Alban Bargain-Villéger

Contract Faculty

History

   abargain@yorku.ca
   Alban Bargain-Villéger - Curriculum Vitae.pdf

Alban Bargain-Villéger (PhD, York University, 2012) is a historian of modern Europe (France and Germany). His academic interests include island studies, the study of communist, socialist, and anarchist ideologies, parties and movements. He is also interested in the concept of syncretism and the uses of religious symbolism in politics.
His current research project consists of an in-depth history of Groix, a small island off the coast of Brittany (France). This study, which will span the period from 1830 to 1945, will focus on the social, political, and cultural history of the island. More specifically,  this work focuses on kinship networks, the gendered division of labour, and the persistence of semi-feudal structures and mentalities well into the twentieth century.







Politics

Micro-history

Historical anthropology

PhD in History, York University, Toronto (2013). Dissertation: Mobilis in Mobile: The French and German Socialists in Hostile Environments: 1921-1933/40” (defended in November 2012).

MA in History, York University, Toronto (2006). Major Research Paper: “Putting the Cart before the Horse: The Parisians and the Question of Legitimacy during the Commune of 1871”

BA in History (Honours), University of British Columbia, Vancouver (2005). Graduating essay: “A Political Paradox: Reaction and Dogmatism in the French Communist Party: 1954-1958” (defended in April 2005).


My academic interests include island studies, the study of communist, socialist, and anarchist ideologies, parties and movements. I am also interested in the concept of syncretism and the uses of religious symbolism in politics.

My current research project consists of an in-depth history of Groix, a small island off the coast of Brittany (France). This study, which will span the period from 1830 to 1945, will focus on the social, political, and cultural history of the island. More specifically,  this work focuses on kinship networks, the gendered division of labour, and the persistence of semi-feudal structures and mentalities well into the twentieth century.


Books

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. Red Missionaries: The French and German Socialist Press in Hostile Environments, 1919-1940. 300 pp.

Changes currently being made, following positive feedback from the peer reviewers. Publication planned for 2024.



Journal Articles

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. “Faire bloc contre le bacille rouge: La presse canadienne face à la Commune de Paris de 1871.” Bulletin d’histoire politique 29, no. 1 (fall): 79-104.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. “Idéologiquement inacceptable: Le 1er mai en Europe vu du Canada (1889-2002).” Études canadiennes / Canadian Studies 43, no. 83 (December 2017): 51-71.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. “Groix, la Bretagne et la France: Les trajectoires fugipétiques d’un île bretonne, 1870-1940.” Bulletin d’histoire politique, special issue, 26, no.1 (autumn 2017): 229-255. 

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. “Captain Tin Can: Gustave Cluseret and the Socialist Lefts, 1848-1900.” Socialist History 46 (2015): 13-32.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. “The Scarecrow on the Other Side of the Pond: The Paris Commune of 1871 in the Canadian Press.” Labour / Le Travail 74 (Fall / automne 2014): 179-198.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. The Quest for Acceptability: The Socialists’ May Days in Bavaria and Brittany, 1920-40.Canadian Journal of History / Annales canadiennes d’histoire 48 (spring-summer / printemps-été 2013): 63-86.

“S’imposer en milieu hostile: Le 1er mai des socialistes en Bavière et en Bretagne (1920-1933/1940).” Recherche Socialiste 60-61, Hors-série: “Monde(s) du travail” (juillet-décembre 2012): 111-124.

Conference Proceedings 

“An Ideological Goulash: The Breton Extreme Rights, 1920-1940.” Proceedings of the Western Society for French History 38 (2012): 217-233.


Book Chapters

Bargain-Villéger, Alban.Model and Anomaly: The Canadian Confederation Seen from France, 1864-1871,” in Jacqueline Krikorian, Marcel Martel, and Adrian Shubert, eds., Globalizing Confederation: Canada and the World in 1867. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2017, 110-126.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. “Un mai de combat ! La presse socialiste en Bretagne et le moment 1936,” in Erwan Le Gall and François Prigent, eds., C’était 1936: Le Front Populaire vu de Bretagne. Rennes: Goater, 2016, 133-151.


Other Publications

Edited Collection (Peer Reviewed) 

Bargain-Villéger, Alban, and Serge Miville, eds. Francofugies et Francopéties. Special issue of the Bulletin d’histoire politique 26, no.1 (Fall 2017), 163-277. We also co-wrote the introduction: “Vers un modèle ‘fugipétique’: francofugies et francopéties en France et au Canada,” 163-169.

Review Essays

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. “Toujours dans les limbes historiographiques: Le cinquantenaire de Mai 68 au travers de quatre livres.” Labour / Le Travail 84 (Fall / autumn 2019): 303-323.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. “On the Possibility of Building Castles in the Air” (a review essay of Eric Hazan and Kamo, Premières mesures révolutionnaires – Paris: La Fabrique, 2013). Left History 18, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2014): 87-92.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. “The Construction of a Prehistory: The Austrian and German Social Democrats and the French Revolution” (review essay of Jean-Numa Ducange, La Révolution française et la social-démocratie: transmissions et usages politiques de l'histoire en Allemagne et Autriche, 1889-1934), Left History 16, no. 2 (Fall/Winter 2012): 73-84.

Reviews

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. “Ludivine Bantigny, La Commune au présent. Une correspondance par-delà le temps (compte rendu). Social History / Histoire sociale 54, no. 112 (November 2021): 698-701.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. “Florence Braka, L'honneur perdu du général Cluseret: De l'internationalisme au nationalisme (compte rendu)." Social History / Histoire sociale 53, no. 109 (November 2020): 678-681.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. “Review of David Porter, Eyes to the South: French Anarchists and Algeria.” Social History / Histoire sociale 46, no. 91 (May 2013): 253-255.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. “Review of Tiqqun, This is not a Program.” Left History 16, no. 1 (Spring 2012): 134-136.

Short Essays and Blog Posts

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. “Un repoussoir idéal : la Commune de Paris de 1871 et le projet national-libéral canadien.” Revue d’histoire du XIXe siècle, “Puissances de la Commune” 1, no. 63 (2021): 141-144.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban.Research Diary II: A Small Island in Low Season.Active History, March 22, 2019.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. Research Diary I: A Small Island in Low Season.Active History, March 15, 2019.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. From Salò to Cult: Sadism, Terror, and Fascism in Fiction.” Active History, January 8, 2019.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. A Historian’s Reflections on the 2018 CUPE 3903 Strike.” Active History, September 18, 2018.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. The Babylon of Interwar Berlin.” Active History, July 11, 2018.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. Historicizing Black Metal.” Active History, March 2, 2018.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban.Past, Present, and Future in Enki Bilal’s Graphic Novels.” Active History, November 21, 2017.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. (Research) Notes from Three Small Islands.” Active History, July 11, 2017.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. French Elections 2017: Looking past the Hype.” Active History, April 19, 2017.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. Fifty Years of French Protest Songs.” Active History, February 28, 2017.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. After the Wall: Nostalgia and Cynicism during the German ‘Honeymoon,’ 1989-1992.” Active History, November 18, 2016.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban.Travels with Caroline.” Active History, September 23, 2016.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. History on TV: Political Drama in the 2010s.Active History, May 19, 2016.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban.21st-Century Terrorism: Nothing New?Active History, March 17, 2016.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban.The European Extreme Right Yesterday and Today.” Active History, November 24, 2015.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. History for Children? Watching Once Upon a Time... Man as an Adult in the 21st Century.” Active History, September 3, 2015.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. Literature and History: Michel Houellebecq’s Soumission and the Politics of Cultural Despair.” Active History, April 24, 2015.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. Who/What Really Is Charlie?Active History, January 19, 2015.

Poetry Collections

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. Dans le roc de la tour violette. Paris: Jets d’Encre, 2015. 136 pp.

Bargain-Villéger, Alban. Abysses et Nuées. Paris: Édilivre, 2014. 138 pp.

Conference Activity

Conferences Organized

March 2022: Supervisor of the 26th International Studies Symposium at Glendon College: “Microstates and Small Communities” – I was in charge of overseeing the progress of the five honours students involved in the project.

March 2019: Supervisor for the 24th International Studies Symposium at Glendon College: “Latvia” – I was in charge of overseeing the progress of the six honours students involved in the project.

March 19, 2016: Supervisor for the 21st International Studies Symposium at Glendon College: “Iceland: Deconstructing the Land of Contrasts” – I was in charge of overseeing the progress of the eight honours students involved in the project. 

November 8, 2014: Co-creator/co-chair, with Serge Miville, of a conference entitled “Francofugies et Francopéties: Langues et sociétés au Canada et en France au XXe siècle – Colloque international et pluridisciplinaire.The event took place at York University’s Glendon College.

February 2008: Co-chair, New Frontiers XII Conference in History, York University. New Frontiers is one of North America’s largest History graduate student conferences.

Conference Panels Organized 

June 12-14, 2019: Panel entitled “Femmes, genre, féminismes et identités canadiennes/québécoises dans la longue durée,” at the Congress of the French Association of Canadian Studies, “« Grâce à elle(s) ? » : Le rôle des femmes dans la construction du Canada,” Centre d’Études Canadiennes Interuniversitaire de Bordeaux.

June 14-16, 2017: Panel entitled “Rituels festifs dans le processus de construction nationale,” at the Congress of the French Association of Canadian Studies, “Defining Canada, 1867-2017: values, practices and representations,” Université Paris Diderot (Paris VII).

November 15, 2014: Panel on “Breton History and Identities,” at the Western Society for French History conference. 

November 7, 2014: Panel on “Linguistic Contact in France and in Canada” (co-organized with Dr. Dominique Scheffel-Dunand), at York University’s History Department.

Select Conference and Seminar Presentations

2019: “‘The innocent victim and the designing vixen’: Les révolutionnaires européennes et le dominion moral canadien, 1848-1968,” at the Congress of the French Association of Canadian Studies, “« Grâce à elle(s) ? » : le rôle des femmes dans la construction du Canada,” Centre d’Études Canadiennes Interuniversitaire de Bordeaux, June 12-14, 2019.

2017: “Idéologiquement inacceptable: Le Premier Mai en Europe vu du Canada, 1889-2002,” at the Congress of the French Association of Canadian Studies, “Defining Canada, 1867-2017: values, practices and representations,” Université Paris Diderot (Paris VII), June 14-16, 2017.

2016: “Model and Anomaly: The Canadian Confederation Seen from France, 1864-1871,” at the “Globalizing Confederation: How Governments, Nations and Communities Around the World Viewed the Emergence of Canada in 1867” conference, York University, Toronto, September 29, 2016.

2014: “The Atlantic Ocean as a Liquid Continent: Culture, Politics and Society on the Breton Island of Groix, 1870-1914,” 42nd Western Society for French History conference, San Antonio, November 2014.

2014: “From Middle-of-the-Road Republican to Reactionary Socialist: General Gustave Cluseret’s Multiform Crusade Against Capitalism,” 60th Society for French Historical Studies conference, Montreal, April 2014.

2012: “A Particularly Embarrassing Gordian Knot: Women in the Breton and Bavarian Socialist Press, 1919-1933/40,” 40th Western Society for French History conference, Banff, October 2012.

2012: “A Quest for Brains and Hearts: The Bavarian SPD’s May Day and Electoral Campaigns, 1919-1933,” 36th German Studies Association conference, Milwaukee, October 2012.

2010: “An Ideological Goulash: The Breton Extreme Rights, 1920-1940,” 38th Annual Western Society for French History conference, Lafayette, October 2010.

2010: “The Periphery in the Centre: The Breton Community in Paris, 1848-1940,” History Takes Place – Urban Change in Europe (summer school organised by the Hamburg ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius), Centre Allemand d’Histoire de l’Art, Paris, September 6-18, 2010.

2010: “Ich weiß, wo ein liebliches, freundliches Tal…’: Soccer, Politics and Identity in Saarland, 1945-1956,” 14th New Frontiers conference, York University, Toronto, February 2010.

2009: “A Multidimensional Steeplechase, The Socialists and May Day in Bavaria and Brittany, 1921-1932/40,” Toronto French History Seminar, Alliance Française, Toronto, November 2009.

2008: “An Annual Political Ritual: The Socialists and May Days in Brittany and Bavaria, 1920-1932/39,” 1st York-Konstanz Interdisciplinary Transatlantic Graduate Student Conference, Universität Konstanz, Germany, December 2008.

2008: “Mobilis in Mobile: The French and German Socialists in Hostile Environments, 1920-1939,” 22nd Social and Political Thought Strategies of Critique Conference, York University, Toronto, April 2008.

2008: "General Cluseret, International Troublemaker: A Bio-Global History," 5th McGill-Queen's Conference, McGill University, Montreal, March 2008.

2008: “Le Choc des Francophonies: Québec et le gouvernement français, 1959-1995,” 8ème Colloque Artefact, Université Laval, Quebec City, February 2008.

2007: “Paper Bridges: The Canadian Press and the Paris Commune of 1871,” 11th New Frontiers, York University, Toronto, February 2007.

Student Supervision

2021-2022:  Brahim Lebbar, undergraduate honours research paper on the causes of underdevelopment in some African countries (with Glendon College’s department of International Studies).

2021-2022: Katherine Mazzotta, research paper on the topic of Vietnamese children during the First Indochina War (with Glendon College’s Research Apprenticeship Programme).

2020-2021: Jonathan Kavunga, undergraduate honours research paper on the topic of international cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic (with the Department of International Studies).

2019-2021: Tamara Kovacevic, undergraduate honours research paper on Gramsci’s concept of hegemony in the 21st century (with the Department of International Studies).

Courses Taught Recently

As Lecturer

From the Fall of Fascism to the Defeat of Communism: Europe since 1945 (online course) – (AP/History 3395), at York University (Summer 2022)

Research in International Studies (GL/International Studies 3505), at York University, Glendon College (Winter 2023)

Introduction à l’histoire de l’Europe contemporaine de 1450 à nos jours (GL/History 2905), at York University, Glendon College (2022-2023, also taught in 2020-2021 [online]).

Modern Europe: From the French Revolution to the European Union (AP/History 2300), at York University (2022-2023).

Le XXe siècle : Une perspective mondiale (GL/History 2930), at York University, Glendon College (2022-2023).

Culture, mondialisation et société civile internationale (GL/International Studies 2622) at York University, Glendon College (Fall 2023, also taught in 2017, 2019, 2020 [online], 2021 [hybrid], and 2022).

Recherche en Études internationales (GL/International Studies 3505)at York University, Glendon College (Fall 2023, also taught in Winters 2019 and 2020 [online], and Falls of 2021 [hybrid] and 2022).

World History since 1900 (History 1F95 – 1st half) at Brock University (Fall 2022).

Europe since 1870 (online course) – (AP/History 3390) at York University (Summers 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)

The European Resistances during World War II (GL/History 3222), at York University, Glendon College (Winter 2022)

International Studies Symposium: Microstates and Other Small Units: Relics, Opportunists, and Pioneers (GL/International Studies 4510) at York University, Glendon College (2021-2022)

Les origines des civilisations du monde (GL/History 1615), at York University, Glendon College (2021-2022)

The Twentieth Century: A Global Perspective – (GL/History 2930), at York University, Glendon College (2020-2021 [online], 2021-2022)

Introduction to the History of Modern Europe from 1450 to the Present (GL/History 2905), at York University, Glendon College (Winter 2020), 6 final classes 

The History of Fascism and Nazism (GL/History 4250), at York University, Glendon College (Winter 2020)

Individual Studies: The USA, the EU, and the Middle East (GL/International Studies 4100), at York University, Glendon College (Winter 2020)

Europe Between the Wars, 1918-1939 (History 4360) at York University (2017-18, 2019-2020)

European Fascism: 1890-1945 (AP/History 3365) at York University (Fall 2013, Summer [2nd semester] 2019)

Historiography (GL/History 4500) at York University, Glendon College (Winter 2016, Winter 2017, 2017-18, and 2018-19)

International Studies Symposium: Latvia (GL/International Studies 4510) at York University, Glendon College (2018-19)

Les résistances européennes durant la 2nde Guerre mondiale (GL/History 3222) at York University, Glendon College (Winter 2017) 

Aspects du nationalisme (GL/International Studies 4912) at York University, Glendon College (Winter 2017) 

German History from 1871 to the Present (GL/History 3680) at York University, Glendon College (2009-10 and 2016-17) 

International Studies Symposium: Iceland (GL/International Studies 4510) at York University, Glendon College (2015-16)

The Americas and Asia: Contact and Conflict in the Transpacific World (GL/History 3622) at York University, Glendon College (Winter 2015)

The Emergence of a United Europe (European Studies 1050) at the University of Guelph (Winter 2014 and Fall 2014)

As Teaching Assistant / Marker/Grader

The Roots of World Civilizations (GL/History 1615), at York University, Glendon College. As marker/grader (instructor: Prof. Betsey Price): 2012-2013, 2014-2015, 2015-2016. As teaching assistant (instructor: Audrey Pyée): 2017-18.

Europe in the Nineteenth Century (GL/History 3645), as marker/grader, at York University, Glendon College. Instructor: Prof. Gayle Comeau (Winter 2016)

The Modern Age: Shapers and Definers (AP/Humanities 1170), as marker/grader, at York University, Keele Campus. Instructor: Prof. Mark Cauchi (Winter 2016)

The 20th Century: A Global Perspective (GL/History 2930) at York University, Glendon College. Instructors: Prof. Donald Wileman (2008-9, 2010-11) and Prof. Suzanne Langlois (2012-13)

War, Revolution and Society in the Twentieth Century (AP/History 1010) at York University, Keele Campus. Instructors: Prof. William Irvine (2006-8), Prof. Robert Wakabayashi (2007-8), Prof. Irmgard Steinisch (2011-12), and Prof. Debbie Neill (2013-14)

Work as Research Assistant

May-August 2012: Research assistant for Dr. Marcel Martel. My work consisted of investigating the archives of the French embassy and consulates in Canada, located in the Centre des Archives diplomatiques de Nantes (CADN). To be more precise, my task consisted in studying how the French diplomats reacted to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s suspicion that French spies had been sent to Canada in order to agitate in favour of Quebec independence.

2010-12: Research assistant for Dr. Suzanne Langlois. My work consisted of transcriptions of speeches on the place of cinematography after the Second World War and interviews of Jean Benoit-Lévy (a pioneer in documentary filmmaking), as well as archival research in the French National Archives and the Bibliothèque du Film (both located in Paris).

May-August 2008: Research assistant for Dr. Marcel Martel. Preliminary research for the organisation of a conference commemorating the seventy-year anniversary of Kristallnacht.

Professional Affiliations

Active History: regular contributor and peer reviewer (2015-present)

Member of the executive bureau of the Maitron Bretagne (organisation associated with the Maitron Dictionary, also known as the Dictionnaire biographique du mouvement ouvrier français) – (2012-present)

Society for French Historical Studies

Western Society for French History

Additional Experiences

CUPE 3903 representative on Glendon Principal’s Advisory Committee (2022-)

CUPE 3903 representative on Glendon’s Principal Search Committee (2020-2021)

CUPE 3903 representative on Glendon’s Principal Search Committee (2018-2019)

Translations for Tamarack Productions (English-French) – (2015-present)

Founder and co-curator of the CUPE 3903 archive (2012-2013)

Guest lecture on Marxist theory and the history of socialist parties in the nineteenth century, in Professor Suzanne Langlois' global history course (The 20th Century: A Global Perspective [GL/HIST 2930]), at York University, Glendon College (October 2012)

Translations of calls for papers (English-French) for the University of Waterloo and Mount Allison University (2010-2011)

CUPE 3903 Steward for History graduate students (2008-2011) 

York University Graduate Students Association Councilor for the Graduate History Students Association (GHSA) (2009-2010)

Student representative on a search committee for an early-modern European history position at Glendon College (January-March 2007)

Co-student representative at the History department council, York University (2005-2006)

Guest lecture on the topic of comparative history, in Professor Suzanne Langlois' 4th-year historiography seminar at York University, Glendon College (GL/HIST 4500, Historiography), September 2007)

Languages

English: fluent, written and spoken


French: native speaker (fluent, written and spoken)

German: advanced level (written and spoken)

Spanish: beginner (written and spoken)

Russian: beginner (written and spoken)

Danish: beginner (written and spoken)

Awards

2013:    Best essay for the Canadian Journal of History Graduate Student competition (for The Quest for Acceptability: The Socialists’ May Days in Bavaria and Brittany, 1920-40)

2005:    Allan Boag Prize – Best essay on some aspect of socialism (provincial – British Columbia)

Grants and Scholarships

2018:    CUPE 3903 Research Grant (for a research trip to Groix island’s municipal archives)

2015:    CUPE 3903 Research Grant (for a research trip to the French Diplomatic Archive Centre, Paris and Nantes sites)

2012:    SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (awarded but not funded)

              John Bosher Fellowship in French History and the French Empire

2011:    John Bosher Fellowship in French History and the French Empire

2009:    Ontario Graduate Scholarship

2008:    John Bosher Fellowship in French History and the French Empire

             Ontario Graduate Scholarship

             Bourse de la Chaire pour le développement de la recherche sur la culture d'expression française en Amérique du Nord (CEFAN): meilleure communication portant sur les francophonies canadiennes et nord-américaines, VIIIème Colloque Artefact

2006:    York University Entrance Scholarship

2005:    York University Entrance Scholarship

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