The New Social History,Local History and Comunity Empowerment

8/12/2019 The New Social History,Local History and Comunity Empowerment

1/6


2/6

EDITORS PAGE

Clarke A Cham bers

subsidized by the G. I . b i l l were t ra ined up to accep t ,no t uncr i t i ca l ly to be su re , t rad i t iona l in t e rp re t a t ions o ft h e A m e r i c a n p a s t . P r o g r e s s i v e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y h e l dsway. Not all was r ight w i th th e wo rld; we had, af ter al l ,g o n e t h r o u g h t h e G r e a t D e p r e s s i o n , w i t n e s s e d t h ee m e r g e n c e o f t o t a li t a r ia n s y s t e m s , e n g a g e d o u r s e l v e swi th o thers in e f fo r t s to b r ing down demonic imper i a l isms. W e l earned o f geno c ide ; we su f fe red th roug h theanx ie t i es engendered by a tomic d ip lomacy and co ld war ;as appr en t i ce scho lars and t each ers we resp ond ed to thepres su res o f McCar thy i sm and to the impos i t ion o f loya l ty oaths . But most of us impl ici t ly s t i l l bel ieved that inAmer ica , a t l eas t , h i s to ry had bee n ben ign . A f ree , o pen ,l ibera l soc ie ty , t oge ther wi th advanc ing s t andards o f l i v ing and hea l th , o f fe red the bes t ho pe fo r hum an p rogres s . The Amer ican pas t , so read , gave p roof (and p romi se to come) o f p rob lem s su r m ou n te d , t ens ions reso lved ,d iv i s ions reconc i l ed . The h i s to r i es we read , and beganourse lves to wr i t e , were no t na ive , bu t they d id t end toaddress t radi t ional i ssues and to aff i rm the basic l iberalvalues of the Am erica n s tory.

To such as su red pos i t ions the tumul tuous even t s o fthe 1960s and '70s were a l toge ther upse t t ing . The c iv i lr ights n io vem ent , wi th i t s v is ion of an in teg rat ed societyand i t s hope tha t decen t persons and democra t i c , cons t i tu t iona l fo rces wou ld overcome deep ly ing ra ined hab i t so f p re jud ice an d d i sc r im ina t ion , gave way to s t ra t eg ics e p a r a t i o n a n d b l a c k p o w e r . E m e r g i n g w o m e n ' s m o v e men t s to ld us tha t s ex i sm and pa t r i a rchy were as anc ien tand as oppress ive as rac i sm. Fro m e thn ic g rou ps tha t

* That major parts of the "new" social history representedresponses to these events we take as a truism (by which termwe also mean that they were fundamentally and vitally true).Space will not permit extensive modification of this simpleobservation, but Robert F. Berkhofer, Jr., has argued persuasively that the consensus historians of the 1940s and 1950sand the conflict school of history that followed related both tocontemporary conditions and to scholarly traditions internal tohistorical inquiry. Changing concepts of culture and modes ofcultural analysis, he elaborates, made as crucial a difference inhow we perceived the past as the events of that remarkableera. Berkhofer, 'Clio and the Culture Concept; Some Impressions of a Changing R elationship in Am erican Historiogra phy, "in Social Science Quarterly, .53;297-.320 (S ept em be r, 1972).

came to t ake p r ide in the hyphen we l earned tha t t he po thad no t me l t ed us a ll i n to a b l e nd ed c i t i zen ry . Am er icanI n d i a n s r e m i n d e d u s o f a n c i e n t w r o n g s . D u r i n g t h e"War on Pover ty we were conf ron ted by the pers i s tence of economic and racial in jus t ices ( the color of poverty was so often black) and were made to look at s t ructuralfaul ts that d iv ided society alon g jag ge d l ines of class andcu l tu re . The coun tercu l tu re , ev idenced in the l ives o four daugh ters and sons and s tuden t s , ca l l ed in to quest ion a who le rang e o f gen tee l , bourg eo i s v i r tue s wo rkt h ri ft , p r u d e n c e , t i d i n e s s , r e s p e c t a b i l i ty , t e m p e r a n c ese l f -con t ro l , p r ivacy , and ambi t ion . Sudden ly we hada l so to recogn ize a p l an e t p lu nd ere d by heed les s exp lo i t a t ion . The war in Sou theas t As ia p rovoked an an t iw a r c o a l i t i o n t h a t c a s t d o u b t o n a s s u m p t i o n s a b o u tAm er ica ' s mis s ion and the who le cours e of Un i t ed S ta t espo l i cy ab road . The Bea t l es b roke upon the Amer icanscene in the winter of 1964, and their rock beat set arhy thm fo r the decade .

Eve n in the days o f cons ensu s we kne w tha t eachgenera t ion mus t rewr i t e i t s h i s to ry . In the 1960s webegan to a t t ack tha t t ask : to address new i s sues , s eek oun e w e v i d e n c e , a s s a y n e w i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s . T h e e n t e r p r i s eproved both painful and exhilarat ing. '^WHAT came by the mid-1960s to be iden t i f i ed as a newlabor his tory, a ne w u rban h i s to ry , a ne w local h is tory , inshort , ane w soc ia l h i s to ry , shar ed man y as su mp t ions andpercep t ions . Whatever the spec ia l subd iv i s ions o f a t t ent i o n a n d t h e m e b l a c k s , w o m e n , i m m i g r a n t s , w o r k e r s ,fami l i es , you ths , and ch i ld ren a l l g rew ou t o f con temp o r a r y c o n c e r n s a n d i s s u e s t h a t w e r e i m m e d i a t e a n dp r e s s i n g . W i t h s p e c i a l u r g e n c y , b l a c k h i s t o r y a n dwo me n 's h i s to ry re l a t ed to powerfu l soc ial n iov em ent sfor l i bera t ion , ge ner a ted h igh l eve l s o f ene rgy an d cont roversy , and p rovoked bo th lov ing and angiw e m o t i o n sTh e invo lvem ent o f the to t a l pers on , Vhistorien engag( there i s no Eng l i sh equ iva len t as fo rcefu l as the Frenchterm ) , l ed to an in t ens i ty o f acad em ic en te rp r i se th a t waen thus ias t i c p rec i se ly bec aus e it was com pel l e d by thessoc ia l movement s . Scho lars sough t to t e l l t he s to ry og r o u p s p r e s u m e d t o b e i n a r t i c u l a te , o u t s i d e t h e m a i ns t r e a m o f A m e r i c a n s o c i e t y a n d c u l t u r e , o p p r e s s e d a n d

prin 984


3/6

We knew thateach generation

must rewrite its history.d i sposs essed . As we p ro c la im ed , i t was to be h i s to ry""from the bottom up.""*More s ign i f i can t ly , perhaps , t he new soc ia l h i s to ryin ten t iona l ly sough t to se t fo r th the roo t s , t he t emper ,t h e ti s s u e o f g r o u p c o n s c i o u s n e s s . L a w r e n c e W . L e v i n eexpressed his miss ion frankly and expl ici t ly in the f i rs tsentence of h is book on black cul ture: "I t i s t ime forh i s to r i ans to expand the i r own consc iousness by examini n g t h e c o n s c i o u s n e s s of t h o s e t h e y h a v e h i t h e r t oignored o rneglected. And so h i s s tudy focused on p roce s s e s t h r o u g h w h i c h b l a c k m e n a n d w o m e n s u s t a i n e dsys tem s o f ""se lf -p r ide and g ro up cohe s ion" ev en un de rcon di t ion s of s laver y. ""Upon the h ar d rock of racial , soc i a l , a n d e c o n o m i c e x p l o i t a t i o n a n d i n j u s t i c e , b l a c kA m e r i c a n s f o r ge d a n d n u r t u r e d a c u l t u r e ; t h e y f o r m e da n d m a i n t a i n e d k i n s h i p n e t w o r k s , m a d e l o v e , r a i s e d a n dsoc ia l i zed ch i ld ren , bu i l t a re l ig ion , and c rea ted a r i che x p r e s s i v e c u l t u r e . '

Is the focus on '"consciousness not also a chief dist ingu i sh ing ch arac te r i s t i c o f mu ch o f the b es t h i s to r i ca lwr i t ing on women , immigran t s , and workers? One f indsi t i n Car ro l l Smi th -Rosenberg ' s i n s i s t ence tha t women in19 th -cen tu ry Amer ica ' "d id no t fo rm an i so la t ed andoppressed subca tegory in male soc ie ty . The i r l e t t e rs andd iar i es ind ica te tha t women 's sphere had an es sen t i a lin t eg r i ty and d ign i ty tha t g rew ou t o f wo me n 's share dexpe r i ence s and mu tua l a f fec tion . " Thu s al so in H er be r tG. Gutman's essays one f inds aff i rmat ions ofthe c o m p l e xways in which his torical consciousness , rooted in family ,c o m m u n i t y , e t h n i c g r o u p , a n d i n t h e s h a r e d e x p e r i e n c eof the work p lace , m ade i t poss ib le fo r wo rkers to s hapecu l tu ra l s t ra t eg ies fo r res i s t ing the weigh t o f indus t r i a l i sm and u rban i sm. " 'Su f fe r ing and p la in pover ty cu td e e p l y i n t o t h e s e e t h n i c w o r k i n g - c l a s s w o r l d s , " h ea d m i t s . " I n r e c o n s t r u c t i n g t h e i r e v e r y d a y t e x t u r e t h e r eis no reason to neglect or ideal ize such suffering, but i t i st ime to d i scard the no t ion tha t t he l a rge-sca le up roo t inga n d e x p l o i t a t i v e p r o c e s s e s t h a t a c c o m p a n i e d i n d u s t r i a l i za t ion caused l i t t l e more than cu l tu ra l b reakdownand social anomie. Family , class and ethnic t ies d id notdissolve eas i ly ." In his analys is ofthe black family , G utman aff i rms i ts ""adapt ive capaci t ies" not s imply to res p o n d t o a n o p p r e s s i v e c u l t u r a l e n v i r o n m e n t b u t t o c r e ate s t rong affect ive relat ionships that gave cohesion toex t end ed k insh ip sys t em s and u l t imate ly to the c rea t ionof con imu ni t i es founded on sha red exper i e nce s , cu l tu ra lr e s i l i e n c y , t h e p r i d e t h a t c o n s c i o u s n e s s c a n p r o v i d e . '

As for works of im mi gra n t h i s to ry th a t beg an to p rol i fe ra t e in the mid-1960s , t hey d id no t necessar i ly t akthe i r cue f rom the po lemica l works o f Michae l Novakb u t w i t h v a r y i n g d e g r e e s o f i n t e n s i t y t h e y r e f l e c t em a n y o f t h e a s s u m p t i o n s t h a t h e b r o u g h t t o g e t h e r sbo ld ly the d i f fe rences o f na t iona l expe r i enc es evdenced less in '" ideas" and '"words" than in aflfectioand imag ina t ions and h i s to r i ca l exper i ences : i n thosconcre te ne tworks in wh ich ideas and words a re g ivec o n c r e t e r e v e r b e r a t i o n , r o o t a g e , a n d m e a n i n g . Thnew ethnicity, he wrote in i tal ics so that even the moscoo l and d i s t an t o f Ang lo -Am er icans w ou ld no t mis s thpo in t , is a form of historical consciousness. '' To thospo l i t i c i ans and ideo logues who p roc la imed the un iquv i r tue o f wha t they ca l l ed Th e Amer ican Way o f L i fethe re was posed a coun terv iew o f a p lu ra l i s t i c Am er ica iwh ich many d i f fe ren t na t iona l cu l tu res had spec ia l ancon t inu ing fo rce . I t was no t s imply a mat t e r o f spec ia

^The W inter, 1976, tenth anniversar>' issue oi Journal Social History was devoted to method, motive, philosophvand historiography and also had an advertisement for T-shirt proclaiming "From the Bottom Up that depicted infew curved strokes the lower backside of what must be taken aa female torso. The new social history, among its other charateristics, could be ir reve rent (and sexist ). Although JessLemisch is usually credited with inventing the designation ohistory "from the bottom up," the approach was a recurrintheme in historical writing, of course, and the dean of Norwegian immigration history, Theodore C. Blegen, had earliecredited frontier historians with the idea of "studying Ameican history from the bottom up rather than from the todown. Manyofthe characteristicsofthe nonquantitative nesocial history were evidenced in Blegen's work the focus othe "usual" rather than the "uncom mon ; the concern with thtexture, structure, and style of culture; the exploitation onear-at-hand them es of family and migration and folkwayand the search for a past that vvould inform and move thpresent. Blegen, Grass Roots History (Minneapolis, 1947); thquoted material is on pages 172, vii, 5, respectively.

Levine, Black Culture and Black Consciousness: AfAmerican Folk Thoug ht from Slavery to Freedom, ix, xi (NeYork, 1977).^ Smith-R osenberg , "The Female W orld of Love aRitual: Relations Between Women in 19th Century Americain Signs, 1:1-29 (Autumn, 1975), especially page 9; GutmaWork Cu lture and Society in Industrializing America: E ssain American Wo rking-Class and S ocial History, 41 (New Yor1977) and The Black Family in Slavery and Freedo1750-1925 (New York, 1976).' Michael Novak, The Riseofthe Unm eltable Ethnics: Potics and Culture in the Seventies, xv, xviii (New York, 1971

6 Minnesota istory


4/6

foods and rec ipe s , o f t rad i t iona l d res s and m us ic a nddances , a l though the po lka , t he scho t t i s che , and thewal tz did ind ee d reflect d if l ferent folk cu sto m s. M oreimpo r tan t ly , i t was a m at t e r o f fami ly s t ruc tu re , t heva lue p laced on k insh ip , t rad i t ions o f m utua l as s i s t ancem a n i f e s t e d t h r o u g h e t h n i c f r a t e r n a l a n d b e n e v o l e n tsoc ie t i es and th rough church soda l i t i es , t he d iverse waysand s ty l es tha t were re f l ec t ed in worsh ip , i n the waysd i ffe ren t e thn ic g roups re l a t ed to God , to e t e rn i ty , andto one 's fe l low women and men .

W h a t G e r d a L e r n e r o b s e r v e d of w o m e n ' s h i s t o r ymigh t s t and wi th equa l po ignancy and pass ion fo r scho l a rs engaged in o the r b ra nch es o f the ne w soc ial h i s to ry :"The recogn i t ion tha t we had been den ied our h i s to rycame . as a s tag gerin g f lash of ins igh t , wh ich al tere dour consc iousness i r re t r i evab ly . ^

P r e s e n t n e e d a n d p e r c e p t i o n w e r e i n e x t r i c a b l y m i n g led wi th h i s to r i ca l consc iousness . The recogn i t ion tha thuman be ings a re e f fec t ive ly con t ro l l ed by sys t ems o f

** Gerda Lerner, "Placing Women in History: Definitionsand Challenges, in Feminist Studies, 2:13 (Fall, 1975).^There is an intriguing parallel to the em erge nce ofanewhistorical consciousness in the 1960s in the initiation of"'sociological consciousness" that arose "when the commonlyaccepted or authoritatively stated interpretations of society became shaky. In 19th-century France, for example, the rise ofsociological systems of thought related to "the rapid transformations of modern society, the collapse of facades, the deflation of old creeds and th e u psur ge of frightening new forces onthe social scene. Although the story was somewhat different inGermany and America, a common them e was the need to makesense of new forces and systems "against a background of rapidand profound social change. Peter L. Berger, Invitation toSociology: A Humanistic Perspective, 42 (Garden Citv, N.Y.,1963).' English historian E. P. Thompson suggests that movements should not be judged alone by their apparent success or

failure. He seeks to save obscure, deluded, defeated persons""from the enormous condescension of posterity. Their craftsand traditions may have been dying. Their hostility to the newindustrialism may have been backward-looking. Their communitarian ideals may have bee n fantasies. But they livedthrough these times of acute social disturbance, and we didnot. Their aspirations were valid in terms of their own experience; and, if they were casualties of history, they remain,condemned in their own lives, as casualties. Our only criterionof judgeme nt should not be w hethe r or not a man's actions arejustified in the light of subsequent evolution. After all, we arenot at the end of social evolution o urselve s. The Making oftheEnglish Working Class, 12 (New York, 1966).

se l f -percep t ion thev' a re l ed to t ake as rea l me an t th a t t hnew consc iousness cons t i tu t ed the f i r s t es sen t i a l s t ep tp e r s o n a l a n d g r o u p l iberat ion .^TO PUT IT ano ther way : the new soc ia l h i s to ry re f l ec t edexistential c o n c e r n s . I t r e c o g n i z e d , o n t h e o n e h a n d , t hweigh t o f soc ia l power in se t t ing severe l imi t s to thrange o f cho ices ope n to opp res sed g roup s and c l as seson the o ther hand , i t s t res sed the d iverse s t ra t eg ieth rough which such g roups were ab le to ach ieve l a rgeme asur es o f con t ro l ov er the i r da i ly lives and ac t ive ly tshape cus toms , t rad i t ions , and ins t i tu t ions tha t en la rgethe sphere wi th in which ind iv idua l s and g roups cou ldmove toward se l f -de te rmina t ion . The new soc ia l h i s to raff irmed t he s ignif icance of s t ru gg le, of decis ions m ad ec o n s e q u e n c e s a c c e p t e d . T h e ' " p o w e r le s s , " t h e d i s p o ssessed , i t was seen , were no t en t i re ly pass ive ob jec t s ot h e v i c ti m s of c i r c u m s t a n c e s i m p o s e d u p o n t h e n i ; e s p ec ial ly wh en g rou p consc iousne ss ran s t rong , the y cou le x e r t c o u n t e r m e a s u r e s o f r e s i s t a n c e a n d c o u l d , r e s p o ns i b l y , c r e a t e i n s t r u m e n t s t h r o u g h w h i c h c o u n t e r c u l t u r av a l u e s a n d s y s t e m s m i g h t p r e v a i l , e v e n u n d e r e x t r e mcond i t ions of coerc io n , dom ina t io n , and d en ia l .

The impl i c i t ex i s t en t i a l t heme tha t coursed th rougm u c h o f t h e l i t e r a t u r e r a n c o u n t e r t o t h e p r a g m a t i s mtha t in fo rmed t rad i t iona l l i bera l h i s to r i es , wh ich measu r e d s o c i a l m o v e m e n t s p r o g r a m m a t i c a l l y a n d j u d g etheir s ignif icance by goals achieved. This is also to suggest that the new social h is tory , as sound his torical wriing a lways had , had to addre ss i s sues o f soc ia l po we rc l a s s s t r u c t u r e , p r e v a i l i n g i d e o l o g i e s , a n d n o r m s b ucou ld do so in a d i a l ec t i c f ramework wi th app rop r i a tno t i ceofthe "movers and shake rs an d ofthe g rea t maof o ther s , whose ex i s t ence and au th or i ty t rad i t iona l h i sto ry had l a rge ly ignored . ' "

A m a j o r p a r t o f t h e n e w s o c i a l h i s t o r y , w h e t h eimpl i c i t o r exp l i c i t , cover t o r up f ron t , p roposed in t e rp re t a t ions and eva lua t ions tha t cons t i tu t ed es sen t i a l lrad ica l c r i t i c i sms o f the Am er ican pas t . Wh at Ru do lpVeco l i has wr i t t en o f e th n ic h i s to ry m igh t app ly wi tequa l fo rce to o ther d iv i s ions : ' "Once Amer ican h i s to rand soc ie ty a re v i ewe d f rom a p lu ra l i s t i c pers pec t iveinequ i t i es , abuses , and rep res s ions sp r ing in to focusT h e n e w e t h n i c i t y , he conc luded , " i s no t s imply a fo ro f thera py to soo the b ru i sed e t hn ic egos . Ra ther thfo rmat ion o f a new h i s to r i ca l consc io usnes s , as in thcase of Rlack Amer icans , i s t he very bas i s fo r concer t e

Spring 1984


5/6

The new social historypreferred pluralism

to homogeneity.

g r o u p a c t i o n t o c o r r e c t t r a d i t i o n a l n e g l e c t s a n d i n j u r i e s .

T h e n e w s o c i a l h i s t o r y p r e f e r r e d p l u r a l i s m t oh o m o g e n e i t y , c o n f l ic t t o c o n s e n s u s . I f e v e n t s o f t h e1960s and 1970s gave jus t an d p ro fou nd cause to qu es t ion the wisdom and the ob jec t iv i ty ofthe ""best and theb r i g h t e s t " ( w h o g a v e u s V i e t n a m a n d W a t e r g a t e a n dessen t i a l ly bo tc hed th e "War on Pover ty" ) , t he new soc ia l h i s to ry was unders t andab ly skep t i ca l o f es t ab l i shede l i t es , of bu re aucr a t i za t io n an d cen t ra l i za t ion in the nat ion 's economic , po l i t i ca l , and cu l tu ra l l i fe . Unders t andably , social h is torians often turned to local and regionalh i s to ry and to communi ty s tud ies as an appropr i a t e locusfo r ana lys i s , and in the p rocess came increas ing ly to emp loy conc ep t s and mo des o f inqu i ry bo r row ed f rom the i rs i s t e r d i sc ip l ines o f an th ro po logy , dem ogr aph y , hum ang e o g r a p h y , a n d u r b a n s t u d i e s . ' ^

Cle arly the aff i rmat ion of co m m un ity and local h istory in the 1960s and 1970s derived from many of thesame fo rces tha t compel l ed soc ia l h i s to ry genera l ly . I tc o i n c i d e d w i th t h e e m e r g e n c e o f w h a t h a s b e e n i d e n t i f i ed as 'pub l i c h i s to ry h i s to r i ca l s tud ies in i t i a t ed byand for the ci t izenry general ly . The revival also coinc ided wi th th e 1966 passag e o f the N at iona l H i s to r i cPres erva t ion Act and wi th the c rea t ion o f the Nat iona lE n d o w m e n t f o r t h e H u m a n i t i e s , w h i c h r e a c h e d o u t t othe g ras s roo t s of Am er ica th rou gh i t s s t a t e -ba sed p ro g ram s . In Minn eso ta , espec ia l ly , t he en ga gem en t o f l ayand p ro fes s iona l h i s to r i ans in pub l i c conferences andw o r k s h o p s f o c u s e d o n n e i g h b o r h o o d , c o m m u n i t y , a n dreg iona l h i s to ry has been a no tab le express ion o f th i sr e n e w e d e x c i t e m e n t . T h i s h a s o c c u r r e d s i m u l t a n e o u s l ywi th acce le ra t ed and expanded e f fo r t s by coun ty ands ta t e h i s to r i ca l soc ie t i es and museums to s t imula te commu ni ty h i s to ry . Th e expans ion o f the p ro gram s of theM innes o ta His to r i ca l So c ie ty , in t imes of gene ra l re t renchment , bears d ramat i c t es t imony to the v i t a l i ty o fthese fo rces and to the imag ina t ive and as ser t ive l ead ersh ip tha t t he soc ie ty has p rov ided .

Ne ighb orho od and com m uni t y h i s to ry , as par t of th i snew soc ia l h i s to ry , emphas ized communal l i fe as i t wase x p r e s s e d i n d i r e c t p e r s o n - t o - p e r s o n , g r o u p - t o - g r o u p r e l a t ionsh ips . I t focused on the p r imacy o f persona l andint imate relat ions in the family and in local ins t i tu t ions .I t e x a m i n e d ( a n d c e l e b r a t e d ) t h e d i v e r s e s t r a t e g i e s

t h r o u g h w h i c h n e i g h b o r h o o d g r o u p s w e r e a b l e tach ieve l a rger me asu res o f con t ro l over the qua l i ty anshape o f the i r da i ly l ives . Espec ia l ly w hen t hes e e n tep r i ses engaged th e a t t en t ion o f c i t i zens in the c om m unt i es h igh schoo l and com mu ni ty co l l ege t each ers a nthe i r s tuden t s ; pas to rs , p r i es t s , and rabb i s ; l eaders oc ivic g roups and comm uni t y o rgan iza t ions ; re t i re d pesons , who se me m or ie s of ear l i e r days cou ld be t app edpersons of al l sorts and condi t ions did local h is toro ffer s t reng th , coh ere nce , and con t in u i ty to o the r rel a te d e ff or ts t o w a r d n e i g h b o r h o o d e m p o w e r m e n t .

W o r k i n g t o g e t h e r , n e i g h b o r s l e a r n e d t h a t f r o m c o mbined e ffo rt s cam e s t re ng th to accom pl i sh c om m uni tgoa ls th e p reser va t ion o f a ne ig hbo rho od schoo l , t hre rou t ing o f a p ro pos ed n ew f reeway so tha t a ne igh borhood wou ld rem ain phy s ica l ly of a p i ec e , t h e found ing oa n e i g h b o r h o o d c o n s u m e r c o - o p e r a t i v e , o r t h e l o c a t ioo f ha lfway hou ses to se rv e th e au t hen t i c n eed s o f locac i t i zens wi thou t cu l tu ra l d i s rup t ion . An es sen t i a l par t ocom mu ni ty ac t ion was a wid esp rea d appre c ia t ion o f thh i s to r i ca l t rad i t ions and shared exper i ences tha t had def ined an d move d a par t i cu la r ne igh bor hoo d in ear l i ee ras . In tha t s ense h i s to r i ca l consc iousness became ons o u r c e o f e m p o w e r m e n t . T h e s t r u g g l e a g a i n st p o w eprov ed ind eed to be a s t rugg le o f m em or y aga ins t fo rget ing.

Vecoli, '"Louis Adamic and the Contemporary Search foRoots," in Ethnic Studies, vol. 2, no. 3, p. 29-.35 (MonasUniversity, Clayton Victoria, Australia, 1978).'2Of course, th ere was an ev er-prese nt risk of reading thpresent back into the past, of imposing present concerns opersons long dead, of refighting old battles. E. J. Hobsbawmnoting the polemical flaws of some labor history being writtein Britain, France, Germany, and the United States in th1960s, warned against a "leftwing version of antiquarianismSee "Labor History and Ideologv," in fournal of Social Hitory, 7:371-381 (Summer, 1974).

A definitive list of referen ces bear ing on rece nt d e\elopments in local, state, and regional history and in communitstudies would run longer than this entire essay; among those have found most useful are; David A. Gerber, "Local and Community History; Some Cautionary Remarks on an Idea WhosTime Has Returned," in History Teacher, 13:7-30(Novembe1979), and Kathleen Neils Conzen, ""Community StudiesUrban History, and American Local Historv, in Kammened.. The Past Before Us, 270-291. I have also drawn froHarry C. Boyte, The Backyard Bevolution: Und erstanding tNeic Citizen Movement (Philadelphia, 1980).

18 Minnesota istory


6/6

Copyright of Minnesota Historyis the property of the MinnesotaHistorical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed tomultiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holdersexpress written permission. Users may print, download, or emailarticles, however, for individual use.

To request permission for educational or commercial use,contact us.

www.mnhs.org/mnhistory
http://www.mnhs.org/mnhistorymailto:[email protected]?subject=Minnesota%20History%20magazine%20-%20Request%20permission%20for%20commercial%20or%20educational%20usehttp://www.mnhs.org/mnhistoryhttp://www.mnhs.org/http://www.mnhs.org/mnhistorymailto:[email protected]?subject=Minnesota%20History%20magazine%20-%20Request%20permission%20for%20commercial%20or%20educational%20usehttp://www.mnhs.org/mnhistory

The New Social History,Local History and Comunity Empowerment

Documents

Transcript of The New Social History,Local History and Comunity Empowerment