Hypothesis Historia Periodical

A Flashmob of Hitlers

2023-10-31T15:56:53+00:00

If Hitler is one of the most infamous and important political characters of the modern Western World, how are alternate history works
reflecting his legacy and personality? In this short paper I try to reflect on some of the most emblematic literary and ludic works created around his life and personality.

“Diamond wins: life turned trade secret”

2023-10-25T10:39:37+01:00

As of September 2022, the White House officially embraced biotechnology to generate innovative solutions for health problems,
climate change, energy scarcity, and food insecurity. Genetically modified organisms (GMO) alone account for more than 160 000 biotechnological solutions for technical problems. All these solutions have been disclosed to the public as a requirement for obtaining patent rights, excluding third parties of commercial exploitation. In this paper, we resort to alternative outcomes of the landmark Diamond v. Chakrabarty case on the patentability of GMO to illustrate the societal value of patents in biotechnology. The point of divergence set by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of Diamond creates a parallel reality where trade secrets prevail in biotechnology, representing an opportunity to reflect on the instructiveness of patents.

To be or not to be:

2023-10-25T11:13:41+01:00

The following proposal aims at understanding the scope and outcome of politically engaged art practices when basic political freedom and artistic autonomy are not at stake; when artistic creativeness and actions happen without state censorship or cultural top-down enforcement but the economic framework, capitalism, upholds and controls social mobility, work relations, and commodity exchange. We’ll explore the “what if” puzzle to think about these matters and to problematize a History beyond the “official ‘’ History. Methodologically speaking, we will focus oni artistc situations developed during the Brazilian Military Dictatorship (1964-1985), specifically the situational actions of artists such as Cildo Meireles (1948), Anna Maria Maiolino (1942), and Artur Barrio (1945). Let’s ask in a broader context if they would have taken place and if they would have been as resilient, and effective in exposing state violence if that violence had taken place in a context of liberal democracy. These are hypotheses that challenge the way we think and problematize decisive moments of Brazilian political and art history and make us ask “what if” things were easy-going for artists committed to advanced creative practices (with successful and profitable art exhibitions and a promising international career) but weren’t for the most of the population?

From in illo tempore to 1984 and beyond.

2023-10-16T09:31:54+01:00

This text tried to reflect upon the three presentations of Round Table #1 at the ‘What If’22 International Conference of ‘What If?...’ The theme was “World History”. The presentations range from the ethnography and mythology of the Nagas, around Buddhism and Brahmanism, to the book Nineteen-Eighty-Four (1948), by George Orwell. It also discussed Brazilian artists who opposed the Military Dictatorship (1964-1985). Bound by the premise of counterfactuality, i.e., the “what if”, the presentations gave rise to a long debate about current times and how art and literature continue to be decisive. In a word, to what extent do art and literature give us warnings or even predict the future? Or, on the other hand, how they influence events, and feed our imagination.

The Middle-Aged Revolutions

2023-11-14T13:40:09+00:00

[...]

Let’s imagine:

2023-10-31T16:04:23+00:00

This paper aims to explore the idea that our societies are losing more and more fundamental rights, the most important policies are beginning to avoid going through national parliaments, and almost a complete profiling of all aspects of a citizen’s life has been achieved to manipulate and absolute control of them in the near future. Large technology companies with budgets greater than many states are beginning to make decisions or lobby with strong groups to obtain regulations appropriate to their interests, and the world is in a change of order in which the domination of China is already a reality in the technological field, and is very close to the US in the economic field. This article explores, through the use of alternative history as a research tool, the fatalities that certain events such as those indicated are currently occurring, in a regressive decline of the social and democratic State of law and of peace itself.

What if Einstein had not sent the letter to Roosevelt?

2023-11-14T14:13:38+00:00

The 20th century was unique in known human history for a number of reasons. It holds a brutal human suffering with two planetary wars with unparalleled levels of destruction and genocides of a dramatic scale. It was the century of the explosion of science and its expression in technologies inconceivable in previous times, moving Humanity to new frontiers, well illustrated by the walk of human beings on the Moon. It was the time of the emergence of disruptive social and cultural movements, the time when we found the finitude of the planet that shelters it. Just as was the time of Humanity to acquire the ability of self-destruction through the atomic bomb release of the energy stored in the depths of the atom. The process that led to this includes a crucial element, a letter signed by Albert Einstein to US President Franklin Roosevelt. This essay elaborates on the circumstances that led to the writing of such letter and on what might have happened had it not existed.

Alternate history as a tool to reduce bias in organizations

2023-10-31T16:14:44+00:00

This article describes the potential use of alternate histories in business to promote diversity and equality in organizations. Gender bias and the different barriers that women experience in the workplace are included, as well as the way in which alternate histories can be created as an answer to the following questions: What if women led the world? And what if women occupied all leading positions in the company and had decision-making power? Alternate histories can be used to promote diversity and inclusion policies based on other minorities or marginalized groups beyond women to create plausible scenarios for more humane and integrative workplaces.

Carmen Miranda:

2023-10-25T10:09:19+01:00

Carmen Miranda is still one of Brazil’s greatest musical and aesthetic icons. The artist stood out for her non-conformist attitude and aesthetic towards the prevailing aesthetic at the time of her artistic peak. In this article, we intend to focus on two key topics, namely the use of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) in her artistic creations, but we also intend to apply to her trajectory the counterfactual/alternative history, i.e., we intend to undertake a “what if…” analysis in relation to a set of historical events that marked her trajectory, emphasizing, thus, the creation and dissemination of her platform shoes, while we intend to highlight her contribution to the international footwear fashion.

Alternate history for risk assessment in project management

2023-11-14T13:52:57+00:00

Interest in alternate history has become more prevalent, which has led to the study of its potential uses in different settings, business and management being one of them. This article presents an overview of the points of convergence between alternate history and risk identification and assessment in the context of project management. A proposal for the integration of counterfactual thinking into the early stages of risk management is introduced in the form of an adaptation of the use of traditional risk matrices. Future perspectives and limitations are also included, as the proposal is meant to complement and not substitute other risk management practices, tools, and techniques.