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This essay argues against a history of mathematics that celebrates a unique Greek 'outlier' in world history, while raising the question of the new type of histories of mathematics that we should write today. Taking examples from the history of mathematical sources in Sanskrit and histories of mathematics written in South Asia, this essay deconstructs some assumptions behind narratives of Greek and European exceptionalism. In particular, it challenges the notion that ancient Greece possessed a unique democratic culture that fostered scientific debate and that only Greece possessed brash authors able to challenge common sense. The essay provides a reflection on the political histories that European exceptionalism – in particular regarding mathematics – has directly or indirectly shaped. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a comparative study of city states in the Christian and Islamic spheres of the later medieval Mediterranean world, with a particular focus on Italy, Syria and al-Andalus. Medieval city states are not usually associated with the Islamic world, but rather with a narrative that has foregrounded the exceptional nature of European cities in world history, especially the famous city republics in Northern and Central Italy, and the role that city states played in the formation of European states. Yet city states were a phenomenon that could be observed across urbanized regions of the Mediterranean world where cities turned into important political arenas in the context of sustained political fragmentation. City states are best approached as political systems that were characterized by brittle regimes and experienced high levels of political volatility: they often lacked a clear boundary between the 'inside' and 'outside' of city states and were characterized by the multiple political organizations that crystallized in, and fought hard to control, urban political space. The most commonly shared type of political organization in city states was the urban lordship, but city-based lords usually found themselves in intense competition with elite-based collective associations, families and factions, and popular political organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Singapurs Bibliothekswesen erfreute sich besonders zu Beginn der 2000er Jahre großer internationaler Aufmerksamkeit. Grund dafür waren die tiefgreifenden Strukturveränderungen, die der Stadtstaat in seiner Bibliothekslandschaft durch die Verabschiedung eines umfangreichen Bibliotheksgesetzes, dem National Library Board Act, vornahm. Die Kombination aus zentraler staatlicher Verwaltung, gesetzlicher Verankerung, guter finanzieller Ausstattung und dem Bewusstsein über die Bedeutung einer hohen Kundenorientierung, machen Singapurs Bibliothekswesen heute besonders im Bereich der Öffentlichen Bibliotheken zu einem der Modernsten weltweit. Neben den Öffentlichen sollen aber auch die Wissenschaftliche Bibliotheken des Stadtstaats in diesem Beitrag betrachtet werden, um so einen vollumfänglichen Überblick über die Bibliothekslandschaft Singapurs zu geben. In the early 2000s, Singapore's libraries garnered international attention because of the far-reaching structural changes in the library system the city-state introduced by a comprehensive library bill, the National Library Board Act. A unique combination of central government administration, legal basis, excellent funding and high-profile customer focus makes Singapore's library system one of the most modern in the world to date, especially in the public libraries sector. The paper also looks at academic libraries to provide a full overview of Singapore's library landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Italian communes from 1300–1600 bought and sold numerous towns and castles from Crete (enfeoffed to Venice in 1205) to Arezzo (offered to Florence in 1384) to Tabarka (given as mortgage to a Genoese family in 1540). Despite the popularity of this custom, however, existing scholarship claims Renaissance cities expanded territorially through violent conquests that centralized government finances and promoted militant imperialist discourses. Drawing on case studies of the Florentine purchase of two cities — Lucca (1342) and Pisa (1405) — this article reveals how the buyers of Renaissance cities instead drew upon a vast, little-studied network of private creditors to pay for new lands. The vendibility of space, moreover, helped foster a commercialized ideology of empire. Diarists heralded their city's superior commerce. Civic leaders tied the good of their communes to keeping its honour and faith with city-sellers. And polemicists stained opponents with accusations of fraud while demoting cities such as Pisa and Lucca to mere merchandise. Buying cities thus allowed Renaissance merchant elites to demonstrate not only their city's superior material wealth, but also mercantile prowess — their ability to bargain for a good deal (buon mercato). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation of regional states started in Syria around the middle of the twenty-fifth century BC, and rivalry opposed one state against another already at the beginning of the following century. Mari defeated Abarsal (Tall Ḥuwēra), and Ebla payed tribute to Mari. Ebla then destroyed Abarsal and became an ally of Nagar (Tell Brāk) against Mari. Other four wars opposed Ebla to Mari: the first three were won by Ebla, the last was fateful to it. The documentation from Ebla comprehensively covers about forty years, a period that each power spent in war: either with its rival or its own revolting allies. This article follows year after year the wars of Ibrium during his eighteen years as minister of Ebla. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

City diplomacy is a fairly new topic in the study of diplomacy, and, many would argue, a fairly recent empirical phenomenon. A counterpoint to this could be to reference how the alleged origin of diplomacy in Greek antiquity was city-centered, as were the earliest forms of Renaissance diplomacy in Italy. In this essay we want to probe the connections between cities and diplomacy through problematizing what has counted as diplomacy. Our starting point is that cities have always mattered to what we could analytically refer to as diplomatic practice. Being conscious of the conceptual ambiguities, we are thus not starting from a specific definition of "city diplomacy," but from a conviction that cities have mattered and continue to matter to the practice of diplomacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of the Sheikdom of al-Zubayr is an essential aspect of Gulf history as it closely relates to significant events that have helped shape the region. Due to the relative lack of research into this important sheikhdom, this article makes a significant contribution to the historical narrative of al-Zubayr focusing on its links between its sister city states of Najd. This paper notably investigates the political relationship between al-Zubayr and the Najd city states of Harma and Huraymila. In doing so, the article shows how this sheikhdom, has been socially, culturally and politically shaped by the Najdi city states. Hence, the article argues that al-Zubayr also occupies a central position in the political and religious landscape of that time as it acted as a de facto refuge for many powerful Najdi clans during the rise of the Saudi/Wahhabi movement. Based on a review of several Arabic primary sources, it is shown how the Najdi city states' political conflicts were exported to the sheikhdom of al-Zubayr which witnessed a particularly violent political history shaped by the various conflicts between two main Najdi factions, Harma and Huraymila. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last 20 years have seen advances in the understanding of city-states, especially in ancient Greece, where textual information fuels new theories about institutions and the ancient economy. Archaeological research makes significant contributions with data comparable across multiple city-states on settlement patterns, urban and rural development, political and ritual activities, and other materializations of institutionalized behavior. Using a new corpus of 74 city-states from Oaxaca, Mexico, I show that city-states differ from one another in patterned ways, and I argue that this variation depends on internal factors such as the social mode of production and external factors including place in regional and interregional exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Difficulties reconciling Late Bronze Age archaeological remains in the southern Levant with the texts of the Amarna Age and preceding formative years of Late Bronze Age society have long been noted. At some prominent tell sites that according to the texts were major city-states, little to no settlement remains have been identified. Here we revisit this issue at Tel Lachish, showing on the basis of renewed radiocarbon dating that two previously exposed occupation layers should be re-assigned to this timeframe--one to the second half of the 15th century BCE, and the other predominantly to the first half of the 14th century BCE. These re-dated strata support the textual picture from Papyrus Hermitage 1116A and the Amarna Letters of a thriving town with which the Egyptians interacted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to explore the role that accounting systems effectively played in managing the internal relationships among the various administrative bodies of the Comune (City State) of Siena in the 14th century. This period was characterized by an ever increasing need to monitor economic activities, a need perceived by the Comune with regard to all those who were entrusted with the management of public funds. In particular, in 1358 an office was created specifically to review the accounts of the camarlenghi (who were in charge of the management of public funds) nominated by the Comune of Siena. The office was originally staffed by three temporary Riveditori (auditors) and later by a permanent commission of Regolatori (regulators). On the basis of archival sources, so abundant on 14th century Siena, this paper analyses the changing relationships among the various administrative bodies of the Comune, in particular detail the Gabella generale and the Biccherna (which were the offices in charge of managing the main cash inflows and outflows pertaining to the administration of the Comune) and the activities of the Regolatori. By interpreting accounting systems as a set of rules (i.e., the formalised statements of procedures), roles (the network of social positions), and routines (the practices habitually in use), the present study shows that, since the Middle Ages, accounting has played a central role in the management of internal interdependencies and in the construction of organisational order. In the case of the Comune in the 14th century, accounting practices were capable of regulating, legitimising and balancing relations of power, dependency and autonomy among the different bodies of the same organisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Singapore exemplifies what China strives for: resilient authoritarianism despite advanced development with good governance and political stability. But lessons Chinese observers draw from the Southeast Asian city-state have been selective, leading to misconceptions. We focus on three key areas in which Chinese observers claim inspiration from the "Singapore model." The first, Singapore's "Asian values" discourse which is seen to provide an ideological defense of non-democratic rule, overestimates the impact of top-down conservative culturalism while underestimating the difficulty of propagating Confucianism in officially still communist China. Second, while elections in Singapore are seen to bolster the ruling People Action Party's legitimacy in Singapore, they have been implemented to such a limited extent in China that any legitimation gain is unlikely. Finally, the chief lesson derived from Singapore's fight against corruption, the importance of a committed leadership, ignores the importance of the rule of law in Singapore, a legacy of colonialism very different from China's post-totalitarian trajectory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Five years ago, a new three volume edition of Eugen Rosenstock- Huessy (to translate) In the Cross of Reality: A Post-Goethean Sociology appeared in Germany. As with the two prior editions of the work (a one volume version in 1925, and a much revised and expanded two volume version 1956/8) it met with almost no critical response. This is perhaps not surprising - and it barely mentions any other sociologists, its approach is highly idiosyncratic, it is as much anthropology and history as it is sociology. Indeed, the second and third volumes mainly focus on the social formations of antiquity, and the role of Christianity and the messianic revolutions of the last millennium in creating a universal history. In this paper I take the relationship between speech, time and suffering as the key to Rosenstock-Huessy’s argument for why a theoretical grasp of Christianity as a social power is so important for social theory, and why he sees Sociology as a post-Christian form of knowledge. I also make the case for why Rosenstock-Huessy is an interesting and important social theorist.

If notarial offices in medieval Italian towns had not offered their dual services of commercial law contracts and family law documents on the same premises and in the homes of their clients, perhaps the cross-fertilization of ideas that created the instruments of trade sustaining Europe’s emerging market economy would not have followed. Italian traders carried the contracts that undergirded long-distance trade across Europe and the Mediterranean Sea leaving a singular mark on economic development. Corresponding effects on families who were involved in trade were dramatic, if unintended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Central Asian city of Shahrisabz has long been a historical footnote, widely regarded as an unruly “province in rebellion” plaguing its more powerful overlords in Bukhara during the seventeenth through late nineteenth centuries. In fact, it was an autonomous city-state in its own right, and the mechanisms through which it has been written into submission in the historiography reveal much about historical methodology and premodern logics of sovereignty. To recover Shahrisabz’s story, this article pursues a non-hegemonic reading of hegemonic Persian writing (a strategy more frequently applied to colonial sources) and pieces together scattered textual fragments composed in the city itself. In doing so, it illustrates the ways in which variegated forms of symbolic submission and coercive power intersected to create complexes not easily mappable to modern binaries. Seemingly contradictory forms of sovereignty routinely coexisted within a single polity, and greater specificity is necessary to capture a kaleidoscope of permutations. Thus source methodology and sovereignty stand as two conceptual domains intrinsically intertwined, with insights into the latter possible only with careful attention to the former. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a reassessment of the Bibliotheca Mexicana controversy (ca. 1745-1755), a key moment in the development of "creole patriotism" asmost famously articulated by David A. Brading in The First America: The Spanish Monarchy, Creole Patriots, and the Liberal State 1492-1867 (1991). Through a rereading of the original sources and a reconstruction of the historiographical origins of creole patriotism in German existentialism, the article argues that the identity of the New World protagonists in the controversy had little to do with either creolism or protonationalist patriotism. These creole and peninsular "Mexicans" (Mexicani) certainly felt pride in their flourishing urban center of Mexico City and its dependent territories. However, this patria was analogous to early modern city-states, like the Duchy of Milan, rather than to modern nation-states, like Mexico. This local identity was also entirely compatible with a strong loyalty to the Hispanic Monarchy, a larger pan-Hispanic caste identity, and a sense of membership in the Catholic Republic of Letters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is the evaluation in the practice of risk assessment for city-states. The Pressure-State-Response (PSR) model was applied to the establishment of an environmental risk assessment indicator system. Environmental risk index (ERI) and each subsystem index were calculated through an analytic hierarchy process. It takes the municipal solid waste (MSW) in Macao as a case study to execute. The risk grading and the potential risk for the MSW in Macao were determined. The results showed that the ERI of the Macao's MSW remained at a medium level (Level III, 0.4–0.6) from 2000 to 2015, respectively, and increased gradually. Meanwhile, the future trend of the environmental risk of the MSW was predicted for Macao and the causes were analyzed. The environmental risk of the MSW in 2019 will achieve a high level (Level IV, 0.6–0.8), and the environment risk in 2041 will achieve an extremely high level (>0.8). For the first time, the research applied to the PSR model into the environmental risk assessment of MSW, this method is reasonable and feasible. Further research can provide a scientific basis for risk prevention management in city-states and can be of reference for other urbanized areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution argues, first, that pre-national forms of state were not displaced or supplanted by a new, national form. What we call the nation-state was not the successor to imperial or city-states but was itself a form of the European imperial city-states that had driven the expansion of capitalism in previous centuries. It argues, second, that national states emerged only after 1945 and only in a handful of states where, through welfare reforms and market and industry regulation, investment and production were made to serve the expansion and integration of national markets. Third, with the dismantling of Keynesian policies in these states, pre-national (pre-Keynesian) structures are resurfacing. What scholars describe as the emergence of ‘post-national spatialities’ and of ‘global cities’ and city regions represents the resurgence of a durable and historically dominant form of state: the imperial city-state form. The ‘re-scaling’ of nationstates and growing prominence of ‘global cities’ and ‘city regions’ are heralding the end of the brief history of actually existing nation-states and the re-deployment of the imperial city-state model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars often view the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries as a period of general urban decline, when territorial rulers imposed their political agendas on smaller state actors such as city-states in ever more authoritative ways. Such a view is especially prevalent in studies based in the Holy Roman Empire. It forms part of a larger approach to studying the course of state formation that focuses too much on the building of internal bureaucratic institutions and not enough on the importance of interactions between state actors. Studies that examine the relationship between warfare and state formation in particular downplay the importance of city-states, arguing that the costs of war served as a prime vehicle for princely states to marginalize city-states during the Reformation era. This article re-evaluates this paradigm of urban decline through the comparative study of corporate alliances, formal cooperative associations between princely states and city-states. Specifically, it examines the fallout surrounding two conflicts between princes and city-states within the Schmalkaldic League and the Protestant Union. Controversies over the use of alliance military forces within these leagues reveal that rather than decline in the decades leading up to the Thirty Years War, urban influence within leagues increased over time because of the dynamics of war. This conclusion challenges the narratives of territoriality and urban decline that dominate much of the political history covering the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Ultimately, it presents a new way to understand the relationship between city-states, princely states, warfare, and the course of state formation in the Reformation-era Holy Roman Empire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying changes in the spatial structure of cities is a prerequisite for the development and validation of adequate planning strategies. Nevertheless, current methods of measurement are becoming ever more challenged by the highly diverse and intertwined ways of how people actually make use of urban space. Here, we propose a new quantitative measure for the centrality of locations, taking into account not only the numbers of people attracted to different locations, but also the diversity of the activities they are engaged in. This ‘centrality index’ allows for the identification of functional urban centres and for a systematic tracking of their relative importance over time, thus contributing to our understanding of polycentricity. We demonstrate the proposed index using travel survey data in Singapore for different years between 1997 and 2012. It is shown that, on the one hand, the city-state has been developing rapidly towards a polycentric urban form that compares rather closely with the official urban development plan. On the other hand, however, the downtown core has strongly gained in its importance, and this can be partly attributed to the recent extension of the public transit system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]