历史学专业英语06Comparativehistory.pptVIP

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Comparative History Dr Mark J Crowley E-Mail: MJC83@LIVE.CO.UK Who wanted comparative history? Adam Smith John Stuart Mill Marc Bloch Max Weber Otto Hintze Henri Pirenne Emile Durkheim How has it developed? Exchange programmes Globalisation Little impact in Britain To succeed, it needs to be linked with theory Different types of comparison Nation-states Regions Micro and macro comparisons Smaller comparisons can be more detailed Weber – religion and economics Purpose of comparison Individualising Universalising Encompassing comparisons (e.g. nationalism) Variation-finding (e.g. comparative Fascism) Complex analysis and detailed understanding Establish similarities and differences Aims Question national explanations Stress diversity Encourage scepticism Enrich research through comparison Multiple identities created by context Examine what went wrong Moral judgements Promises of comparative history Gain better knowledge Adapt positive elements from other societies Early histories didn’t look at European Experience Why was there no significant Marxism in Britain and the USA? Importance of comparison 1895 – Durkheim said comparison was crucial Can now distinguish between good and bad 1930 economic slump Hitler came to power BUT no Fascism in UK and USA! Key questions How did similar events produce different results? German industrialisation social problems Britain a success A good way to test theories Looks at many development possibilities Problems Need to know more than one social context Spatial and time constraints Theoretical and conceptual frameworks Linguistic problems Archives Archives from two countries are not similar Different research traditions Different questions produce different views Do we need to ‘experience’ the region/country? Geographical and time boundaries Justify why you have chosen these boundaries Borders need to be chosen carefully Why do we choose to start and end at this point? Do we compare