Three Visiting Scholars Discuss Constructed Histories and Social Divides

Three MacMillan visiting scholars shared their in-progress research with an audience of fellow visiting scholars and MacMillan community members.

Supranation Building

Massimiliano Onorato, Ph.D., Leitner Program in International and Comparative Political Economy

“We cannot keep social cohesion through fear or the logic of us against an enemy,” said Dr. Onorato, echoing the ideas of philosopher Bertrand Russell. “We should think about something else, probably benevolence or self-interest.”

The economist’s talk explored possible avenues for building social cohesion and voter turnout under a supranation— a group of countries whose administrative structure supersedes the authority of individual member states. His project specifically examined Italian attitudes towards the European Union in the lead-up to the European Union election of June 2024.

He compared the effects of two videos: one emphasizing an external threat and another highlighting common challenges. Contrary to expectations, the latter was more effective, increasing voter turnout by nearly two percentage points in Italian municipalities. The study also found that the “common challenges” video elicited more positive emotions, heightened the saliency of political issues, and increased support for greater European Union political involvement. However, both videos eroded trust in current institutions, to a greater extent in the “common challenges” condition.

Dr. Onorato also outlined plans for a follow-up study comparing viewer attitudes across Spain, France, Germany, Poland, and Italy. His team aims to assess how responses vary across regions with different political histories and proximity to active war zones.

During the following Q&A session, Dr. Onorato clarified that while the study’s aim was to identify more positive messaging strategies to drum up E.U. support, institutional reform may also be needed to increase voter opinion and turnout.

A Confederate Monument in Northeast Florida: Race, Memory, and The Long Lost Cause. 1865-2020.

Michael Butler, Ph.D., Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition.

Dr. Butler’s argument framed the St. Augustine memorial as emblematic of the Lost Cause narrative. The monument, which ostensibly commemorated St. Augustinian Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War, has been deeply controversial at both the regional and national level. To address this issue, the St. Augustine City Commission created a committee responsible for providing historical context to be displayed alongside the monument.

While serving on this committee, Dr. Butler identified key discrepancies in the founding claims that the monument was politically neutral and commemorated local soldiers who had sacrificed their lives. He found that the monument primarily named individuals affiliated with members of the Ladies’ Memorial Association, including five who had neither served nor died in combat. Additionally, white and black unionist soldiers from St. Augustine were excluded from the memorial, and nearly all the named men were directly or familially connected to enslavement.

“The [monument], then, was from its earliest conception, a shrine to both the Lost Cause and the system of black enslavement, central to the conception, creation, and subsequent veneration in Northeast Florida,” Dr. Butler concluded. He went on to highlight the national implications of this regional issue, noting that the four St. Augustine natives arrested for storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021, had also taken part in efforts to block the relocation of the Confederate Monument following the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

In this way, Dr. Butler argued, the Lost Cause narrative is a pervasive, “pseudo historical framework” that “both infuses and is used to validate white supremacy” at regional and national levels.

Taming the Revolution: Sugar and the Persistence of Mexico’s Old Regime.

Juan Wilson, Ph.D., Program in Agrarian Studies.

“Why does Mexico, despite having this massive revolution, not look that different from other Latin American countries?”

Dr. Wilson delivered the exchange’s final talk, which examined the Mexican Revolution and the limits of revolutionary politics. He described the “founding mythology” of a Mexican revolution that replaced a Porfirian dictatorship with a revolutionary peasant and agrarian movement pioneering new social and labor rights. While the Mexican revolution is often portrayed as a major moment of middle-class incorporation, similar reforms occurred across Latin America without comparable levels of violence.

Using sugar plantations on the Pacific coastline as an example, Dr. Wilson described how these dynamics unfolded. He described divisions between two types of rural workers: colonos and peons. Both groups were vulnerable to exploitation by landowners, but Communist leaders represented only the peons. They discouraged collaboration between the colonos and peons, as well as between rural and industrial workers. As a result, the rural workforce was left at the mercy of rural bosses and state authorities, often having to perform additional labor to access land grants. Coercive practices like these limited their ability to participate in politics or achieve true landownership.

Dr. Wilson explained that deep fragmentation among the working class and the prioritization of productivity over participatory systems stunted the development of social equality in Mexico.

The MacMillan Center welcomes over 100 visiting faculty and scholars each year. Through teaching, mentorship, and seminar participation, they enrich the intellectual experiences of students and faculty members. The program fosters connections and collaborations that might not have formed otherwise, enhancing Yale’s intellectual vitality. More information about the program and how to become a visiting scholar is available on the Visiting Scholars website.