History from Below: Between Democratisation and Populism
What we know as history from below has long been considered a more democratic form of history-writing and research than forms of history that have counted, sometimes by default, as elite, and therefore by implication elitist. But history from below also has a tendency towards populism: an emphasis on authenticity, on voices uncontaminated by elite narratives, and a focus on the indigenous. Apart from its having a long-standing problem of finding sources to ‘give voice’ to the underrepresented, the question as to who can write about (and therefore represent) the people below, and a possible focus, in consequence, on themes of blood, soil, and the Volk.

This volume explores, over nine essays and an introductory thematic essay, these tensions and dichotomies. The purpose is to bring to the foreground a long-standing danger of celebrating voices from below, perhaps uncritically at times, and therefore also of a romanticisation of those voices.

1147476993
History from Below: Between Democratisation and Populism
What we know as history from below has long been considered a more democratic form of history-writing and research than forms of history that have counted, sometimes by default, as elite, and therefore by implication elitist. But history from below also has a tendency towards populism: an emphasis on authenticity, on voices uncontaminated by elite narratives, and a focus on the indigenous. Apart from its having a long-standing problem of finding sources to ‘give voice’ to the underrepresented, the question as to who can write about (and therefore represent) the people below, and a possible focus, in consequence, on themes of blood, soil, and the Volk.

This volume explores, over nine essays and an introductory thematic essay, these tensions and dichotomies. The purpose is to bring to the foreground a long-standing danger of celebrating voices from below, perhaps uncritically at times, and therefore also of a romanticisation of those voices.

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History from Below: Between Democratisation and Populism

History from Below: Between Democratisation and Populism

History from Below: Between Democratisation and Populism

History from Below: Between Democratisation and Populism

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Overview

What we know as history from below has long been considered a more democratic form of history-writing and research than forms of history that have counted, sometimes by default, as elite, and therefore by implication elitist. But history from below also has a tendency towards populism: an emphasis on authenticity, on voices uncontaminated by elite narratives, and a focus on the indigenous. Apart from its having a long-standing problem of finding sources to ‘give voice’ to the underrepresented, the question as to who can write about (and therefore represent) the people below, and a possible focus, in consequence, on themes of blood, soil, and the Volk.

This volume explores, over nine essays and an introductory thematic essay, these tensions and dichotomies. The purpose is to bring to the foreground a long-standing danger of celebrating voices from below, perhaps uncritically at times, and therefore also of a romanticisation of those voices.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9783111504643
Publisher: De Gruyter
Publication date: 07/21/2025
Series: The Politics of Historical Thinking , #6
Pages: 308
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.06(h) x (d)

About the Author

Brigitta Bernet, Zürich; Lutz Raphael, Trier; Benjamin Zachariah, Potsdam.

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