The internationalization of fire protection: in pursuit of municipal networks in Edwardian Birmingham

Abstract

Through a case study of Birmingham fire brigade, this article examines the plethora of international networking activities undertaken during the late Victorian and early Edwardian period. Birmingham fire brigade, under the control of Alfred Tozer, led British municipal participation in early international fire networks, attending international congresses and exhibitions in Berlin and London, and also visiting continental cities to inspect fire brigades and their appliances. Locating the study firmly within historical debates concerning the embryonic international municipal movement, this article demonstrates that municipal institutions participated in networking activities as part of a policy learning and knowledge-transfer process.

Local initiative, central oversight, provincial perspective: governing police forces in nineteenth-century Leeds

“…Hence, the growth of Whitehall and the system of government inspection did not centralize state information in the mid nineteenth century; instead, these contacts confirm the growth of governing expertise in the provinces, which – via municipal networks – channelled specialist knowledge in diverse fields of urban administration . These networks were progressively formalized and extended after 1890, with the rise of professional associations, specialist publications and conferences allowing the exchange of information between cities on a national and international basis …”

Urban policy mobility, anti-politics, and histories of the transnational municipal movement

“…Vion, 2002), to the agency and experiences of particular cities (e.g. Brown-May, 2008; Ewen, 2005; Payre and Saunier, 2008; Saunier, 1999b). Among these numerous studies, Saunier’s work is outstanding.…”

More than Food and Folk Music? Geographical Perspectives on European Town Twinning

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