History

The elite archetypal duel is the focus of a rich historiography and its presence in literature and, for popular culture, a plethora of period dramas, evidences its continuing importance. In contrast, plebeian violence is often associated with ‘criminal’ intent or mob violence. It is synonymous with chaos and destruction, viciously fulfilling the fears of early modern elites in its manifestation of ‘the many headed monster’. There has been little recognition of structure in plebeian violence and fighting customs. Those that are acknowledged are often presumed to have derived via a ‘trickle down’ effect from elite culture, in particular from that of the modern duel. Such assumptions do not take into account the subtleties of plebeian fighting rituals or give sufficient credit to plebeian culture in developing and maintaining its own fighting customs.  To date, the focus on fighting rituals has promoted a dichotomy in perceptions of elite and plebeian fighting custom whereby the former is noted for its order, honour and ritual and the latter for chaos and violence. Yet the ability to control temper and violence in such situations was one that was esteemed in constructions of plebeian masculinity. Indeed, plebeian fighting rituals served to control levels of violence while providing a framework for dispute resolution. Unlike the elite duel, the plebeian honour fight was not adversarial to society but functioned within it, earning a tacit approval from authorities. This paper seeks to redress the balance in opinions of elite and plebeian violence by identifying the originality of plebeian fighting rituals while outlining its usefulness as a social utility for dispute resolution.

... 8 See M. Mazher Idriss 'Religion and the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001' Criminal Law Review (2002) 890. ... 11 Select Committee on Religious Offences in England and Wales, Volume I (2003). 352 DAVID NASH AND CHARA BAKALIS Page 5. ...

This article examines both recent scholarship in the field of Victorian religion and conviction alongside new research on secularization that have cast doubt on an older historical narrative about the ‘crisis of faith’ and the ‘triumph’ of the secular. My discussion challenges the emergence of an alternative narrative of crisis that focuses on the ‘crisis of doubt’ rather than the

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Millennialism is traditionally defined by reference or resistance to Christianity. What has remained unappreciated is how enduring the notion of a millennium and millennialism has been to aspects of secular culture. Drawing upon the history of secularism and humanism, this article provides a critique of British and western European attempts to construct secular millennia. It is argued that secular millennialism has found itself under threat at the end of the century from various species of anti-rationalism expressed by critics including Michel Foucault, Edward Said, and some feminists. Resistance to rationalism and secularism manifests itself through popular culture, including the novels of Umberto Eco, rejuvenated religiosity, and theories inspired by postmodernism. The eclipse of rationalism opens up the spectre of a secular apocalypse with no rapture or redemption.

ABSTRACT This article examines the comparatively neglected history and historiography of blasphemy relating this to wider histories of sin, crime and criminality. It charts the history of the subject and identifies significant epochs of change altering the crime’s character in Europe and America over the last four hundred years. This history is then related to the chief paradigms associated with crime and violence, those proposed by Michel Foucault and Norbert Elias, noting the comparative strength and weaknesses of these two approaches. . The article suggests that blasphemy occurred as either a 'passive' or 'active' entity. The former was characteristic of late medieval and early modern states where the harm caused by blasphemy was visited upon the whole community and this entity was responsible for seeking restitution and redress. After the enlightenment and the rise of liberal regimes of rights this was replaced by ‘active’ blasphemy which henceforth required individuals to demonstrate the actual harm they had experienced. The article concludes that the dangerous fissures in multiculturalism and the vanishing confidence of liberal states is arguably rejuvenating the model of "passive" blasphemy.

Foreword Xavier Rousseau Introduction Judith Rowbotham, Marianna Muravyeva and David Nash Part I: Theorizing Shame 1. 'Verguenza, Vergogne, Schande, Skam and Sram': Litigating for Shame and Dishonour in Early Modern Europe Marianna Muravyeva 2. 'Fama,' Shame Punishment, and History of Justice in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries Antonella Bettoni 3. Towards an Agenda for the Wider Study of Shame: Theorizing for Nineteenth Century British Evidence David Nash Part II: Rethinking Blame 4. The Shifting Nature of Blame: Revisiting Issues of Blame, Shame and Culpability in the English Criminal Justice System Judith Rowbotham 5. Guilty Before the Fact? The Deviant Body and the Chimera of 'Precrime,' 1877-1939 Neil Davie 6. The 'Convict Stain': Desistence in the Penal Colony Barry Godfrey Part III: Issues of Authority: Culpability and the Civilizing Imperative 7. Penance, Compensation, Terror: The Theory and Practice of Captial Punishment in Early Modern France, Paul Friedland 8. Hurt, Harm and Humiliation: Community Responses to Deviant Behaviour in Early Modern Scotland, Anne-Marie Kilday 9. Violence against Honor: Shame and the Crime of Rape in the Age of the Greek Revolution, 1821-1828 Katerini Mousadakou 10. 'Treat them According to the European Tradition': The Discourse of Blaming the Poor, the Problem of Professional Beggars and Attitudes to Poverty in Modern Russia, Julia Barlova 11. Shaming Punishments of Women in Russia in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries Natalia Pushkareva 12. Insulting the Russian Royal Family: Crime, Blame and its Sources Boris Kolonitskij 13. Crime and Culpability in the Community, the Newspapers and the Courts: The Case of the Feuding Society of Crete (Greece) Aris Tsantiropoulos General Bibliography