Dominic Sachsenmaier

Global history and critiques of western perspectives

The article discusses the parameters of the expanding field of global history and its wider methodological implications. In a first step the author outlines the rising interest in transcultural and global history that can be observed in many parts of the world. In this context different approaches to global history as well as alternative methodologies and periodizations are discussed. In a second step the author reflects upon the possibilities and challenges for global history in an age in which universalism and Eurocentrism have long come under attack from many different directions. The article discusses dependency theory and subaltern studies as two very different precursors to the current critiques of Eurocentrism. The impact and legacy of such schools, the author argues, cannot be ignored by global historians, even though they do not need to get directly involved in these academic discourses. The piece ends with scenarios for multipolar and pluralistic perspectives on the past.

World History as Ecumenical History

This article discusses the challenges and constraints on the way toward more ecumenical forms of world historical scholarship. Refuting the charge that world history is necessarily Eurocentric in nature, the article points out that it is impossible to discuss intercultural conceptions of world history without touching on the international structures, flows, and hierarchies that characterize the field. The article argues that several transformations within the social sciences and humanities may prove to be relevant for transcultural and world history. The article concludes that internationally convincing perspectives can be gained only if the international landscapes of historiography become more ecumenical.

Recent Trends in European History: The World beyond Europe and Alternative Historical Spaces

S JMEH_01_2009 005-144_0903 3AK 001:JMEH_137—260_2AK_08 08 DRUCK 10.03.2009 11:19 Uhr Seite 25