History

Although the modern era has no clear starting point, the term is used internationally to describe the period from the Middle Ages until today.

It does have a clear identity, however, shaped by a series of radical processes of renewal: Europeanisation and globalisation from Columbus to electronics.

• Industrialisation and explosive population growth.
• New understandings of the world, from the Reformation to quantum mechanics.
• Sovereign states, international law, human rights.
• Mass communication, from the printing press to television.

The list goes on. One defining feature of modern history is the ever-accelerating trend towards renewal, despite all the baggage cultures carry from pre-modern times.

As a separate discipline, Contemporary Political History originally focused on the history of nation states’ domestic and foreign policies. However, in recent years, the discipline has undergone a process of revitalisation, and now also encompasses subjects like international relations and transnational history.

Contemporary political history in a wider perspective

One key recurring feature of research in this area is an interest in political power and how it is exercised by institutions and individuals. The research draws on classical source criticism but also derives inspiration from social science theory. In recent years, efforts have been made to establish links not only with the social sciences and economic history but also cultural history. This reflects the recognition that, like any other historical discipline, contemporary political history cannot be studied in isolation, but must take into account the insights and academic traditions of neighbouring disciplines and professions.

The 20th and 21st centuries

The Saxo Institute conducts research into and teaches contemporary political history of the 20th and 21st centuries, including the two world wars, the inter-war years, the Cold War, and the period from 1990 to the present. Contemporary political history concentrates on the most recent history, often as new archives become accessible.

In other words, the focus tends to move with the times

For many years up until the 1960s, the Institute’s research and teaching in contemporary history revolved around the period from the 1870s up to the end of the First World War. The focus then shifted to the occupation of Denmark and World War II. In the last 20–30 years, the emphasis has been on the Cold War, the EEC/EU, modern political ideas and culture, human rights, etc. Recent years have seen a marked increase in interest among students and teachers in the politics and contemporary history of the period after 1990.

Research into cultural history, as practised today, is primarily based on the “new cultural history” approach that emerged in the 1980s, influenced by trends in contemporary anthropology, literature and the “linguistic turn”. It does not focus on elite high culture or the history of particular peoples. Instead, it emphasises the cultural constructions of identities and meanings in a wider sense. The research looks at objects, people, ideas and actions and their changing historical meaning. It is often in debates about these meanings – as reflected in society’s practices, in social identities and in discourses – into which cultural historians conduct research.

The history of everything

Similar to other periods, research into the cultural history of the 20th century has frequently focused on constructions of gender, race and ethnicity, under the influence of feminist and postcolonial studies. In recent decades, however, the field has expanded exponentially and now includes what cultural historians have dubbed the “the history of everything”. Just as the car, the sense of smell and the environment all have a cultural history, so too do statistical categories, diplomatic practice and military organisational structures.  It is the rule rather than the exception that cultural historians work in an interdisciplinary manner and collaborate with researchers in the social and human sciences. This is now also the case for the natural sciences, as cultural history expands to include a series of “natural” phenomena (e.g. the body, the environment and disease).

Research at the Saxo Institute

Subjects that researchers and lecturers in 20th- and 21st-century cultural history at the Saxo Institute engage with include the history of the following: the body and gender, health, disease, food, cities, technology, mobility, digitalisation and cultural heritage.

Contemporary social history combines theory with finding and processing historical source materials in new ways. The primary focus of contemporary research and teaching in social history at the Saxo Institute is the period 1850–1950.

Classical social history

Interest in social history as a discipline goes back to early-20th-century statisticians, who sought to document social conditions and problems by establishing time series. Classical social history dealt with demographics, morbidity and mortality, nutrition, accidents, housing, working conditions, wages, consumers, unemployment, social security and pensions.

The exercise of power

More recent social history research has largely focused on the exercise of power (economic, political and discursive), in particular by established institutions – e.g. prisons, hospitals, psychiatric institutions, kindergartens, schools and universities (viewed as “social organisms”) – in which the people in charge (doctors, teachers) consciously or unconsciously categorise or discipline those over whom they exercise power. The philosopher Michael Foucault, in particular, has left his indelible mark on this research.

Social relations

In recent years, the focus has shifted towards social relations – to networks, civil society, social cohesion, social movements, marginalisation and problematic cultures. The research in this area often adopts a comparative perspective on social relations in different social spaces within or between nation states.

Social policy and the welfare state

One area to which social historians have made a particularly significant contribution is research into the emergence of the welfare state, its development, nature and problems. This has entailed a shift toward studying political priorities, means and measures. Relatively little research has yet been conducted into the very latest contemporary social history, partly due to the new and tighter rules for personal and sensitive data (GDPR).

The claim is often made that history is a discipline lacking in theory. This is a myth. Historical research is characterised by being empirical. Citing exact source material for statements about the past is an important aspect of the legitimacy of our work. Traditionally, therefore, source criticism has played a significant role in the definition of the discipline. However, since sources never convey the past per se and only say something about it in conjunction with a specific historical problem, theory and empirical evidence are always linked. This applies to all of the interwoven elements of the historical research process: articulating the problem, heuristics, analytical design, as well as the reasoning and plot behind the historiography.

Analytical and theoretical reflection

The demand for analytical and theoretical reflection is, therefore, a natural and integral part of history as an academic subject and occurs at all levels of the study programmes. What are power, society and discourse, and how are they interrelated? What is the relationship between actor and structure, or between materiality, physical practice and articulation? What are the prerequisites for change and development in history? These are examples of questions that historians discuss on a more abstract level and seek to answer in dialogue with a wide range of sources.

Science theory problems

With regard to science theory, history shares problems with other parts of the humanities and the social sciences. What constitutes a scientific approach? What are the criteria for objectivity? What is the relationship between language and reality? A number of science-theory questions are also of particular relevance to historians, such as the question of time and historicity, the relationship between past, present and future, as well as collective memory and its political function.

All historians at the Saxo Institute address questions of theory related to their research and some of them specialise in science theory, including the history of science, historiography and the history of ideas.