220045 History from below (GST) (SoSe 2011)

The main aim of this course is to make acquaintance with one of the most important trends in post-Second World War historiography – History from Below. ´History from Below´ approach takes ordinary people as its subjects of analysis and concentrate on their experiences and perspectives, and thereby contrasting itself with the stereotype of traditional political history and its focus on the actions of 'great men'. It also differed from traditional labour history in that its exponents were more interested in popular protest and culture than in the organizations of the working class. The course will focus mainly on the works of the main proponents of ´History from Below´ approach. It will also introduce some of the recent trends that can be regarded as a part of this historical approach - ´Subaltern Studies´.

The Seminar will be conducted in English. (However, fluency in spoken English will not be a necessary requirement to attend the course).

Literaturangaben

. P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class/Die Entstehung der Englischen Arbeiterklasse
Eric J. Hobsbawm, Bandits/Die Banditen
Gyan Prakash, ´Subaltern Studies and Postcolonial Criticism´, in The American Historical Review, 99/5 (1994), pp. 1475-1490.