Steven Pincus

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Steven Pincus is the Thomas E. Donnelly Professor of British History at the University of Chicago, where he specializes in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century British and European history.

Contents

Education and career

In 1990, Pincus received a PhD in history from Harvard University. He is a prominent scholar of Early Modern British history, [1] and his work has focused on the 17th century, in particular the Glorious Revolution and English foreign policy. His book 1688: The First Modern Revolution has been praised as providing "a new understanding of the origins of the modern, liberal state." [2] The Economist named it as one of the best books on history published in 2009. [3] Professor Mark Knights called it "brilliant and provocative," for Pincus argues the revolution of 1688 was the first modern revolution. 1688 was violent and divisive; it represented not a coup or invasion but a popular rejection of the king's absolutist modernisation based on the French Catholic model. The Revolution, Pincus argues, expressed an Anglo-Dutch emphasis on consent of the governed, toleration of different forms of Protestantism, free debate and free commerce. [4] Other reviews were more negative, however. Professor Grant Tapsell of Oxford University said it was "fundamentally flawed in three ways: the argument is most implausible where it is most novel; the evidence used to make the argument is mishandled; and much of the book involves reinventing the wheel due to a bizarrely patchy engagement with existing popular culture." [5]

Pincus has proposed a theory of revolution that is based on opposing forces of modernization. In his telling, revolutions occur when a state embarks on a strong modernization program, and as a result of the state's attempts to modernize, divergent revolutionary forces form in order to provide alternative routes towards modernization. [6] In contrast to most theories that seek to explain the origins of revolutions, Pincus argues that "state modernization is a necessary prerequisite to revolution" [6] because state modernization "necessarily brings a huge swath of people into contact with the state" [6] which "encourages those for whom national politics was previously distant and largely unimportant to care deeply about the state's ideological and political direction." [6] Additionally, Pincus argues that, in order to implement their programs of reform, modernizing states "have to proclaim and explain their new direction" [6] to these "new publics." [6] By dramatically expanding the reach of the state and creating an ideological justification for this expansion, Pincus claims that modernizing states enable revolutions to take shape where no revolution could have previously formed.

Pincus has argued that the British Empire should be understood as a "global actor" with "partisan politics that spanned the empire" rather than a set of distinct regions. [7]

In March 2010 he delivered the Sir John Neale lecture at University College London. He was in Oxford for the 2010–2011 academic year working on the origins of the British Empire.

Family

Pincus is married to Susan Stokes and has three sons (David, Andrew, and Sam).

Titles and positions

Selected works

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glorious Revolution</span> British revolution of 1688

The Glorious Revolution is the term first used in 1689 to summarise events leading to the deposition of James II and VII of England, Ireland and Scotland in November 1688, and his replacement by his daughter Mary II and her husband and James's nephew William III of Orange, de facto ruler of the Dutch Republic. Known as the Glorieuze Overtocht or Glorious Crossing in the Netherlands, it has been described both as the last successful invasion of England as well as an internal coup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacobitism</span> 17/18th-century British political ideology supporting the restoration of the House of Stuart

Jacobitism was a political movement that supported the restoration of the senior line of the House of Stuart to the British throne. The name derives from the first name of James II and VII, which in Latin translates as Jacobus. When James went into exile after the November 1688 Glorious Revolution, the Parliament of England argued that he had abandoned the English throne, which they offered to his Protestant daughter Mary II, and her husband William III. In April, the Scottish Convention held that he "forfeited" the throne of Scotland by his actions, listed in the Articles of Grievances.

Republicanism is a political ideology centred on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasizes the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It has had different definitions and interpretations which vary significantly based on historical context and methodological approach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English Revolution</span> Term used by historians to describe various 17th-century episodes in English history

The English Revolution is a term that describes two separate events in English history. Prior to the 20th century, it was generally applied to the 1688 Glorious Revolution, when James II was deposed and a constitutional monarchy established under William III and Mary II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G. M. Trevelyan</span> British academic

George Macaulay Trevelyan was a British historian and academic. He was a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1898 to 1903. He then spent more than twenty years as a full-time author. He returned to the University of Cambridge and was Regius Professor of History from 1927 to 1943. He served as Master of Trinity College from 1940 to 1951. In retirement, he was Chancellor of Durham University.

Early modern Britain is the history of the island of Great Britain roughly corresponding to the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Major historical events in early modern British history include numerous wars, especially with France, along with the English Renaissance, the English Reformation and Scottish Reformation, the English Civil War, the Restoration of Charles II, the Glorious Revolution, the Treaty of Union, the Scottish Enlightenment and the formation and the collapse of the First British Empire.

The Radical Whigs were a group of British political commentators associated with the British Whig faction who were at the forefront of the Radical movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whiggism</span> Political philosophy

Whiggism is a political philosophy that grew out of the Parliamentarian faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1639–1651). The Whigs' key policy positions were the supremacy of Parliament, tolerance of Protestant dissenters, and opposition to a "Papist" on the throne, especially James II or one of his descendants. It is associated with early conservative liberalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Declaration of Right, 1689</span> English constitutional document

The Declaration of Right, or Declaration of Rights, is a document produced by the English Parliament, following the 1688 Glorious Revolution. It sets out the wrongs committed by the exiled James II, the rights of English citizens, and the obligation of their monarch.

Jonathan Charles Douglas Clark is a British historian of both British and American history. He received his undergraduate degree at Downing College, Cambridge. Having previously held posts at Peterhouse, Cambridge and All Souls College, Oxford into 1996, he has since held the Joyce C. and Elizabeth Ann Hall Distinguished Professorship of British History at the University of Kansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James II of England</span> British monarch from 1685 to 1688

James II was King of England and King of Ireland, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. He was the last Catholic monarch of England, Scotland and Ireland. His reign is now remembered primarily for conflicts over religious tolerance, but it also involved struggles over the principles of absolutism and the divine right of kings. His deposition ended a century of political and civil strife in England by confirming the primacy of the English Parliament over the Crown.

Jonathan Irvine Israel is a British writer and academic specialising in Dutch history, the Age of Enlightenment and European Jews. Israel was appointed as Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, in January 2001 and retired in July 2016. He was previously Professor of Dutch History and Institutions at the University College London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rise of nationalism in Europe</span> Part of the history of Europe

The rise of nationalism in Europe was stimulated by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. American political science professor Leon Baradat has argued that “nationalism calls on people to identify with the interests of their national group and to support the creation of a state – a nation-state – to support those interests.” Nationalism was the ideological impetus that, in a few decades, transformed Europe. Rule by monarchies and foreign control of territory was replaced by self-determination and newly formed national governments. Some countries, such as Germany and Italy were formed by uniting various regional states with a common "national identity". Others, such as Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Poland were formed by uprisings against the Ottoman or Russian Empires. Romania is a special case, formed by the unification of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859 and later gaining independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1878.

Liberalism, the belief in freedom, equality, democracy and human rights, is historically associated with thinkers such as John Locke and Montesquieu, and with constitutionally limiting the power of the monarch, affirming parliamentary supremacy, passing the Bill of Rights and establishing the principle of "consent of the governed". The 1776 Declaration of Independence of the United States founded the nascent republic on liberal principles without the encumbrance of hereditary aristocracy—the declaration stated that "all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among these life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". A few years later, the French Revolution overthrew the hereditary aristocracy, with the slogan "liberty, equality, fraternity" and was the first state in history to grant universal male suffrage. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, first codified in 1789 in France, is a foundational document of both liberalism and human rights, itself based on the U.S. Declaration of Independence written in 1776. The intellectual progress of the Enlightenment, which questioned old traditions about societies and governments, eventually coalesced into powerful revolutionary movements that toppled what the French called the Ancien Régime, the belief in absolute monarchy and established religion, especially in Europe, Latin America and North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuart period</span> Period in British history

The Stuart period of British history lasted from 1603 to 1714 during the dynasty of the House of Stuart. The period ended with the death of Queen Anne and the accession of King George I from the German House of Hanover.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toleration Act 1688</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Toleration Act 1688, also referred to as the Act of Toleration, was an Act of the Parliament of England. Passed in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution, it received royal assent on 24 May 1689.

Timothy J. G. Harris is an historian of Later Stuart Britain.

The ancient constitution of England was a 17th-century political theory about the common law, and the antiquity of the House of Commons, used at the time in particular to oppose the royal prerogative. It was developed initially by Sir Edward Coke, in his law reports; and has been analysed in modern times by J. G. A. Pocock in The Ancient Constitution and the Feudal Law. This is not to be conflated with Bancroft-Prize-winner Mary Sarah Bilder's "transatlantic constitution."

The historiography of the United Kingdom includes the historical and archival research and writing on the history of the United Kingdom, Great Britain, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. For studies of the overseas empire see historiography of the British Empire.

John Miller is a British historian of the seventeenth century. He was a professor at Queen Mary University of London.

References

  1. "How England Became Modern - A Revolutionary View". The New York Review of Books . 19 November 2009. Archived from the original on 3 November 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  2. "England's Revolution". The Economist . 15 October 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  3. "Books of the Year: Page-turners". The Economist. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  4. Mark Knights, review of 1688: The First Modern Revolution, (review no. 884) online; Date accessed: 2 July 2012
  5. Tapsell, Grant. “NOT SO REVOLUTIONARY.” The Review of Politics, vol. 72, no. 4, 2010, pp. 717–723. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40961150. Accessed 12 June 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pincus, Steve (2009). 1688: The First Modern Revolution. Yale University Press. p. 39. ISBN   9780300171433.
  7. Pincus, Steven; Bains, Tiraana; Zuercher Reichardt, A. (2019). "Thinking the empire whole". History Australia. 16 (4): 610–637. doi:10.1080/14490854.2019.1670692. S2CID   213899229.