The revival of Social History in the first decade of the 21st century: return or reconfiguration?

Abstract

The purpose of this contribution is to reflect on the status of Social History in the first decade of the 21st century. In the late 20th century, revisionist theories had a strong influence on the construction of historical knowledge, resulting in a depreciation of the social factor in the theoretical, empirical and even political aspects of such construction. These reflections appear in a context marked by the profound changes experienced by the contemporary societies, and in that regard, the historical discipline provided new approaches, renewed methodological assumptions and epistemological questions to such changes. The social aspects of the discipline have been redefined and strengthened, and this reconfiguration places social factors as a key analytical category, while it tends to approach the social processes from a transnational perspective and to politicize them.