Considering that History is not a suitable field for evaluating the experiences of the present, but is a reference axis for their reflection, the central theme of the seminar is the utilisation of infectious diseases, in order to apply techno-economic models of centralised character. Attempts also was made to highlight aspects of economic policy - especially in times of recession - in the light of a health crisis. Specifically, during the Greek interwar period, the organisation of health services (as well as the stabilisation of the country's public finances) was related to the action of the League of Nations, as far as the project of refugee settlement is concerned, and as it is known from the present state of the art. But what was the role of the Greek State or local actors before, and after, the period of the intercession of international institutions?
The seminar’s material seeks to highlight the interaction between global and local, but also the concurrence of theory with the documentary material, which are two of the main methodological axes of the TransMonEA project.
Catherine Bregianni
Economy and Transnational Health Policies, with an Emphasis on the Great Depression.
Short Historiographical Accounts and New Sources of the Financial Committee of the League of Nations.
The historiographical approaches of the epidemics emphasised the demographic and economic changes that they brought, especially in Early Modern European History (see mainly the studies of E. LeRoy Ladurie). Annales School's emphasis on the study of epidemics is based on the fact that the ruptures they bring to both the economy and society are ultimately evolving in the longue durée. This approach enables as to investigate deeper into economic centralised policies in the framework of biopolitics (Foucault,2004).
In more recent times, transnational health policies are in line with the management of the economic space: the example of the League of Nations as an actor in health policies during the Greek interwar is indicative of the homogenised management of the economy and social welfare, while the implementation of early health policies framed the evolution of state mechanisms in Greece (Gardikas, 2018).
Nikos Tompros
Pandemics in Local Level: The Flu of 1918 in Patras and the Recording of its Economic and Social Effects on the Archival Material.
The research on the 1918 flu epidemic in Patras, the deadliest epidemic that hit the city in the 20th century, aims to capture the economic, social and psychological consequences of an epidemic outbreak in a local community at the end of World War I., their duration and, finally, the policy pursued by the public authorities to deal with the disease. The case study of Patras will be linked to the global spread of the Spanish flu in the historical context of the A’ World War, while the demographic changes caused by the disease on the microscale of the region will be examined.
Manolis Arkolakis
Industrial Revolution and the Formation of the Welfare State: the Turning Points, from the German Economic Protectionism of the Late 19th century to the Interwar Period.
According to Polanyi, the welfare state at the end of the 19th century - and the social protection policies that gradually supported it - came as a result of society's reaction to the effects of economic liberalism. On the other hand, Foucault has been focusing on public health control and regulation policies, since the late 18th century, focusing his analysis on health care initially on mechanisms, such as the military sector. But can supposedly conflict approaches be productive in a specific historical analysis? The examination of a legislative corpus of the Greek State regarding the formation of an embryonic form of the welfare state during the interwar period could perhaps help answer the question.
Video of seminar: https://youtu.be/jK_lhjB-qEE
