Identifying the Different Concepts and Categories Flashcards
Define: Constitutional
The study of a state’s constitution is a widely explored subject. For instance, one can study the developments of the British constitution. As an unwritten document, its grounding is based in a series of historical documents and thus it is hard to determine what exactly the British constitution actually is. On the other hand, the U.S constitution is easily identifiable, as the constitution itself, bill of rights, and subsequent amendments.
Define: Ancient
A conglomeration of past events beginning from the recording of human history up to the Early Middle Ages, or post-Classical era. The term ‘classical antiquity’ is often used to refer to history in the Old World, from the beginning of recorded Greek history; ending with the fall of the Roman Empire, the coming of Islam and the rise of Charlemagne. The main historiography used to study Ancient history is archaeology and source texts; because these date from such a long time ago, the definite accuracy can be readily called into question.
Define: Cultural
combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past knowledge, customs, and arts of a group of people. It largely is a study of its namesake. The social, cultural and political factors relating to the arts and manners of differing groups; cultural groups. Studying differing human societies, identifiable through their differing cultural aspects.
Define: Marxist
A school of history influenced heavily by Marxism. The central ideas permeating this study are how social class and economic constraints have determined historical outcomes. Marxist history has contributed to the history of the working class, oppressed nationalities, and the methodology of history from below. Marxist history is generally deterministic, in that it focuses upon an end state of a classless human society. Marxist historiography’s aim was largely to bring those oppressed by history to self-consciousness and to arm them with a strategic ability to fight against this.
Define: women’s/gender
Although they interlap extensively, women’s and gender history must still be regarded as two separate subdivisions of history. Women’s history includes the role women have played in history, the growth of women’s rights, examination of individual women and their historical significance and the effects that historical events have had upon women. Inherent to the study of women’s history is the belief that more traditional recordings of history have minimized or ignored the contributions of women. Thus, women’s history is a form of historical revisionism. This type of history became more popular with second-wave feminist historians; influenced by the new approaches promoted by social history. With very little scholarship in print, these new feminists wanted literature that would explore the ideas of their foremothers. History was written mainly by men, and this was also something that they wanted to rectify. Women were usually excluded and where mentioned, were largely portrayed in sex-stereotypical roles such as wives, mothers and mistresses.
Define: social
Is a broader branch of history; it studies the experiences of ordinary people in the past, in its ‘golden age’ it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars and is still gaining momentum. The new social history movement that was largely conceived in the 1960s is closest to the social history that is studied in the present day. At the simplest level, it is the subdivision of historiography that focus’s on social structures and processes. In a broader context, it can also be understood as the history of an entire society, from a social-historical viewpoint. Subfields of Social history include: Demographic; black, ethnic, labor, women’s, gender, family, education, urban history and rural history.
Define: peoples
‘history from below’, ‘folk history’; seeks to draw upon a historical narrative which draws from the perspective of the common people rather than political and other leaders. A history of mass movements and of the outsiders. It includes, the disenfranchised; the oppressed, the poor, non-conformists, subaltern and forgotten peoples. It is largely a revisionist approach towards to history; is in direct opposition to methods which tend to emphasises the great man theory (Churchill, Roosevelt; Stalin); argues that the driving factor of history is the daily life of ordinary people their social status and profession. Linked with Marxism.
Define: political
The narrative and analysis of political events, ideas, movements, leaders and entities. Significantly interrelated to the fields of diplomatic, social, economic, military, constitutional and public history. As a generalisation, but not a rule, political history focus’s particularly upon the leadership decisions of nation-states. It studies the organisation and operation of power in large societies. With a focus on the elites in power, their impact on society, popular response and the relationships between elites of different states. Can be seen to also follow the idea that the state was the main agent of historical change. Whilst social history is on the rise, political history is upon a decline.
Define: modern
The historiographical approach to the time frame after the post-classical era, (the middle ages). It can be further broken down into the early modern period, and the late modern period. After the French revolution and the industrial revolution. The modern era began approximately in the 16th century.
Define: intellectual + name of the famous intellectual historian
refers to the historiography of major ideas and thinkers. Parallel to the history of philosophy. Its central premise is that ideas do not developing isolation from the people who create and use them, and that one must study ideas not as abstract propositions but in terms of the culture, lives and historical contexts that produced them. Intellectual history attempts to understand ideas from the past by understanding them in context. This context can be political; cultural, intellectual and social. Anyone who put pen to paper to explore their thoughts can be studied as intellectual history; they need not be a world-renowned philosopher. Political thought and its study are classified under intellectual history.
Quentin Skinner: An influential intellectual historian. He has often focused upon the ideas of early modern and previous political writers. Highly regarded as a studier of political thought.
Define: economic
The study of economies of economic phenomena in the past. The use of statistical methods is often frequently applied in this particular historical aspect. Economic history includes business history, financial history and overlaps with areas of social history such as demographic and labour history. The ‘history of capitalism’ can be regarded as a more exclusive study within economic history.
Define: Anthropology
The study of humankind, past and present. Anthropology gains its knowledge from social and biological sciences, as well as the humanities and natural sciences. Often, there is a focus upon cross-cultural comparisons, long-term in-depth examination of context, and the importance it places on participant-observation. Essentially, immersion into a particular culture or way of life.
Define: Sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human social behaviour and its origins, development, organisations, and institutions. It is a social science that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social actions, social structure and functions.
