This week, ending in March 02 2017:
Today's thread is for open discussion of:
History in the academy
Historiographical disputes, debates and rivalries
Implications of historical theory both abstractly and in application
Philosophy of history
And so on
Regular participants in the Thursday threads should just keep doing what they've been doing; newcomers should take notice that this thread is meant for open discussion only of matters like those above, not just anything you like -- we'll have a thread on Friday for that, as usual.
what would you say are the strengths and weaknesses of "the linguistic turn" vis-a-vis social history proper?
as an example: just today i read an interesting essay by b.i. kolinitskii, within the first tradition, dealing with how the term "democracy" was used and understood during the russian revolution. it gave a thought-provoking view of the formation and contradictions of political consciousness, both between classes and within them. however, it seems like it's only useful as complementary reading, alongside more exhaustive looks on the material development (in this example: political factions, movement and formation of classes etc.).