Dr Michalis Sotiropoulos
British School at Athens
52 Souedias Street
Athens, 10676
The 1821 Fellow in Modern Greek Studies
Research
My research focuses on the history of the modern Greek world, and, in particular, on the ideas and the sociopolitical processes (revolts, revolutions, secessions, unifications, constitution-making and state-building) that changed the political culture and eventually the political situation of this world during the long nineteenth century. I have studied these processes, a key moment of which was the Greek Revolution of 1821, always placing them within a canvas of European and Mediterranean history. At the BSA I am working on the research project, Unpublished Archives of British Philhellenism During the Greek Revolution of 1821 which is carried out in collaboration with the National Library of Greece and funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The project has two aims. First, it seeks to make invaluable primary sources (such as the papers of the historian George Finlay) digitally accessible to public for the first time. Second, it aims to reassess British Philhellenism by inquiring into the character, motivations and the military and political judgements of several British Philhellenes, as well as a number of individuals with whom they interacted.
Prior to joining the BSA, I held adjunct lectureships at the University of Athens and the University of Thrace and research fellowships at the University of Athens (History and Philosophy of Science), Princeton University (Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies), and the Research Center for the Humanities (Athens), where I am the scientific advisor to the 1821: Digital Archive project.
Publications
- After the Revolution: Liberalism and the intellectual foundations of the Greek state, ca 1830-1880 (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming, 2022).
- ‘The transnational foundations of the Greek revolution of 1821’, in Y. Cartledge and A. Varnava (eds), New Perspectives on the Greek War of Independence 200 Years on: Myths, Realities, Legacies and Reflections (London: Palgrave, forthcoming, 2021).
- ‘“United we stand, divided we fall”: sovereignty and government during the Greek revolution (1821-28)’, Historein, special issue, 20/1, 2021, edited by Y. Kotsoni and A. Dialla (forthcoming).
- (in Portuguese) ‘The many liberalisms of the Revolution in Greece’, in J. L. Cardoso, R. Ramos, N. Monteiro and I. Corrêa da Silva (eds), Dicionário Critico da Revolução Liberal Portuguesa, 1820-1834 (Lisboa: Dom Quixote, forthcoming 2021).
- Guest editor (with A. Dialla and A. Hadjikyriacou), ‘Where was 1821? Space and territory in the Greek Revolution’, Historein, special issue, 20/2, 2021 (forthcoming).
- (in Greek) The Greek Revolution in history: Past, present, and future of the historiography of 1821, digital edition (Athens, Research Center for the Humanities, forthcoming 2021).
- (in Turkish) ‘”Walking backwards into battle”: The political concepts of 1821 and the Age of Revolutions’ (with A. Hadjikyriacou), in K. Andrianopoulou και A. Vakali (eds), [in Turkish] On the bicentennial of the Greek Revolution of March 1821: new perspectives from Greek historiography (Istanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları, forthcoming, 2021).
- (in Greek) ‘The Greek Revolution and the Age of Revolutions: historiographical problems and prospects’ in A. Mandylara and P. Kimourtzis, [in Greek] History, a fine art: articles dedicated to G. B. Dertilis (Athens: Asini, 2021).
- ‘Liberalism, property, and the foundations of the Greek state (ca. 1830-1870)’, Modern Intellectual History, 1-22, 2019, doi:10.1017/S1479244319000210.
- Patris, ethnos, and demos: representation and political organization in the Greek world, 1750-1860’ (with A. Hadjikyriacou) in J. Innes, M. Philp (eds), Re-imagining Democracy in the Mediterranean, 1750-1860 (Oxford University Press, 2018).