Social history

Researched social history and describes the development of societies in the past.

First was social history - mostly as "social and economic history " - as a sub-discipline of historical science in addition to the dominant political history. It is about a society by the dominant groups, stands, layers or classes. In the 20th century different directions, use the term social history developed differently. The structural history examined on the basis of sociology structural elements of historical societies and is held social processes. In contrast, " social history as social history -oriented interpretation of the general story" is also referred to as social history.

Germany

In the German historiography, which has long been focused on the discovery and description of the state action, the social history has traditionally been neglected. This orientation was confirmed in the dispute of the leading authorities with Karl Lamprecht in the 1890s. Social history of socialism was suspicious.

During the period of National Socialism, it came with the "People's History " to a rejection of the politics -centered approach. This ethnic sociologists such as Hans Freyer were received. 1957 founded Otto Brunner and Werner Conze the working group for modern social history and operated structural history, an approach with which they wanted to investigate political, social, economic and other issues. They understood social history as a specific way of looking at the general history, " an approach, in which the inner construction, the structure of human associations in the foreground, while the political history, the political action, the self-assertion of the subject ," the definition of Otto Brunner.

Influenced by it, and in contrast to this arose in the 1960s as " Historical Social Science " understood social history of the Bielefeld school, since 1975 in the journal History and society has its own forum. She tries to run social history as a total history of historical societies.

In addition, however, there is also an understanding of social history as the history of social movements, especially the labor movement. This social history as a historical sub-discipline with limited subject area is expressed for example in the journal labor movement and social history. It is available in loose connection with a research direction, the history of social progress operates in order to contribute to the analysis of current problems. Finally, the research on the history of poor relief and the welfare state has become established as a branch of social history.

Internationally

Outside of Germany were socio-historical approaches already spread in the interwar period. Of great influence was the French Annales school, which was received in Germany but later.

In the context of increasing specialization of historical science, the debate of concepts and approaches of the French and English historiography and in the system dealing with the Marxist- Leninist science of history to the historical picture the social history gained in the second half of the 20th century along with the economic history of increasing importance.

The history of everyday life first developed in polemical rejection against the social history in its Bielefeld form, which it complained too much fixation on structures and a neglect of the experience of individuals. Among other things, from the everyday story originated with the new cultural history of a now competing with the social history approach.