Dr. Stapell's research and writing focus on popular social movements, and on the political and cultural history of modern Spain.  He has published articles on national and regional identity, on Americanization in the ‘New Europe,’ and on Spanish politics.  He is also the author of the book entitled Remaking Madrid: Culture, Politics, and Identity after Franco.  He is currently working on a new project about the rise and fall of the ‘physical culture’ movement in Europe in the early twentieth century.

Google Scholar webpage for Hamilton M. Stapell.

Publications

Book:
▪ Remaking Madrid: Culture, Politics, and Identity after Franco.  New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.

Remaking Madrid is the first full-length study of Madrid’s transformation from the dreary home of the Franco dictatorship into a modern and vibrant city.  It argues that this remarkable transformation in the 1980s helped secure Spain’s fragile transition to democracy and that the transformation itself was primarily a product of “regionalism”–even though the capital is typically associated with “Spanishness” and with “the nation.”  The official project to distance Madrid from its dictatorial past included urban renewal and administrative reform; but, above all, it involved greater cultural participation, which led the revival of the capital’s public festivals and the development of a modern cultural outpouring known as the movida madrileña.  The book also explains the ultimate failure of regionalism in the capital by the end of the 1980s and asks whether or not Madrid’s inclusive form of “civic” identity might have served as a model for the country as a whole. 

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles:
▪ "Paleo Then and Now: A Five-Year Follow-up Survey of the Ancestral Health Community." Co-authored with: Anthony J. Basile and David B. Schwartz. Journal of Evolution and Health 5, no. 1 (2020): Article 1.

▪ “Bienvenido, Mickey Mouse!?: Hopes for a Magic Kingdom in Post-Franco Spain.” Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies 44, no. 1 (2019): Article 8.

▪ "Status of Evolutionary Medicine within the Field of Nutrition and Dietetics: A Survey of Professionals and Students." Co-authored with: Anthony J. Basile, David B. Schwartz, and Joseph B. Rigdon. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health 2018, no. 1 (2018) 201-210.

▪ "Beyond Cultural Imperialism: Rethinking Americanization, National Identity, and ‘Difference’ in Post-Franco Spain," Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies 41, no.1 (2016): Article 5. 

▪ "Going Mainstream or Just a Passing Fad? The Future of the Ancestral Health Movement." Journal of Evolution and Health 1, no. 1 (2016): Article 11. 

▪ “Modern Cavemen? Stereotypes and Reality of the Ancestral Health Movement.”  Co-authored with David B. Schwartz.  Journal of Evolution and Health 1, no. 1 (2013): Article 3.

▪ “’Do You Feel More Madrileño or Español?’: Making the Case for Regionalism in the Capital, 1979-1990.” Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies 35, no. 1 (2011): Article 1.

▪ “Walking the Walk to Teach the Talk: Implementing Ancestral Lifestyle Strategies as the Newest Tool in Evolutionary Studies.” Co-authored with: Steven Platek, Glenn Geher, Leslie Heywood, J. Ryan Porter & Tia Walters.  Evolution: Education and Outreach 4, no. 1 (2011): 41-51.

▪ “Just a Teardrop in the Rain?  The movida madrileña and Democratic Identity Formation in the Capital, 1979-1986.” Bulletin of Spanish Studies 86, no. 3 (2009): 345-369.

▪ “Reconsidering Spanish Nationalism, Regionalism, and the Center-Periphery Model in the Post-Francoist Period, 1975-1992.” International Journal of Iberian Studies 20, no. 3 (2007): 171-185.

Invited Articles and Book Reviews:
▪ Review of Flamenco Nation: The Construction of Spanish National Identity by Sandie Holguín. In The Journal of Modern History, 92, no. 4 (December 2020): 959-961.

▪ “The Future of the Ancestral Health Movement.” This View of Life Magazine (The Evolution Institute). April 25, 2019.

▪ Review of US-Spanish Relations after Franco: The Will of the Weak by Morten Heiberg. In European History Quarterly 48, no. 4 (2018): 747-749.

▪ Review of Madrid’s Forgotten Avant-Garde: Between Essentialism and Modernity by Silvina Schammah Gesser.  In European History Quarterly 46, no. 4 (2016): 742-743.

▪ Review of Barcelona and Madrid Social Networks of the Avant-Garde by Aránzazu Ascunce Arenas.  In European History Quarterly 43, no. 3 (2013): 742-473.

▪ Review of Crossing through Chueca.  Lesbian Literary Culture in Queer Madrid by Jill Robbins.  In Bulletin of Spanish Studies 90, no. 2 (2013): 283-284.

▪ Review of Spain since 1939 by Stanley Black.  In European History Quarterly 42, no. 4 (October 2012): 680-681.

▪ "Spain's Election Is Set to Worsen the Crisis in Europe." Foreign Affairs. November 17, 2011.

▪ Review of Más es más. Sociedad y cultura en la España democrática, 1986-2008 by Jordi Gracia and Domingo Ródenas de Moya, eds.  In Bulletin of Spanish Studies 88, no. 2 (2011): 305-306.

Works In Progress
▪ “Degeneration, Health, and Modernity: Evolution and the Physical Culture Movement.”  Book manuscript in progress.

▪ “A Twenty-Year Review of the Paleo Diet: Pros, Cons, and Lessons Learned, 2000-2020.”  Co-authored with: Anthony J. Basile, Hilary J. Bethancourt, and Adrienne Bitar. Peer-reviewed article complete and for consideration at the journal Nutrition Reviews.

▪ “Who Killed the Paleo Diet? The Rise and Fall of One of the 21st Century's Most Popular Diet Fads.” Peer-reviewed article in progress.