People's history

History from below is an approach to the everyday story of discriminated groups - mostly in a regional context - should be explored and presented. Often this is done with the help of archives from below and history workshops. As a wearer of this history from below the New History movement is named.

Historical development of history from below

In the U.S., the history from below developed inspired by the Annales school of French historiography in the 1960s. They looked at as Grassroots History or Social History strongly with the American civil rights movement in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. Scripture The Making of the English Working Class (1963 ) by the British historian EP Thompson, as well as its socio-historical writings are regarded as milestones in the history from below.

After Bernd Huettner the practice of history from below in three steps developed in Germany:

  • Since the 60s, perceived as hegemonic politics and intellectual history (" statesmen make history " ) was established by Historical Social Science criticized, which campaigned for the emphasis on social processes and structures. She examined classes and strata, technical innovation and economics.
  • The the new social movements of the late 70s related Alltagsgeschichte criticized at the historical social science that the individual, his life and individual interpretations do not occur there.
  • In the 80s it comes to establishing the history workshops in which unite feminist, trade union and other voluntary and academic historians and historians.

Process of appropriation of history

After Gerhard Paul and Bernhard Schoßig finds the historical appropriation, which is the story of down to basically, in a democratic process instead, which they characterize as open, active and publicly:

  • Open: the research results are so far open as they must serve no legitimacy, but are open for discussion and interpretations of those affected and involved.
  • Active: the ( amateur ) researchers and researchers of history from below are themselves subjects of the examination of history.
  • Public: the history from below is substantially dependent on the public.
  • "Research priorities and issues are autonomously developed and defined not prescribed;
  • The research process of the ( lay ) historian is conceived as a collective learning process;
  • The research instruments is not taken unchecked from a scientific tradition and conformity, but applied the Forschungsgegegenstand mutandis;
  • Detours are aware of accepted since no direct scientific exploitation relationship exists;
  • Cooperative work is opposite to the competition;
  • But above all, remain identified information and developed relationships no secret knowledge, the dust in study- and library, but be made public and ' participants adequately ' the rural or urban or association's public relayed. " (Gerhard Paul, Bernhard Schoßig )
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