Theory, Method and Practice in Social and Cultural History

Two decades ago, historical practice in the United States and Europe was challenged by social historians with "behaviourist" approaches which diverged from the discipline's traditional preferences for textual evidence. Such accounts explained occurences in terms of individual intention and a narrative presentation of results. But such behaviourist trends by no means swept the field of social history, and current historical practices go in yet another direction. Today what is widely called for involves actor-centred accounts that do not focus upon individuals to the exclusion of groups, markets, cultures and other socially-defined fields of action, and that consider power in human societies as well as the limitations upon that power. Recognising that historical practices as well as method and discourse are in flux, this book is the result of the second biennial conference of the Pittsburgh Center for Social History, in which a number of scholars in the field reflect on the prevailing situation in historical writing and research.