analysis of numerous artefacts of the first third of the 20th century suggests that the production of many varieties of art-and-industrial ceramics developed in Halychyna, in particular architectural ceramic plastics, a variety of functional ceramics, decorative tiles, ceramic tiles, facing tiles, etc. The artistic features of Halychyna art ceramics, the richness of methods for decorating and shaping it, stylistic features, as well as numerous art societies, scientific and professional associations, groups, plants and factories specializing in the production of ceramics reflect the general development of this industry in the first half of the century and represent the prerequisites the emergence of the school of professional ceramics in Halychyna at the beginning of the 20th century. The purpose of the next paper is to analyze the formation and development of scientific and professional schools of art-and-industrial ceramics of Halychyna in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. During the environmental crisis, electric transport (e-transport) is becoming a matter for scientific inquiry, a subject of discussion in politics and among public figures. In the program for developing the municipal services of Ukraine, priorities are given to the development of the infrastructure of ecological transport: trolleybuses, electric buses, electric cars. The increased attention to e-transport on the part of the scientific community, politicians, and the public actualizes the study of its history, development, features of operation, etc. The aim of the next study is to highlight little-known facts of the history of production and operation of MAN trolleybuses in Ukrainian cities, as well as to introduce their technical characteristics into scientific circulation. The types, specific design solutions of the first MAN trolleybus generation and the prerequisites for their appearance in Chernivtsi have been determined. Particular attention has been paid to trolleybuses that were in operation in Germany and other Western European countries from the first half of the 1930s to the early 1950s. The paper traces the stages of operation of the MAN trolleybuses in Chernivtsi, where they worked during 1939–1944 and after the end of the Second World War, they were transferred to Kyiv. After two years of operation in the Ukrainian capital, the trolleybuses entered the routes in Dnipropetrovsk during 1947–1951. The purpose of the article by authors from the State University of Infrastructure and Technologies of Ukraine is to thoroughly analyze unpaved roads of the late 18th – early 19th century, as well as the project of the first wooden trackway as the forerunner of the Bukovyna railways. To achieve this purpose, the authors first reviewed how railways were constructed in the Austrian Empire during 1830s – 1850s. Then, in contrast with the first railway networks that emerged and developed in the Austrian Empire, the authors made an analysis of the condition and characteristics of unpaved roads in Bukovyna. In addition, the authors considered the first attempt to create a wooden trackway as a prototype and predecessor of the Bukovyna railway.

Published in June 2021 by La Route de la Soie – Éditions, ‘Une géopolitique de la Slovénie’ (A Geopolitics of Slovenia) by Laurent Hassid PhD is a monograph in French on the geopolitics of Slovenia. The author is an associated researcher at the Université Sorbonne Paris Nord in France, specializing in geography and borders. The foreword by Barthélémy Courmont PhD, Assistant Professor at the Catholic University in Lille, France, introduces the book as an opportunity for the reader to expand their knowledge about Slovenia by obtaining an insight into its geography, history and identity. Indeed, the 223-page monograph is structured in three parts following the destiny of Slovenia from a community of a language to an independent nation (1: Unity of a nation; 2: Diversity of a nation; and 3: From unity during independence to the division of an European state). From introduction to conclusion the author looks at the geographical, historical, and political factors that led to the emergence of Slovenia as a sovereign state, which can at the same time be seen as belonging to Central Europe, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean region. The conclusion points only briefly to some challenges which could put into question the European commitments of the country and its ability to face the current and upcoming effects of globalization. The storyline develops gradually from parts one to three, which are broken down into two to three chapters each. The multiple headings within the chapters, and the various maps, pictures and tables which underpin the argumentation, render the book reader-friendly. The article “une” (in English “a”) in the book’s title seems to suggest that this monograph touches upon one of several possible ways of looking at the geopolitics of Slovenia. In particular, the introduction outlines the geographical features of the Slovene territory and refers to several historic facts which explain the state building process of a nation with its own language and territory, but without any particular statehood history. The first part portrays the emergence and evolution of the Slovene nation. This is closely associated with the Slovene literature of the 16th century and onwards, which laid the foundations of a national awakening. The author refers to the history of Carantania and the Counts (Dukes) of Celje as myths that played a significant part in the nation and state-building process of the 19th and 20th centuries. The second part of the book focuses on the differences and challenges within the young country. It describes the historical regions and their dialects, and touches upon the composition of minorities, the Slovene diaspora, and the various ex-Yugoslav nationalities living in Slovenia and their relationships with the native Slovenes. The third part talks about the political developments of the late 1980s and of the post-independence period. The author describes the late 1980s up to 1992 as a time of national unity, which was followed by 20 years of political stability (from 1992 to 2011). Since 2011, he considers that Slovenia has been confronted by an emerging political instability. He offers a snapshot of the contemporary political system, and the main political personalities and events. The book ends with a short reflection of the potential challenges ahead for Slovenia. The book is a welcome addition to monographs written in French. The scarce literature dedicated to Slovenia and its geopolitics is most likely due to the fact that Slovene territory had not been independent historically before 1991. If ever mentioned, it was within the Austrian, Italian, or Yugoslav (Balkan) geopolitical context. In his preface to the book, Barthélémy Courmont indicates this when mentioning that he crossed Slovenia a few times in the early 1990s without even realizing it. This observation is very similar to the one made by Robert Kaplan in his geopolitical bestseller, Balkan Ghosts , where he explains how he crossed the Yugoslav-Austrian border and came to Zagreb (Croatia) in the late 1980s, without noticing any territory or (geo)political entity in between. Timewise, its publication coincides with the anniversaries of two key geopolitical moments in Slovene history. June 2021 marks 30 years since Slovenia became a sovereign and independent state and a full member of the international community. It is also the anniversary of the “Vidovdan” constitution of June 1921 which consecrated the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes; it put an end to the very first independent appearance of Slovenes on the geopolitical chessboard, which had begun in October 1918. This monograph assembles an important amount of geographic, linguistic, cultural and (mostly contemporary) political data and events, which together help to understand the geo(political) landscape of Slovenia. These also explain, in the view of the author of the monograph, the birth of the Slovene nation and its development into an independent country. As more than a quarter of the book is focused on contemporary Slovene politics and related actual (geo)political events , the reader can get a sound insight of the first three decades since Slovenia’s independence. What the book does not provide to the reader, and in particular to the French-speaking audience, is a geostrategic analysis. The author refers briefly to the Napoleonian Illyrian provinces and the Illyrian movement, but he falls short of offering any assessment of the strategic impact of France or other main powers with regard to this territory. One might have expected a closer look at France’s strategic reasons for establishing the Illyrian provinces (1809-13), and at its role in the formation of the Versailles Yugoslavia in 1918-19. The involvement of France in the drawing of the Slovene borders with Austria and Italy , and its current and future strategic stance with regard to Slovenia and the region it belongs to, would have also deserved further consideration. All in all, Une géopolitique de la Slovénie has the merit of offering to the reader, especially to the francophone one, an insight into the geography, identity, and history of Slovenia. It could be a reference for future writing on this young country. It offers a starting point to those who wish to learn more about Slovenia, be it for professional or personal reasons. To Slovene academia, the book provides an insight into how the overall Slovene geopolitical context is perceived through the lens of a foreign (French) author, and it may generate an interest in future writing on this topic accessible to foreign readers.

RESUMENLa historiografía sobre la muerte, desarrollada entre finales de los años setenta y noventa de la pasada centuria, tuvo especial interés y proyección a partir de las investigaciones trazadas por la tercera generación de Annales. Los planteamientos de esta corriente, en sintonía con los modelos de dicha escuela y avalados por la renovación del objeto histórico tras el estructuralismo, giraron alrededor del estudio de las condiciones materiales, actitudes, imágenes y gestualidad del hombre medieval ante la muerte. El cuerpo de esta fructífera reflexión, como parcela de la “historia de las mentalidades”, albergó novedades metodológicas, facilitando una visión y proyección heurística, debido al impacto que tuvo dentro del diálogo de la historia con las ciencias sociales y otras disciplinas del quehacer humanístico. A finales del siglo xx y comienzo del presente, el giro producido en el quehacer histórico ha otorgado un mayor protagonismo a lo social y cultural, colocando en el lugar protagonista ocupado durante décadas por la “historia de la muerte” otros intereses. Compete, por tanto, plantearse qué horizontes cabría dibujar, dentro de las coordenadas historiográficas de la actualidad, para las investigaciones sobre la muerte, cuyas paradojas siguen vigentes como recurso para conocer los fenómenos y manifestaciones propias de la civilización medieval.Palabras clave: Muerte medieval, historiografía de la muerte ABSTRACTThe historiography of death developed between the late 1970s and the 1990s was of special interest and projection. It was based on research carried out by the third generation of the Annales. The approaches developed in line with the models of this school of thought and underpinned by the renewal of the historical object following structuralism, revolved around the study of material conditions, attitudes, images and gestures of the medieval man in the face of death. The core of this prolific reflection as part of the “history of mentalities” contained methodological novelties facilitating a heuristic vision and projection due to the impact it had on the dialogue between History and Social Sciences and other humanistic disciplines. At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the current the shift in historical endeavour has given greater prominence to what is social and cultural, placing other interests in the key role for decades occupied by the “history of death”. For researching into death, it is necessary therefore to consider what perceptions can be drawn within the historiographical coordinates of the present day whose paradoxes are still valid as a resource to understand the phenomena and manifestations of medieval civilisation.Keywords: mediaeval death, historiography of death REFERENCIASActas de las I Jornadas de Metodología Aplicada de las Ciencias Históricas. V. Paleografía y archivística, Santiago de Compostela, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Servicio de Publicaciones, 1975.Alexandre-Bidon, D., La mort au Moyen Âge: xiiie-xvie, París, Editorial Hachette, 1998.Alexandre-Bidon, D. y Treffort, C. (dirs.), A reveiller les morts. La mort au quotidien dans l’Occident médieval, Lyon, Presses Universitaires de Lyon, 1993.Ariès, P., Essais sur l’histoire de la mort en Occident du Moyen Âge á nous jours, París, Éditions du Seuil, 1975 (trad. Historia de la muerte en Occidente. Desde la Edad Media hasta nuestros días, 2000).—“Mourir autrefois”, en A. Brien et M. Lienhart (dirs.), La Mort au coeur de la vie, Colmar, Éditions Alsatia; Strasbourg, Oberlin, 1976, pp. 23-35.—L’homme devant la mort, París, Éditions du Seuil, 1977.—En face de la mort, París, Éditions du Cerf, 1983.—Images de l´homme devant la mort, París, Seuil, 1983.Aurell, J., Balmaceda, C., Burke, P. y Soza, F., Comprender el pasado, Madrid, Akal, 2013.Azpeitia Martín, M., “Historiografía de la ‘historia de la muerte’”, Studia historica. Historia medieval, 26 (2008), pp. 113-132.Baloup. D., “La mort au Moyen Âge (France e Espagne). Un bilan historiographique”, en I. Bazán y C. González Mínguez, El discurso legal ante la muerte durante la Edad Media en el nordeste peninsular, Bilbao, Universidad del País Vasco, 2006, pp. 13-32.Binski, P., Medieval Death. Ritual and Representation, Londres, British Museum Press, 1996.Boase, T. S. R., Death in the Middle Ages: mortality, judgment and remembrance, London, Thames and Hudson, 1972.Borsari, E., Trujillo, J. R. (eds.), La muerte en las literaturas medievales europeas (dosier monográfico), Revista de Literatura Medieval, 36, 2002.Braet, H. y Verbeke, W. (eds.), Death in the Middle Ages, Lovaina, Leuven University Press, 1987.Burgess, C., “By Quick and by Dead»: Wills and Pious Provision in late Medieval Bristol”, English Historical Review, 405 (1987), pp. 837-858.Carlé, M.ª C., Una sociedad del siglo xiv: los castellanos en sus testamentos, Buenos Aires, Universidad Católica Argentina, 1993.Carozzi, C., “La géographie de l’au-delà et sa signification pendant le Haut Moyen Âge”, en XXIX Settimana di Studi Sull’Alto Medievo, Spoleto, Centro Italiano di Studi sull’Alto Medioevo, 1983, pp. 423-481.—Le voyage de l’âme dans l’au-delà, d’après la littérature latine (ve-xiiie siècle), Roma, École Française de Rome, 1994.Chaunu, P., “Mourir à Paris (xvie-xviie-xviiie siècles)”, Annales. Économies, sociétes, civilisations, 31.I (1976), pp. 29-50.—Histoire quantitative, histoire sérielle. París, Armand Colin, 1978.Chiffoleau, J., La compatibilité de l’Au-delà. Les hommes, la mort et la religion dans la region d’Avignon à la fin du Moyen Âge, Roma, École Française de Rome, 1980.Choron, J., Death and Modern Man, Nueva York, Collier Books, 1964.—La Mort dans la pensée occidentale, París, Editions Payot, 1969.Daniell, C., Death and dying in England, Oxford, Oxford Bibliographies, 2014. http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195396584/obo-9780195396584-0149.xml (recuperado 07.II.2023).Doudet, E. (textes recueillis), La mort écrite. Rites et rhétoriques du trépas au Moyen Âge, París, Presses de l’ Université Paris-Sorbonne, 2005.Eiras Roel, A. (coord.), Actas del II Coloquio de Metodología histórica aplicada. La documentación notarial y la historia, Santiago de Compostela, Secretariado de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 1982.Erlande-Brandenburg, A., Le roi est mort. Étude sur les funérailles, les sépultures et les tombeaux des rois de France jusqu’á la fin du xiiie siècle, Ginebra, Société Française d’Archéologie, 1975.Español, F., “El encuentro de los tres vivos y los tres muertos y su repercusión en la Península Ibérica”, en J. Yarza Luaces (ed. lit.), Estudios de Iconografía Medieval Española, Bellaterra, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, 1984, pp. 53-136—Lo macabro en el gótico hispano. Cuadernos de Arte Español, 70, Madrid, Historia 16, 1992. Favre, R., La mort au Siècle des Lumières dans la littérature et la pensée françaises, Lyon, Presses Universitaires de Lyon, 1978.Febvre, L., “Comment reconstituer la vie affective d´autrefois? La sensibilité et l´histoire”, Annales d´Histoire Sociale, 3.1/2 (1941), pp. 5-20. García-Fernández, M., “Familia, poder y religiosidad de una aristócrata bajomedieval gallega. Las últimas voluntades de doña Xoana de Castro (1467)”, Madrygal: Revista de Estudios Gallegos, 21 (2018), pp. 133-156.García-Fernández, M., “Testamentos femeninos para el estudio de la realidad señorial gallega a finales de la Edad Media: una aproximación comparada a las últimas voluntades de Guiomar Méndez de Ambia (1484) y doña Isabel González Noguerol (1527-1533), en M. Cabrera Espinosa y J. A. López Cordero (coord.), XI Congreso Virtual sobre Historia de las Mujeres, Jaén, Archivo Histórico Diocesano de Jaén, 2019, pp. 279-330.Gaude-Ferragu, M., D´or et de cendres: la mort et les funérailles des princes dans le royaume de France au Bas Moyen Âge, Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, Villeneuve d’Ascq, 2005.González Lopo, D. L., “Historia de las mentalidades. Evolución historiográfica de un concepto complejo y polémico”, Obradoiro de Historia Moderna, 11 (2002), pp. 135-190.Guiance, A., Muertes medievales, mentalidades medievales: un estado de la cuestión sobre la historia de la muerte en la Edad Media, Buenos Aires, Universidad de Buenos Aires, 1989.—Los discursos sobre la muerte en la Castilla medieval (siglos vii-xv), Valladolid, Consejería de Educación y Cultura de la Junta de Castilla y León, 1998.—“Introducción. Veinte años de historiografía sobre la muerte: un balance y un nuevo comienzo”, en F. Miranda García y M.ª T. López de Guereño Sanz (dir.), La muerte de los príncipes en la Edad Media, Madrid, Casa de Velázquez, 2020, pp. 1-16.Hadley, D. M., Death in Medieval England, Stroud, Tempus, 2001.Hernández Sandoica, E., Los caminos de la historia. Cuestiones de historiografía y método, Madrid, Síntesis, 1994.Huizinga, J., El otoño de la Edad Media. Estudios sobre las formas de vida y el espíritu durante los siglos xiv y xv en Francia y los Países Bajos, Madrid-Buenos Aires, Alianza Editorial-Revista de Occidente Argentina, 1930 y reeds. de 1947 y 1985.Joyce, P., “The return of history: postmodernism and the politics of academic history in Britain”, Past and Present, 158 (1998), pp. 207-235.Ladero Quesada, M. A., “Trayectorias y generaciones. Un balance crítico: la Edad Media”, en Pellistrandi, B. (ed..), La historiografía francesa del siglo xx y su acogida en España, Madrid, Casa de Velázquez, 2002, pp. 311-335.Lapesa, R., “El tema de la muerte en el Libro de Buen Amor”, en R. Lapesa, De la Edad Media a nuestros días, Madrid, Editorial Gredos, 1967, pp. 53-75.Lauwers, M., “Le sépulcre des pères et les ancêtres. Notes sur le culte des défunts à l’âge seigneurial”, Medievales. Langue. Textes. Histoire. La mort des grandes. Hommage à Jean Devisse, 31 (1996), pp. 67-78.—La Mémoire des ancêtres, le souci des morts. Morts, rites et société au Moyen Âge (Diocèse de Liège xie-xiiie siècle), París, Archives de sciences sociales des religions, 1997.Lavanchy, L., Écrire sa mort, décrire sa vie. Testaments de laics laussannois (1400-1450), Laussane, Université de Laussane, 2003.Lebrun, F., Les hommes et la mort en Anjou aux 17e et 18e siècles: essai de démographie et de psychologie historiques, Paris-La Haye, Mouton, 1971.Le Goff, J., La naissance du Purgatoire, París, Gallimard, 1981.Lemaître, J. L. (ed.), L’Église et la mémoire des morts dans la France Médiévale: communications présentées à la Table Ronde du CNRS, le 14 juin 1982, París, Études Augustiniennes, 1986.López de Guereño Sanz, M.ª T., Miranda García, F. y Cabrera, M. (eds.), Migravit a seculo. Muerte y poder de príncipes en la Europa medieval. Perspectivas comparadas, Madrid, Ed. Sílex, 2021.Lorcin, M. T., Vivre et mourir en Lyonnais à la fin du Moyen Âge, Paris, CNRS, 1981.Mâle, E., L´art religieux du xiiie siècle en France, París, Colin, 1898.—L´art religieux de la fin du Moyen Âge en France. Étude sur l´iconographie du Moyen Âge et sur ses sources d´inspiration, París, Librairie Armand Colin, 1908.Marandet, M. C., Le souci de l´au-delà: la pratique testamentaire dans la région toulosaine (1300-1450), Perpignan, Presses Universitaires, 1998.Mattoso, J., “O culto dos mortos na Península Ibérica (seculos vii a xi)”, Lusitania Sacra, 4 (1992), 2ª serie, pp. 13-37.—“A morte dos reis na Cronistica Pré-Alfonsina”, Estudos Medievais, 10 (1993), pp. 79-95.—“O poder e a morte”, Anuario de Estudios Medievales, 25/2 (1995), pp. 395-427.—(dir.), O Reino dos mortos na Idade Média peninsular, Lisboa, Edições João Sá da Costa, 1996.McManners, J., “Death and the French Historians”, en Whaley, J. (ed.), Mirrors of Mortality: Studies in the Social History of Death, London, Routledge, 1981, pp. 106-130.Miranda García, F. y López de Guereño Sanz, M.ª T., La muerte de los príncipes en la Edad Media: balance y perspectivas historiográficas, Madrid, Casa de Velázquez, 2020.Mitre Fernández, E., “El sentido medieval de la muerte. Reflexiones desde el prisma del siglo xx”, Anuario de Estudios Medievales, 16 (1986), pp. 621-639.—La muerte vencida. Imágenes e historia en el Occidente medieval (1200-1348), Madrid: Ediciones Encuentro, 1988.—“La muerte del rey: La historiografía hispánica (1200-1348) y la muerte entre las élites”, En la España Medieval, 11 (1988), pp. 167-183.—“Muerte y memoria del rey en la Castilla bajomedieval”, en G. Duby, G. (et al.), La idea y el sentimiento de la muerte en la historia y en el arte de la Edad Media (II), Santiago de Compostela, Secretariado de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 1992, pp. 17-26.—“Actitudes del hombre ante la muerte”, en González Mínguez, C. (ed.), La otra historia: Sociedad, cultura y mentalidades, Bilbao, Servicio Editorial de la Universidad del País Vasco, 1993, pp. 25-36.—“La muerte y sus discursos dominantes entre los siglos xiii y xv (reflexiones sobre recientes aportes historiográficos)”, en Serrano Martín, E. (coord.), Muerte, religiosidad y cultura popular, Zaragoza: Institución Fernando el Católico, 1994, pp. 15-34.Morin, E., L’Homme et la Mort. París, Seuil, 1970 (ed. rev. et augm. de 1950).La mort au Moyen Âge (Colloque de l´Association des Historiens Médiévistes Français réunis à Strasbourg en juin 1975 au Palais Universitaire), Strasbourg, Libraire Istra, 1977.La morte et l´au-delà en France méridionale (xiie-xve siècle), Tolouse, Privat, 1998.Nieto Soria, J. M., Ceremonias de la realeza. Propaganda y legitimación en la Castilla Trastámara, Madrid, Nerea, 1993.Nora, P., Les lieux de mémoire, Paris, Gallimard, 1984.Otero Piñeyro Maseda, P. S. y García-Fernández, M., “Los testamentos como fuente para la historia social de la nobleza. Un ejemplo metodológico: tres mandas de los Valladares del siglo xv”, Cuadernos de estudios gallegos, 60 (2013), pp. 125-169.Pasamar Alzuria, G., “La influencia de Annales en la historiografía española durante el franquismo: un esbozo de explicación”, Historia Social, 48 (2004), pp. 149-172.Pasche, V., Pour le salut de mon âme. Les Lausannois face à la mort, xiv siècle, Lausanne, Université de Lausanne, 1989.Pavón Benito, J. y García de la Borbolla, A., Morir en la Edad Media. La muerte en la Navarra medieval, Valencia, Universitat de València, 2007.Platelle, H., Présence de l’au-delà: une vision médiévale du monde, Villeneuve-d´Ascq, Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 2004.Peiró Martín, I., “Historiadores en el purgatorio. Continuidades y rupturas en los años sesenta”, Cercles: revista d’història cultural, 16 (2013), pp. 53-81.—Historiadores en España: historia de la historia y memoria de la profesión, Zaragoza, Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza, 2013.La religion populaire. Colloque international du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Paris, 17-19 octobre 1977), Paris, CNRS, 1979.Royer de Cardinal, S., Morir en España. (Castilla Baja Edad Media), Buenos Aires, Universidad Católica Argentina, 1992.Sabatè i Curull, F., Lo senyor rei és mort: actitud i cerimònies dels municipis catalans baix-medievals davant la mort del monarca, Lleida, Universitat de Lleida, 1994.—Cerimònies fúnebres i poder municipal a la Catalunya baixmedieval, Barcelona, Dalmau, 2003.Serna Alonso, J., La historia cultural: autores, obras, lugares, Madrid, Akal, 2013.Sharpe, J., “Historia desde abajo”, en P. Burke (ed.), Formas de Hacer Historia, Madrid, Alianza, 1996 (1ª ed. inglesa, 1991), pp. 38-58.Schmitt, J. C., “Le suicide au Moyen Âge”, Annales. Économies. Sociétés. Civilisations, 31 (1976), pp. 3-28.Spiegel, G., “La historia de la práctica: nuevas tendencias en historia tras el giro lingüístico”, Ayer 62/2 (2006), pp. 19-50.Sutto, C. (ed.), Le sentiment de la mort au Moyen Âge, Quebec, L’ Aurore, 1979.Tenenti, A., La vie et la mort à travers l´art du xve siècle, Armand Colin, París, 1952.—Il senso della morte e l´amore della vita nel Rinascimento (Francia e Italia), Giulio Einaudi, Torino, 1957.—Piété baroque et déchristianisation en Provence au dix-huitième siècle: les attitudes devant la mort d´après les clauses des testaments, París, Seuil, 1973.—Mourir autrefois. Attitudes collectives devant la mort aux xviie et xviiie siècles, Paris, Gallimard, 1974.—“Les attitudes devant la mort: problèmes de méthode, approches et lectures différentes”, Annales Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations, 31. 1 (1976), pp. 120-132.—“Encore la mort: un peu plus qu’une mode? Annales Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations, 37 (1982), pp. 276-287.—La mort et l’Occident de 1300 à nos jours, París, Gallimard, 1983.Vovelle, M., “La mort et l’au-delà en Provence d’après les autels des âmes du Purgatoire xv-xx siècles”, Annales Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations, 24 (1969), pp. 1602-1634.Yarza Luaces, J., “Despesas que fazen los omnes de muchas guisas en soterrar los muertos”, en J. Yarza Luaces, Formas Artísticas de lo Imaginario, Barcelona, Anthropos, 1987, pp. 260-292—“La capilla funeraria hispana en torno a 1400”, en M. Núñez Rodríguez, M. y E. Portela (coords.), La idea y el sentimiento de la muerte, Santiago de Compostela, Secretariado de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 1988, pp. 95-117.

This doctoral dissertation examines the position of the Other with regard to the Ligue des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen (LDH) in France during the interwar period of the twentieth century. A key institution of French political and intellectual life, the Ligue des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen exemplified the confrontation and contradiction between theory, discourse, and reality. The dissertation is divided into two parts: the first part introduces Them, the members of the Ligue; while the second part describes (or identifies) the Other, the colonized migrants, the foreigners, the political and ethnic refugees of the interwar period. This research demonstrates that, although in theory these groups were considered equal in the name of universalism, in practice the discourse of the Ligue discriminated against them. The evidence shows that the members of the Ligue des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen despised all foreigners, and established the level of discrimination according to a hierarchy of contempt.

This thesis concentrates on the cause, structure, location and context (rather than the function) of factions within the French Parti Socialiste, from the Congress of Epinay, in June 1971, until Mitterrand's election as Socialist President of the Republic, on May 10th, 1981. It argues that factionalism results from a complex, interrelated cleavage structure: groups are differentiated according to a number of salient variables, of which the most important are personality (accentuated by the presidentialised Fifth Republic); ideology/policy; strategy/tactics; organisational interests and different historical origins. Factional relations are a product both of the intra-party consequences of the party's external objectives, and the internal dynamic created by factional competition itself. The party is thus an evolutive, rather than a static entity. [continued in text ...]

The Office du Niger irrigation scheme, located on the Niger River in the Republic of Mali, originated in a grandiose but seriously flawed proposal devised in 1920 by a French colonial Public Works engineer named Emile Bélime. Originaly conceived as a means of transforming the Niger Valley into a cotton belt, and later promoted as the heart of a French West African granary, the scheme never attained more than a tiny fraction of its presumed agricultural potential. Its construction and exploitation required the forced uprooting of tens of thousands of Africans. It absorbed a large portion of scarce colonial revenues until after the Second World War and generated no profits. During the inter-war period, the Office du Niger gradually acquired the de facto status of a state within the State, with Emile Bélime at its head. When the scheme was finally recognized as an economic and humanitarian failure in 1945, colonial authorities endeavoured to eliminate its worst shortcomings and give it a new identity as a prototype of economic and technical assistance to an underdeveloped area. After 1961, Malian leaders felt that the scheme could be used as a pilot project for agricultural development in the new republlc, and the scheme's existence has dictated the course of Malian agricultural policy ever since.
Le projet d'irrigation de l'Office du Niger, situé dans le delta intérieur du Niger au Mali, est né d'une proposition très insuffisante mais grandiose conçue en 1920 par un ingénieur des Travaux Publics Coloniaux, Émile Bélime. Conçu à l'origine comme un moyen de transformer la Vallée du Niger en une vaste plantation de coton, et envisagé par la suite comme le grenier central de l'Afrique Occidentale, ce projet n'a jamais atteint qu'une petite partie de son potentiel agricole espéré. Sa réalisation et sa mise en exploitation on nécessité le déracinement par contrainte de dizaines de milliers d'Africains. Même après la deuxième guerre mondiale, le projet a absorbé encore une grande partie des revenus coloniaux, déjà limités, mais il n'a généré aucun revenu. Pendant l'entre-deux-guerres, l'Office du Niger a acqui petit à petit le statut de facto d'un état dans l'État, dirigé par Émile Bélime. En 1945, quand le projet a été finalement reconnu comme une échec sur le plan économique et humanitaire, les autorités coloniales ont essayé de corriger les erreurs les plus graves et lui ont accordé le nouveau statu de prototype pour d'autres projets d'assistance économique et technique aux régions sous-développées. En 1961, le Gouvernement du Mali, qui avait récemment accédé à l'indépendance, pensait en faire un projet pilote pour le développement agricole du pays. Sa réalisation détermine encore aujourd'hui la politique agricole du Mali. fr

Removed from its artistic origins in the French avant-garde during the interwar period, the European based group known as the situationist international is often represented as being solely occupied with politics to the exclusion of all else, particularly art and aesthetics. In what follows I argue that throughout the sixties the anti-aesthetic position was actually the governing model in France obliging the avant-garde to adjust their strategies accordingly. Artists and artists' collectives that placed politics before aesthetics were the norm, enjoying widespread popularity and recognition from both the public and the French State. These overtly partisan groups and individuals sapped art of the power it had enjoyed in the fifties as a venue removed, or at least distanced from, formal politics. In response, the situationists officially rejected the art world, turning to the popular and vernacular culture of the streets in an attempt to get beyond both classical aesthetic principals and the overt propagandistic objectives of groups such as le Salon de la jeunePeinture. Turning to the climactic moment of 1968 I track the ways in which these debates informed the posters and graffiti which marked the unfinished revolution, sorting out the various aesthetic positions and political persuasions that dominated the events. My thesis contends that the situationists were not anti-aesthetic, that they simply advocated a different kind of aesthetics: one that rejected traditional notions of beauty for the more active and open concept of poiesis or poetry. Beyond words on a page, this notion implied art as a way of life, emphasizing production, creation, formation and action and can be traced back to the groups prewar origins in the Dada and surrealist movements. Moreover, this concept of poetry was not adverse to issues of form being highly dependent on the materiality and physicality of the urban centre, specifically the streets. Finally my conclusion expands upon the similarities between this notion of poetry and the 17th century understanding of beauty, the latter concept being associated with a subtle criticality and strategic wit. It was this interpretation of beauty that defined and produced the art of 1968.

Defence date: 13 November 2015
Examining Board: Professor Dr. Dirk Moses (EUI/ Supervisor); Professor Doctor Laura Lee Downs (EUI/Second Reader); Professor Doctor Peter Romijn (University of Amsterdam); Professor Doctor Kevin Passmore (Cardiff University).
Thanks to the success of recent attempts to study fascism within an international or transnational framework, scholarship on the subject has broken free from its traditional national orientation. By now, the European or even global interconnectedness of the revolutionary right has clearly come to light. This is not necessarily true for the links between fascism and internationalist and Europeanist intellectual currents in interwar and post-war Europe. My thesis explores the political thought of Bertrand de Jouvenel and Alfred Fabre-Luce, two French intellectuals, journalists and political writers who are representative of this Europeanist avant-garde. I argue that their Europeanist ideas and international contacts played a major role in their 'drift' towards fascism during the 1930s, while they were seduced by a fascist vision of a united Europe during the Second World War. Paradoxically, these ideas also enabled them to gradually reintegrate with the political mainstream during the early post-war years. Jouvenel's post-war career as a leading neoliberal intellectual and founding member of the Mont Pèlerin society should, just like Fabre-Luce's continued involvement with the French extreme right, be seen within the light of continuity in their ideas about Europe, fascism and democracy, stretching from the turning of the 1930s well into the 1950s.

Defence date: 19 March 2004
Examining board: Prof. Alan Milward, IUE (supervisor) ; Prof. Marc Lazar, Inst. d'Etudes Politiques, Paris ; Prof. Silvio Pons, Università Tor Vergata ; Prof. Arfon Rees, IUE
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 2017

When analyzing the state of Latin American cities, particularly large ones like Buenos Aires, São Paolo and Riode Janeiro, scholars of urbanism and sociology often lean heavily on the term “fragmentation.” Through the 1980s and 1990s, the term was quickly and widely adopted to describe the widespread state of abutment between seemingly disparate urban conditions that purportedly prevented Latin American cities from developing into cohesive wholes and instead produced cities in pieces, fragments. This term, “fragmentation,” along with the idea of a city composed of mismatching parts, was central to the conception of Buenos Aires by its citizens and immortalized by the fiction of Esteban Echeverría, Julio Cortázar and César Aira. The idea that Buenos Aires is composed of discrete parts has been used throughout its history to either proactively enable or retroactively justify planning decisions by governments on both ends of the political spectrum. The 1950s and 60s saw a series of governments whose priorities lay in controlling the many newcomers to the city via large housing projects. Aided by the perception of the city as fragmented, they were able to build monster-scale developments in the parts of the city that were seen as “apart.” Later, as neoliberal democracy replaced socialist and populist leadership, commercial centers in the center of the city were built as shrines to an idealized Parisian downtown, separate from the rest of the city. The observations by scholars of the city that Buenos Aires is composed of multiple discrete parts, whether they be physical, economic or social, is accurate. However, the issue here lies not in the accuracy of the assessment but in the word chosen to describe it. The word fragmentation implies that there was a “whole” at once point, a complete entity that could be then broken into pieces, fragments. Its current usage also implies that this is a natural process, out of the hands of both planners and inhabitants. Leaning on the work of Adrián Gorelik, Pedro Pírez and Marie-France Prévôt-Schapira, and utilizing popular fiction to supplement an understanding of the urban experience, I argue that fragmentation, more than a naturally occurring phenomenon, is a fabricated concept that has been used throughout the twentieth century and through today to make all kinds of urban planning projects possible.