Political history and history of concepts: a study on the ‘political’ in Pierre Rosanvallon and Marcel Gauchet

Abstract

In this article, we aim to analyze the concept of ‘politics’ in the works of Pierre Rosanvallon and Marcel Gauchet. Based on it, we intend to discuss the subject of their investigation, as well as the historical methodologies that they use. This is, in short, a work on the theory and methodology of history, dealing with the field of history of concepts, and with the renewal of political history. We highlight a notion of power and politics that is rooted and spread throughout the society as a whole, reducing the dependency on a central power, while considering possible ways of avoiding the absenteeism that marks our own society.