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In Vienna after WWI and Berlin after WWII, the provision of mass housing was not only a response to a dire social need, but also served as a key lever for building socialism and liberalism. Zooming into the interplay between ideologies and the production of space, this book shows that ideologies are never simply 'written' into space, but that their meaning is made and re-made, negotiated and contested, and sometimes cunningly subverted in and through space. How people live was and continues to be a profoundly political question that involves negotiations of and decisions on norms and ideals of citizenship, freedom, equality, property, democracy, family life, and gender relations – negotiations and decisions comes with legacies

AbstractSince the mid‐19th century, there have been concerns in England about suboptimal outcomes for care leavers. This paper draws on original data from case files of children who were admitted to the Children's Society between 1887 and 1894, and a contemporary study of outcomes for girls who had been brought up in Poor Law district schools, to explore the basis for these concerns. Widespread destitution in the community meant that many children in care were better fed, clothed and educated than their contemporaries. However, those who left the Poor Law schools were singularly ill prepared for independence, and the much vaunted training offered by the voluntary societies did not prepare children to enter occupations that would provide stable or well‐paid employment. Emerging understanding of the needs of care leavers for continuing support and protection was translated into policies and practices that continue to be relevant a hundred years later. However, factors that shaped the experiences of 19th century care leavers, such as short‐term financial considerations which led to compressed and accelerated transitions, and the principle of less eligibility, still tend to conflict with attempts to ensure that their needs are adequately met today.

Late 19th century novels provide graphic descriptions of working and living conditions and their impact on population health, in particular the detrimental effects of hunger, poor housing, environmental conditions, hazardous work and poor pay, smoking and alcohol and crime, but also the transformative possibilities of social and political action. The popularity of these novels helped raise the collective conscience of citizens and illuminated the direction for 20th century welfare reforms. Yet many of these problems remain and the pathways to and from poverty are still recognisable today. Although novels are now less central in conveying social information, re‐reading these novels enables us to understand how social and economic circumstances were understood at the time and what led to social and political change.

AbstractLate 19th‐century feminist utopian fiction provides empowering examples of societies governed by women. However, these imaginary societies only exist through radical changes to women's reproductive roles. At the same time, these societies also anticipate feminist interest in eugenics through proposals to regulate marriage, eliminate unhealthy members of society, and adopt measures for the moral improvement of the human race. Elizabeth Corbett's New Amazonia (1889) argues that a state governed only by women would achieve high moral standards, while eugenics and strict scientific regulation would guarantee improvements in health and longevity. Mary E. Bradley Lane's Mizora (1880–1881) proposes an entirely separatist world where the elimination of men, following the development of an asexual process of reproduction, would lead to a scientifically perfect society. Alice Ilgenfritz Jones and Ella Merchant's Unveiling a Parallel (1893), on the other hand, questions the idea of the intrinsic immorality of men, showing a utopia wherein women behave as badly as men given the same societal freedom. Instead, eugenic selection has supported evolution to a higher state of morality in which children are no longer conceived through sexual acts.

Long ignored by scholars in the humanities, sound has just begun to take its place as an important object of study in the last few years. Since the late 19th century, there has been a paradigmatic shift in auditory cultures and practices in European societies. This change was brought about by modern phenomena such as urbanization, industrialization and mechanization, the rise of modern sciences, and of course the emergence of new sound recording and transmission media. This book contributes to our understanding of modern European history through the lens of sound by examining diverse subjects such as performed and recorded music, auditory technologies like the telephone and stethoscope, and the ambient noise of the city.

This paper investigates the biological standard of living toward the end of Spanish rule. We investigate levels, trends, and determinants of physical stature from the birth cohorts of the 1860s to the 1890s using data on 23,000 Filipino soldiers enlisted by the U.S. military between 1901 and 1913. We use truncated regression technique for estimating average height and use province level information for investigating the determinants of biological wellbeing. The results indicate a decline of more than 1.5 cm (0.6 inches) in the height of soldiers born between the early 1870s and the late 1880s. The decline in heights at the end of the 19th century occurred at a time when there was an expansion of commercial activity in cash crop production for export. Heights did not regain the level of the 1870s until the late 1930s and early 1940s. We also find that at 159.3 cm (62.7 inches), the average height of soldiers born in the mid-1870s was very short even for the time. The low biological standard of living observed in late 19th century Philippines was not due to the tropical disease environment alone since greater average heights were recorded for the same period in other parts of Asia with a similar climate.

"Established as a Jewish settlement in 1909 and dedicated a year later, Tel Aviv has grown over the last century to become Israel's financial center and the country's second largest city. This book examines a major period in the city's establishment when Jewish architects moved from Europe, including Alexander Levy of Berlin, and attempted to establish a new style of Zionist urbanism in the years after World War I. The author explores the interplay of an ambitious architectural program and the pragmatic needs that drove its chaotic implementation during a period of dramatic population growth. He explores the intense debate among the Zionist leaders in Berlin in regard to future Jewish settlement in the land of Israel after World War I, and the difficulty in imposing a town plan and architectural style based on European concepts in an environment where they clashed with desires for Jewish revival and self-identity. While "modern" values advocated universality, Zionist ideas struggled with the conflict between the concept of "New Order" and traditional and historical motifs. As well as being the first detailed study of the formative period in Tel Aviv's development, this book presents a valuable case study in nation-building and the history of Zionism. Meticulously researched, it is also illustrated with hundreds of plans and photographs that show how much of the fabric of early twentieth century Tel Aviv persists in the modern city"--