Muriel Blaive: Pandemic Power. The Covid Response and the Erosion of Democracy—A Liberal Critique

 Muriel Blaive: Pandemic Power. The Covid Response and the Erosion of Democracy—A Liberal Critique. Budapest: CEU Press 2025. ISBN: 978-963-386-933-8

Open access: https://ceupress.com/sites/ceupress.ceu.edu/files/pandemicpower.pdf

Pandemic Power offers a bold and thought-provoking exploration of how the global response to the Covid pandemic has reshaped our understanding of science, freedom, and democracy. This meticulously researched book examines the political, social, and intellectual shifts that have accompanied lockdowns, censorship, and the instrumentalization of fear, delivering a searing critique of the policies and narratives that defined the Covid era.

From past public health scandals to the rise of “digital authoritarianism,” Blaive investigates the dangers of unchecked authority, the troubling role of the media, and the ethical failures of policymakers and public health leaders. Through her in-depth analysis, the author explores critical issues such as surveillance and censorship, the disproportionate impact of lockdowns on the poor and disadvantaged, the capture of public health by the pharmaceutical industry, and the erosion of the rule of law under the guise of public safety. Lastly, this book questions the liberal left’s troubling support for authoritarian practices and its apparent indifference to the aggravation of socio-economic inequalities resulting from the pandemic response it championed.

Provocative, insightful, and deeply relevant, Pandemic Power is essential reading for anyone seeking to gain insight into not only how the Covid response has eroded democracy but also how it has contributed to the rise of the extreme right in many countries.

Marie Škarpová et al. (eds.) Příhodnější spojení není možné - Vzájemná korespondence Antonína Škárky a Dmytra Čyževského (1939–1972) [There is no more convenient connection - Mutual correspondence of Antonín Škárka and Dmytro Čyževský (1939-1972)].

 Marie Škarpová et al. (eds.) Příhodnější spojení není možné - Vzájemná korespondence Antonína Škárky a Dmytra Čyževského (1939–1972) [There is no more convenient connection - Mutual correspondence of Antonín Škárka and Dmytro Čyževský (1939-1972)]. Praha: Filosofia 2025. ISBN: 978-80-7007-779-5

Svazek je kritickou edicí veškeré vzájemné odborné korespondence českého filologa a literárního historika Antonína Škarky (1906-1972) a filozofa a komparatisty ukrajinsko-ruského původu Dmytra Čyževského (1894-1977), která se dochovala z let 1939-1972 a čítá přes 80 korespondenčních jednotek.

Vedle standardního edičního aparátu kniha obsahuje úvodní studii, jež poukazuje na jedinečnost editované korespondence, svědčící mj. o tom, že oba bohemisté, žijící po většinu svého života v rozdílných částech politicky rozdělené Evropy, dokázali navzdory nemožnosti osobního setkávání právě v korespondenci navázat a dlouhodobě rozvíjet intenzivní a plodnou spolupráci, která nakonec ve druhé polovině 60. let 20. století vyústila až v konstituování unikátního vědecko-vydavatelského týmu napříč železnou oponou. Korespondence tak podává jedinečné informace o principech fungování odborné komunikace přes železnou oponu i o dobových problémech a limitech provozu humanitních věd na obou jejích stranách.Anotace

EUI Summer School in: Environmental History: European and Global Perspectives

 EUI Summer School in: Environmental History: European and Global Perspectives

Programme Description

The Summer School will take place online from  17th of September  to the 19th of September 2025

For a long time environmental history was a relatively small and specialized field of historical research. Most historians interested in political, social, economic, or cultural issues did not incorporate the natural world into their accounts, nor did they consider environmental histories relevant to their own work. Growing concern about climate change and discussions about the notion of the Anthropocene have changed this situation dramatically. In recent years, environmental history has become a very popular field, with many historians from other backgrounds drawing on its findings and adapting their research agendas to include environmental questions.

In this summer school, we intend to provide participants with ideas on how environmental history can be brought into conversation with research on European and global history in the early modern and modern periods. Given the History Department’s expertise in these fields, we aim to highlight the opportunities to be gained from engaging with environmental history as a transversal approach. For example, we will investigate the ways in which European encounters with the early modern world can benefit from studying how notions of ‘exotic’ nature informed (or misinformed) colonial policies and approaches. We will study the role and perception of natural resources in mid-twentieth century international discussions about global trade and economic policies. Furthermore, we will analyze the history of transregional and transnational environmental protection efforts and their contributions to the emergence of a sense of planetary responsibility and international climate governance efforts.

Contributions by leading environmental historians will be combined with hands-on research opportunities. Participants will have the chance to work with digital visual sources related to environmental themes housed in the Historical Archives of the European Union. They will also be able to present their own research projects and receive feedback from their peers.Programme Description

More: https://www.eui.eu/apply?id=summer-school-in-global-and-transnational-history

Acta Poloniae Historica, Volume 130: Time and the Modern World. Standardisation, Globalisation, Privacy

New issue of Acta Poloniae Historica, devoted to the issue of time standardisation/globalisation/management in the 19th century, is out. All contributions are English, Open acess.

URL: https://www.aph-ihpan.edu.pl/en/volume-130

Contents

Table of contents

Małgorzata Litwinowicz-Droździel, Introduction: Time and the Modern World. Standardisation, Globalisation, Privacy

Błażej Brzostek, Personal Watches in Warsaw, 1890–1914: Social Meanings

Alicja Maślak-Maciejewska, Sabbath and Sunday, Passover and Easter, Judaism in the Afternoon: Jewish Time in the Galician Public School

Augusto Petter, The Imperial Meteor: Time and Velocity in Pedro II’s Journey of 1876–7

Agata Łuksza, Time in Service of Orientalism: The Case of Polish Japanomania at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

Katarzyna Ryszewska, Time in Polish Prehistoric Archaeology in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century

Małgorzata Litwinowicz-Droździel, Colonisation of the Future, the Time of the Émigré, the History of the Earth: Ignacy Domeyko’s Moje Podróże [My Travels]

Reviews

Reviews

Serhiy Bilenky, Laboratory of Modernity: Ukraine between Empire and Nation, 1772–1914 – Fabian Baumann;

Frank Rochow, Architektur und Staatsbildung. Festungsbauten als Instrument habsburgischer Herrschaft in Krakau und Lemberg – Aleksander Łupienko;

Raluca Goleşteanu-Jacobs, Habsburg Galicia and the Romanian Kingdom. Sociocultural Development, 1866–1914 – Konrad Meus;

Natasha Wheatley, The Life & Death of States: Central Europe & the Transformation of Modern Sovereignty – Piotr Kuligowski

Jędrzej Garnek, Adrianna Smolińska (eds.): Matematyka dawnych matur [Mathematics in Historical Final Exams].

Jędrzej Garnek, Adrianna Smolińska (eds.): Matematyka dawnych matur [Mathematics in Historical Final Exams]. Poznań: Archiwum Państwowe w Poznaniu 2024. ISBN: 978-83-963138-8-1

Open access: https://poznan.ap.gov.pl/matematyka-dawnych-matur-nowa-publikacja/

W 2023 r. dr Marek Szczepaniak, ówczesny kierownik Oddziału w Gnieźnie wyszedł z pomysłem zwrócenia uwagi na wartość dokumentacji archiwalnej dla grupy odbiorców niekoniecznie związanej z archiwami – dla matematyków. Postanowił on zaprezentować znajdujące się w zasobie archiwum materiały dotyczące maturalnych zadań matematycznych, z którymi zmagali się uczniowie liceum w Gnieźnie i Trzemesznie pod zaborami – w XIX i na początku XX wieku.

Początkowo dr Szczepaniak zwrócił się do nauczycieli matematyki z wielkopolskich szkół, którzy zredagowali oryginalne prace uczniów i ich rozwiązania. Następnie studenci zrzeszeni w Kole Naukowym Matematyków UAM, pod kierunkiem merytorycznym pracowników Wydziału Matematyki oraz Uniwersytetu WSB Merito w Poznaniu, opracowali zadania i ich rozwiązania w nowoczesnym języku matematycznym. Redakcją zajęli się Adrianna Smolińska oraz dr Jędrzej Garnek. Efektem ich pracy jest publikacja “Matematyka dawnych matur”, wydana przez Archiwum Państwowe w Poznaniu.

Oprócz formy książkowej, jest ona dostępna elektronicznie w otwartym dostępie. Książka przeznaczona jest dla nauczycieli matematyki, uczniów zainteresowanych Królową Nauk, a także dla wszystkich osób, które zastanawiają się, czy zdałyby maturę z dawnych czasów. Oprócz zadań znaleźć w niej można również ciekawostki historyczne o abiturientach, którzy później odegrali ważne role w historii regionu, a także omówienie ówczesnego systemu maturalnego.

History of science and technology (Kyiv) Volume 14 No. 2 (2024) is online

 History of science and technology (Kyiv) Volume 14 No. 2 (2024) is online (open access). English with Ukrainian abstracts.

URL: https://www.hst-journal.com/index.php/hst/issue/view/24

CONTENTS

EDITORIAL

Oleh Strelko, Oleh Pylypchuk, Yuliia Berdnychenko

PREFACE......................................................................................301

HISTORY OF SCIENCE

Anton Ivashchuk: French  language  instruction  in  Galicia  (1867–1939):  Analysis  of  curricula, programs, and methodologies............................................................305

Olha Kravchenko, Olga Shkurenko, Svitlana Bonіar, Svitlana Shuliarenko: Planning paradigms throughout economic history....................................332

Zhanar Mukhangaliyeva, Akkaiyn Balykova, Zhanna Mazhitova: Ukrainian scientists at the Tselinograd State Medical Institute: Contribution to education and science (1960s)............................................................. 350

Natalya Pasichnyk, Renat Rizhniak, Нanna Deforzh: Natural  and  mathematical  publications  of  the  Dnipro  region  at  the  end  of  the 19th–beginning of the 20th century: Establishment of educational technology as a science.................................................................................374

Marina Petrushko, Volodymyr Piniaiev, Taisiia Yurchuk: The history of cryotechnologies in reproductive medicine: From randomness to stability .......................................................................................401

Oksana Pylypchuk, Oleh Strelko: Karl Popper's "Critical Rationalism": The way to freedom and democracy......419

Vivi Sandra Sari, Mayca Sita Nurdiana: Foundations of ophthalmology  in  Dutch  East  Indies:  A  look  at distribution of early ophthalmology medical facilities (1900‒1942) .................................436

HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY

Ihor Annienkov: Work  at  the  Kharkiv  Electromechanical  and  Turbo-Generator  Plant  on  the project of electromagnetic torpedo tubes (1936–1938) ...............................465

Artemii  Bernatskyi,  Volodymyr  Lukashenko,  Oleksandr  Siora,  Mykola Sokolovskyi: Analysis of the application of lasers for counter-UAV purposes....................487

Liudmyla  Vaniuha,  Mariia  Kyreia,  Natalia  Lemishka, Olena  Spolska, Iryna Patron: History  of  the  evolution of  cinema  in  the  context  of  considering  the  stages  of development of science and technology. The first steps to the birth of cinema.....513

Volodymyr Yanin, Oleksiy Petruchenko: Academician of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences Petro Mykhaylovych Suprunenko: Life and activity............................................................539