Definitions of major schools of historical thought
Political Historyfocusses on great people, great political events (Thomas
Jefferson or the signing of the Declaration of Independence). Can include foreign policy, memoirs/autobiographies, biographies. Materialism 1. Marxist Historyfocusses on the relationships between classes (the class struggle). Examines class in terms of revolution or change; oftentimes examines in terms of progress. (often includes economic history) 2. Annales Schoolgreat trends over long periods of time. Demographic changes, economic crises (the 17th-century had a "mini" ice age, consequent poor harvests and decline in population), the environment. Often uses geography to set the historical scene 3. Social History/The New Social Historytakes much from both of the 1st two examples of materialism. Focus is on "history from below" or the history of everyday life. Special emphasis is given to shared lived experience, especially in recreating the histories of immigrants, women and minorities. Cultural Historybuilds on revisionism of the materialist schools that focus on culture. Often uses language as a historical tool (the so-called 'linguistic turn'). Borrows from anthropology and linguistics to get at the mentalits of people in the past. Intellectual Historyoften termed the history of ideas, this history early on examined great works, the 'classics.' Intellectual historians read these classics to understand the past and how people thought about their world (NB, Hayden White is an intellectual historian).