Rethinking history : the 1964 interdisciplinary conference on methodological questions of historical science
Abstract
The focus of this article is an officially authorized symposium in which historians and philosophers took up the task of devising a new Marxist-based theory and methodology of history in accordance with party instructions. The author considers the materials of the conference in two complementary ways: first, as a direct response to the paradigm shift in historical pedagogy and research announced by party officials; second, as a vehicle for examining some of the more creative readings of Marx and ways of engaging with intellectual currents abroad. Albeit representing the voice of the few, these bolder arguments attest to initiatives undertaken by members of the academic community themselves to rethink the terms of historical enquiry and the meaning of history. They also point to some potentially rewarding parallels between Thaw-era Soviet historiography and the turn to social and cultural history in the West, which would eventually benefit from analysis in a comparative perspective.
Citation
Nethercott , F M 2018 , ' Rethinking history : the 1964 interdisciplinary conference on methodological questions of historical science ' , Rivista di Storia della Filosofia , vol. LXXIII , no. 2 , pp. 251-264 . https://doi.org/10.3280/SF2018-002004
Publication
Rivista di Storia della Filosofia
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0393-2516Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2018 FrancoAngeli srl. This work has been made available online with permission. This is the author created accepted version manuscript following peer review and as such may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.3280/SF2018-002004
Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.