Comparative history
Encyclopedia
Comparative history is the comparison of different societies which existed during the same time period or shared similar cultural conditions. The comparative history of societies emerged as an important specialty among intellectuals in the Enlightenment in the 18th century, as typified by Montesquieu, Voltaire
, Adam Smith
, and others. Sociologists and economists in the 19th century often explored comparative history, as exemplified by Alexis de Tocqueville
, Karl Marx
, and Max Weber
. In the first half of the 20th century, a large reading public followed the comparative histories of Oswald Spengler
, Pitirim Sorokin
, and Arnold J. Toynbee
. Since the 1950s, however, comparative history has faded from the public view, and is now the domain of specialized scholars working independently. Recent exemplars of this approach include American sociologist Barrington Moore and historian Herbert E. Bolton; British historians Arnold Toynbee and Geoffrey Barraclough
; and German historian Oswald Spengler
. Several sociologists are prominent in this field, including Max Weber
, S. N. Eisenstadt, Seymour Martin Lipset
, Charles Tilly
, and Michael Mann
.
Historians generally accept the comparison of particular institutions (banking, women's rights, ethnic identities) in different societies, but since the hostile reaction to Toynbee in the 1950s, generally do not pay much attention to sweeping comparative studies that cover wide swaths of the world over many centuries.
studies the Atlantic World
in the early modern period
. It is premised on the idea that, following the rise of sustained European contact with the New World in the 16th century, the continents that bordered the Atlantic Ocean—the Americas, Europe, and Africa—constituted a regional system or common sphere of economic and cultural exchange that can be studied as a totality.
Its theme is the complex interaction between Europe (especially Britain and France) and the New World colonies
. It encompasses a wide range of demographic, social, economic, political, legal, military, intellectual and religious topics treated in comparative fashion by looking at both sides of the Atlantic. Religious revivals characterized Britain and Germany, as well as the First Great Awakening
in the American colonies. Migration and race/slavery have been important topics.
Although a relatively new field , it has stimulated numerous studies of comparative history especially regarding ideas, colonialism, slavery, economic history, and political revolutions in the 18th century in North and South America, Europe and Africa.
models have been developed to show the sequence of transitions from traditional to modern societies, and indeed to postmodern societies. This research flourished especially in the 1960s, with Princeton University setting up seminars that compared the modernization process in China, Japan, Russia and other nations.
Modernization theory and history have been explicitly used as guides for countries eager to develop rapidly, such as China. Indeed, modernization has been proposed as the most useful framework for World history
in China, because as one of the developing countries that started late, "China's modernization has to be based on the experiences and lessons of other countries.".
known as comparative politics
. This includes "transnational" history and sometimes also international history.
have often compared the organization, tactical and strategic ideas, leadership, and national support of the militaries of different nations.
Historians have emphasized the need to stretch beyond battles and generals to do more comparative analysis.
in recent years has been done by model-building economists who show occasional interest in comparative data analysis. However more traditional research methodologies have been combined with econometrics, for example in the comparison of merchant guilds in Europe.
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
, Adam Smith
Adam Smith
Adam Smith was a Scottish social philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations...
, and others. Sociologists and economists in the 19th century often explored comparative history, as exemplified by Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville was a French political thinker and historian best known for his Democracy in America and The Old Regime and the Revolution . In both of these works, he explored the effects of the rising equality of social conditions on the individual and the state in...
, Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
, and Max Weber
Max Weber
Karl Emil Maximilian "Max" Weber was a German sociologist and political economist who profoundly influenced social theory, social research, and the discipline of sociology itself...
. In the first half of the 20th century, a large reading public followed the comparative histories of Oswald Spengler
Oswald Spengler
Oswald Manuel Arnold Gottfried Spengler was a German historian and philosopher whose interests also included mathematics, science, and art. He is best known for his book The Decline of the West , published in 1918, which puts forth a cyclical theory of the rise and decline of civilizations...
, Pitirim Sorokin
Pitirim Sorokin
Pitirim Alexandrovich Sorokin was a Russian-American sociologist born in Komi . Academic and political activist in Russia, he emigrated from Russia to the United States in 1923. He founded the Department of Sociology at Harvard University. He was a vocal opponent of Talcott Parsons' theories...
, and Arnold J. Toynbee
Arnold J. Toynbee
Arnold Joseph Toynbee CH was a British historian whose twelve-volume analysis of the rise and fall of civilizations, A Study of History, 1934–1961, was a synthesis of world history, a metahistory based on universal rhythms of rise, flowering and decline, which examined history from a global...
. Since the 1950s, however, comparative history has faded from the public view, and is now the domain of specialized scholars working independently. Recent exemplars of this approach include American sociologist Barrington Moore and historian Herbert E. Bolton; British historians Arnold Toynbee and Geoffrey Barraclough
Geoffrey Barraclough
Geoffrey Barraclough was a British historian, known as a medievalistand historian of Germany.He was educated at Bootham School in York and at Bradford Grammar School...
; and German historian Oswald Spengler
Oswald Spengler
Oswald Manuel Arnold Gottfried Spengler was a German historian and philosopher whose interests also included mathematics, science, and art. He is best known for his book The Decline of the West , published in 1918, which puts forth a cyclical theory of the rise and decline of civilizations...
. Several sociologists are prominent in this field, including Max Weber
Max Weber
Karl Emil Maximilian "Max" Weber was a German sociologist and political economist who profoundly influenced social theory, social research, and the discipline of sociology itself...
, S. N. Eisenstadt, Seymour Martin Lipset
Seymour Martin Lipset
Seymour Martin Lipset was an American political sociologist, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, and the Hazel Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University. His major work was in the fields of political sociology, trade union organization, social stratification, public opinion, and...
, Charles Tilly
Charles Tilly
Charles Tilly was an American sociologist, political scientist, and historian who wrote on the relationship between politics and society. He was the Joseph L. Buttenwieser Professor of Social Science at Columbia University....
, and Michael Mann
Michael Mann (sociologist)
Michael Mann is a British-born professor of Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles and Visiting Research Professor at Queen's University Belfast. Mann holds dual British and US citizenships. He received his B.A. in Modern History from the University of Oxford in 1963 and his...
.
Historians generally accept the comparison of particular institutions (banking, women's rights, ethnic identities) in different societies, but since the hostile reaction to Toynbee in the 1950s, generally do not pay much attention to sweeping comparative studies that cover wide swaths of the world over many centuries.
Atlantic history
Atlantic historyAtlantic history
Atlantic history is a specialty field in history that studies of the Atlantic World in the early modern period. It is premised on the idea that, following the rise of sustained European contact with the New World in the 16th century, the continents that bordered the Atlantic Ocean—the...
studies the Atlantic World
Atlantic world
The Atlantic World is an organizing concept for the historical study of the Atlantic Ocean rim from the beginning of the Age of Exploration to the anad modern era. In many ways the history of the "Atlantic world" culminates in the "Atlantic Revolutions" of the late 18th century and early 19th century...
in the early modern period
Early modern period
In history, the early modern period of modern history follows the late Middle Ages. Although the chronological limits of the period are open to debate, the timeframe spans the period after the late portion of the Middle Ages through the beginning of the Age of Revolutions...
. It is premised on the idea that, following the rise of sustained European contact with the New World in the 16th century, the continents that bordered the Atlantic Ocean—the Americas, Europe, and Africa—constituted a regional system or common sphere of economic and cultural exchange that can be studied as a totality.
Its theme is the complex interaction between Europe (especially Britain and France) and the New World colonies
Colonial America
The colonial history of the United States covers the history from the start of European settlement and especially the history of the thirteen colonies of Britain until they declared independence in 1776. In the late 16th century, England, France, Spain and the Netherlands launched major...
. It encompasses a wide range of demographic, social, economic, political, legal, military, intellectual and religious topics treated in comparative fashion by looking at both sides of the Atlantic. Religious revivals characterized Britain and Germany, as well as the First Great Awakening
First Great Awakening
The First Awakening was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, and especially the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of personal...
in the American colonies. Migration and race/slavery have been important topics.
Although a relatively new field , it has stimulated numerous studies of comparative history especially regarding ideas, colonialism, slavery, economic history, and political revolutions in the 18th century in North and South America, Europe and Africa.
Modernization models
Beginning with German and French sociologists of the late 19th century, modernizationModernization
In the social sciences, modernization or modernisation refers to a model of an evolutionary transition from a 'pre-modern' or 'traditional' to a 'modern' society. The teleology of modernization is described in social evolutionism theories, existing as a template that has been generally followed by...
models have been developed to show the sequence of transitions from traditional to modern societies, and indeed to postmodern societies. This research flourished especially in the 1960s, with Princeton University setting up seminars that compared the modernization process in China, Japan, Russia and other nations.
Modernization theory and history have been explicitly used as guides for countries eager to develop rapidly, such as China. Indeed, modernization has been proposed as the most useful framework for World history
World History
World History, Global History or Transnational history is a field of historical study that emerged as a distinct academic field in the 1980s. It examines history from a global perspective...
in China, because as one of the developing countries that started late, "China's modernization has to be based on the experiences and lessons of other countries.".
Comparative politics
The field of comparative history often overlaps with the subdivision of political sciencePolitical science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
known as comparative politics
Comparative politics
Comparative politics is a subfield of political science, characterized by an empirical approach based on the comparative method. Arend Lijphart argues that comparative politics does not have a substantive focus in itself, but rather a methodological one: it focuses on "the how but does not specify...
. This includes "transnational" history and sometimes also international history.
Military history
Military historiansMilitary history
Military history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and changing intra and international relationships....
have often compared the organization, tactical and strategic ideas, leadership, and national support of the militaries of different nations.
Historians have emphasized the need to stretch beyond battles and generals to do more comparative analysis.
Slavery
The study of slavery in comparative perspective, ranging from the ancient world to the 19th century, has attracted numerous historians in recent years.Economics
Much of Economic historyEconomic history
Economic history is the study of economies or economic phenomena in the past. Analysis in economic history is undertaken using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and by applying economic theory to historical situations and institutions...
in recent years has been done by model-building economists who show occasional interest in comparative data analysis. However more traditional research methodologies have been combined with econometrics, for example in the comparison of merchant guilds in Europe.