Deviance, Crime and Madness in Modern Europe

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Historiography of deviance, crime, and madness in Europe from the late-18th century to the present. HIST 524 Deviance, Crime and Madness in Modern Europe (3) Historians and social scientists have shown that societies have persistently established certain standards and ideals for human conduct and being. At the same time, the natural variation in human phenotypes has meant that individual, groups, and institutions within these societies have been faced with those deviating from these norms. The deviations may sometimes present themselves physically (e.g., in the form of a somatic lesion or disability), intrapersonally (e.g., in eccentric thinking or affect), or interpersonally (e.g., in criminal or anti-social conduct). As historians, anthropologists, and other have demonstrated, while there are noteworthy continuities in how these deviations have often been manifested (e.g., seizures accompanying epilepsy), there have been considerable differences across time and place in how deviance has been expressed, perceived, understood, and handled. This seminar examines this constellation of problems as they have emerged in Europe since the 18th century. Posing, as they do, complex human problems, the historical study of deviance, crime, and madness requires paying attention to the scholarly contributions of multiple disciplines beyond the field of history. Thus, the course will attend to both social theory and historiography. Each week, readings from social theory will be paired with a historical work, in order to bring broad theoretical analysis and empirical disciplinary research more deliberately into conversation with one another. Some examples of the course readings include Emile Durkheim's On Suicide, Erving Goffman's Stigma: Notes on the Management of a Spoiled Identity, Janet Oppenheim's "Shattered Nerves: Doctors, Patients, and Depression in Victorian England," Norbert Elias' The Civilizing Process, Reviel Netz's Barbed Wire: An Ecology of Modernity, and Jan Gross' Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland. Weekly topics will center on key social processes and prominent conceptual frameworks: social control, self-control, marginalization, pathologization, criminalization and de-criminalization, representation, punishment, extermination, and enhancement. Students will be required to write an interdisciplinary research paper (i.e., a paper accessible to multiple scholarly audiences), calling on both theoretical and empirical scholarship from various disciplines. The course will culminate in a seminar conference in which students will present their research and field questions and comments.