People's history
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| - | '''History from below''' is a level of [[historical narrative]] which was developed as a result of the French [[Annales School]] and popularised in the [[1960s]]. This form of [[social history]] focuses on the perspectives of [[ordinary people]] within society as well as individuals and regions that were not previously considered historically important. This includes [[women]] and the [[working class]], as well as regions such as [[India]] or [[Africa]]. | + | A '''people's history''' or '''history from below''' is a type of [[historical narrative]] which attempts to account for historical events from the perspective of [[Lower class|common people]] rather than political and other leaders. |
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| + | ==Description== | ||
| + | A people's history (otherwise known as social history) is the history of the world that is the story of mass movements and of the outsiders. Individuals not included in the past in other type of writing about history are part of this theory's primary focus, which includes the [[Disfranchisement|disenfranchised]], the [[oppression|oppressed]], the [[poverty|poor]], the [[Nonconformism|nonconformists]], and the otherwise forgotten people. This theory also usually focuses on events occurring in the fullness of time, or when an overwhelming wave of smaller events cause certain developments to occur. | ||
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| + | This [[Historical revisionism|revisionist approach]] to writing history is in direct opposition to methods which tend to emphasize single great figures in history, referred to as the [[great man theory]]; it argues that the driving factor of history is the daily life of ordinary people, their [[social status]] and [[profession]]. These are the factors that "push and pull" on opinions and allow for trends to develop, as opposed to great people introducing ideas or initiating events. | ||
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| + | In his book ''[[A People's History of the United States]]'', [[Howard Zinn]] wrote: "we must not accept the memory of states as our own. Nations are not communities and never have been, The history of any country, presented as the history of a family, conceals fierce conflicts of interest (sometimes exploding, most often repressed) between conquerors and conquered, masters and slaves, capitalists and workers, dominators and dominated in race and sex. And in such a world of conflict, a world of victims and executioners, it is the job of thinking people, as Albert Camus suggested, not to be on the side of the executioners." | ||
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| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | * [[Canada: A People's History]] (television documentary series) | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===General=== | ||
| + | *[[Labor movement]] | ||
| + | *[[striker]] | ||
| + | *[[Eugene V. Debs]] | ||
| + | *[[Socialist Party of America]] | ||
| + | *[[Antiwar]] movements | ||
| + | *[[Georges Lefebvre]] | ||
| + | *[[George Rudé]] | ||
| + | *[[Howard Zinn]] | ||
| + | *[[Communist Party Historians Group]] | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Other=== | ||
| + | *[[Marxist historiography]] | ||
| + | *[[Alltagsgeschichte]] | ||
| + | *[[Subaltern studies]] | ||
| + | *[[New labor history]] | ||
| + | *[[Leftist]] | ||
| + | *[[Multicultural]] | ||
| + | *[[Anti-imperialist]] | ||
| + | *[[Pentagon papers]] | ||
| + | *[[Espionage Act]] | ||
| + | *[[Ruth Greenglass]] | ||
| + | *[[David Greenglass]] | ||
| + | *[[Ron Kovic]] | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==References== | ||
| + | {{reflist}} | ||
| + | {{Unreferenced|date=August 2009}} | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{wikibooks}} | ||
| + | ==Further reading== | ||
| + | * ''A People's History of the Russian Revolution'' by Kevin Murphy'' | ||
| + | * ''[http://www.amazon.com/dp/1442167092 A People's History of Florida 1513-1876: How Africans, Seminoles, Women, and Lower Class Whites Shaped the Sunshine State]'' by Adam Wasserman | ||
| + | * ''A People's History of England'' by [[A. L. Morton]] | ||
| + | * ''A People’s History of Poverty in America'' by [[Stephen Pimpare]] | ||
| + | * ''A People’s History of Sports in the United States'' by [[Dave Zirin]] | ||
| + | * ''[[A People's History of the Mexican Revolution]]'' by [[Adolfo Gilly]] | ||
| + | * ''[[A People's History of the United States]]'' by [[Howard Zinn]] | ||
| + | * ''A People's History of the United States (in 8 volumes) by [[Page Smith]] | ||
| + | * ''A People's History of the World'' by [[Chris Harman]] | ||
| + | * ''The Blood Never Dried: A People's History of the British Empire'' by [[John Newsinger]] | ||
| + | * ''A People's History of the Supreme Court'' by [[Peter Irons]] | ||
| + | * ''[[The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome]]'' by [[Michael Parenti]] | ||
| + | * ''A People's History of the American Revolution: How Common People Shaped the Fight for Independence'' by [[Ray Raphael]] | ||
| + | *''A People's History of the Vietnam War'' by [[Jonathan Neale]] (US Title) | ||
| + | *''A People's History of the Civil War: Struggles for the Meaning of Freedom'' by [[David Williams]] | ||
| + | *''A People's History of Science: Miners, Midwives, and "Low Mechaniks"'' by [[Clifford D. Conner]] | ||
| + | *''The Congo: From Leopold to Kabila: A People's History'' by [[Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja]] | ||
| + | *''Reformation Christianity: A People's History of Christianity'' by [[Peter Matheson]] and [[Denis R. Janz]] | ||
| + | *''Christian Origins: A People's History of Christianity, Vol. 1'' by [[Richard A. Horsley]] | ||
| + | *''Ancient Christianity: A People's History of Christianity, Vol. 2'' by [[Virginia Burrus]] | ||
| + | *''The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World'' by [[Vijay Prashad]] | ||
| + | *''The English Civil War: A People's History'' by [[Diane Purkiss]] | ||
| + | *''A History of the Swedish People, Vol. 1: From Prehistory to the Renaissance'' by [[Vilhelm Moberg]] | ||
| + | *''A History of the Swedish People, Vol. 2: From Renaissance to Revolution'' by [[Vilhelm Moberg]] | ||
| - | The book ''[[New Perspectives on Historical Writing]]'', warns that without [[context]], ''history from below'' can become a casual definition of isolated cases [[insignificance|devoid of any real significance]]. Sharpe argues that this form of historical scholarship needs to be concretely linked to its place in history (e.g. its antecedents, consequences, etc) in a manner similar to what [[Anthropology|anthropologists]] call "[[thick description]]". | ||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Revision as of 17:10, 4 July 2010
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A people's history or history from below is a type of historical narrative which attempts to account for historical events from the perspective of common people rather than political and other leaders.
Contents |
Description
A people's history (otherwise known as social history) is the history of the world that is the story of mass movements and of the outsiders. Individuals not included in the past in other type of writing about history are part of this theory's primary focus, which includes the disenfranchised, the oppressed, the poor, the nonconformists, and the otherwise forgotten people. This theory also usually focuses on events occurring in the fullness of time, or when an overwhelming wave of smaller events cause certain developments to occur.
This revisionist approach to writing history is in direct opposition to methods which tend to emphasize single great figures in history, referred to as the great man theory; it argues that the driving factor of history is the daily life of ordinary people, their social status and profession. These are the factors that "push and pull" on opinions and allow for trends to develop, as opposed to great people introducing ideas or initiating events.
In his book A People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn wrote: "we must not accept the memory of states as our own. Nations are not communities and never have been, The history of any country, presented as the history of a family, conceals fierce conflicts of interest (sometimes exploding, most often repressed) between conquerors and conquered, masters and slaves, capitalists and workers, dominators and dominated in race and sex. And in such a world of conflict, a world of victims and executioners, it is the job of thinking people, as Albert Camus suggested, not to be on the side of the executioners."
See also
- Canada: A People's History (television documentary series)
General
- Labor movement
- striker
- Eugene V. Debs
- Socialist Party of America
- Antiwar movements
- Georges Lefebvre
- George Rudé
- Howard Zinn
- Communist Party Historians Group
Other
- Marxist historiography
- Alltagsgeschichte
- Subaltern studies
- New labor history
- Leftist
- Multicultural
- Anti-imperialist
- Pentagon papers
- Espionage Act
- Ruth Greenglass
- David Greenglass
- Ron Kovic
References
Template:Reflist Template:Unreferenced
Further reading
- A People's History of the Russian Revolution by Kevin Murphy
- A People's History of Florida 1513-1876: How Africans, Seminoles, Women, and Lower Class Whites Shaped the Sunshine State by Adam Wasserman
- A People's History of England by A. L. Morton
- A People’s History of Poverty in America by Stephen Pimpare
- A People’s History of Sports in the United States by Dave Zirin
- A People's History of the Mexican Revolution by Adolfo Gilly
- A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
- A People's History of the United States (in 8 volumes) by Page Smith
- A People's History of the World by Chris Harman
- The Blood Never Dried: A People's History of the British Empire by John Newsinger
- A People's History of the Supreme Court by Peter Irons
- The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome by Michael Parenti
- A People's History of the American Revolution: How Common People Shaped the Fight for Independence by Ray Raphael
- A People's History of the Vietnam War by Jonathan Neale (US Title)
- A People's History of the Civil War: Struggles for the Meaning of Freedom by David Williams
- A People's History of Science: Miners, Midwives, and "Low Mechaniks" by Clifford D. Conner
- The Congo: From Leopold to Kabila: A People's History by Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja
- Reformation Christianity: A People's History of Christianity by Peter Matheson and Denis R. Janz
- Christian Origins: A People's History of Christianity, Vol. 1 by Richard A. Horsley
- Ancient Christianity: A People's History of Christianity, Vol. 2 by Virginia Burrus
- The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World by Vijay Prashad
- The English Civil War: A People's History by Diane Purkiss
- A History of the Swedish People, Vol. 1: From Prehistory to the Renaissance by Vilhelm Moberg
- A History of the Swedish People, Vol. 2: From Renaissance to Revolution by Vilhelm Moberg
See also
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "People's history" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
