将老百姓还原于历史:美国社会史学的发展

本文概述了社会史在美国的发展,重点讨论了社会史的起源、发展及其面临的挑战。作者也考察了社会史研究方法的变迁,包括借鉴人种史、心理学、社会学、行为科学及计量学的研究方法。美国社会史对于历史研究的贡献在于:普通老百姓不仅有自己的历史而且还对历史的发展作出了贡献;社会史还使超越政治的各种人类行为成为历史研究中不可缺少的部分。美国社会史的诞生及成长绝非一帆风顺,特别是自20世纪60年代以来,社会史学家不仅需要面对其他史学同行的挑战,而且还要在与保守派的斗争中赢得美国公众的支持。

Return Ordinary People to History:The Development of American Social History

The article is a summary of American social history,focusing on the origin,development and challenges faced by US social history.Moreover,it also discusses the development of the methodology of social history inspired by ethno-history,psychology,sociology,behavioral science and quantitative research.The most important contribution of social history to the history discipline is the incorporation of ordinary people’s history as part of the narrative,premised on the belief that human behavior beyond politics is a necessary part of history.The author describes that the birth and growth of American social history are by no means smooth,and especially since the 1960s,social historians had to face the challenges from their own history colleagues on the one hand,and had to win the support from the public in the fight with conservatives.