History in the 21st Century - Term Paper Example

?History in the 21st Century History is the concerned with interpreting past events and occurrences through knowledge acquired from various investigations. The subject also analyzes sequence and events and possible causes or consequence of their occurrence. Historical methods are technique or models that historians use to investigate or inquire about the past. Historians vary their method or approach of studying the subject constantly. This variation is normally determined by the period or era in which events are being studied. The different approaches applied when studying the subject create uniqueness throughout the different historical eras. This essay will therefore investigate various historical approaches in the 20th century. The essay will also investigate the implication of the different approaches in history to scholars. Similar to ancient and medieval history, the twentieth history had its unique approach and method. Marxism is a historical approach of the twentieth century that was introduced by Marx. Through his philosophy, Marx had many followers who believed that that the existence of any society is determined by relationship between individuals and not the personal characteristic of each member of the society. Marxism historical approach was introduced at the height of conflict between capitalism and communism. According to Marx, capitalism was unsustainable and it would soon be overtaken by communism. Marxist considered the economy to be a key player in the determination of events or different approaches taken by life. Introducing the notion of economy was an appropriate step that the Marxist took to study the subject. This is because the economy is a major determinant of social life and societies. The economic condition of a given community determines the different approaches towards life that the communities take for their own interest. The need to maintain economic stability also determines the different measurers that are taken by a community to protect its interest. Although communism might be a better economic approach, it is unsustainable and hence the predictions made by the Marxist are not realistic. Economic sustainability is realized from sustainable economic principles. Such economy is more likely to be realized from a capitalist economy than from a communist economy. This indicates that the predictions made by the Marxists are unrealistic and unreliable in the long-term. The new social history is the most recent branch of history. In this technique, historians apply cultural approaches to study political history of a given society. Culture is the overall collection of a community’s way of life and beliefs. Communities preserve their culture by passing it from generation to generation. The culture of a given society therefore defines a form of investment that a society makes over a long duration. Culture is therefore as good basis that historians can rely on to determined or investigate the political history of a certain community. The approach taken by the new social history to study the political history of a society is an appropriate approach since it utilizes the culture of a society1. Multiculturalism is more of an ideology than a historical approach. Scholars, who apply this approach in their investigations, consider the existence of cultural institutions. The institutionalization of different communities is the classification of different communities based on their common interests. Historians who study the society through multiculturalists approach study the subject by analyzing the different classes of the society such as businesses, cities, nations and institutions. People have a tendency of forming groups that contain people with a common interest. The different groups or societies determine people way of life and their different approach towards life. Although this approach enables history scholars to study the general characteristic of a community, it does not give specific or detailed information about a community. The approach is therefore not appropriate for studies that seek to establish or investigate specific information about a society. The approach, however, is appropriate when studying fact or information that involves global societies or communities. Unlike other historical approaches, postmodernism has been considered as a controversial method of studying people’s way of life. Controversy surrounding the idea arises from the lack of a specific definition for postmodernism2. Postmodernism applies philosophical and critical methods such as feminism and globalization to study the characteristics of a given society. The approach taken by postmodernism to study history redefines traditional ideas using a modern approach. Postmodernist do not define new philosophy but the redefine existing philosophies or knowledge using established ideas. As a subject or body of knowledge, history has various definitions that are aimed at establishing the relationship between events occurrences and the society. Definitions of history are also based on inquiry, knowledge, and facts. All available definition of history also addresses the issue of organization and presentation. This indicates that chronological events 0studied through history require organization and elaboration. The existence of various definitions for the subject indicates that history is a broad field that cannot be studied through a single approach. Availability of various definitions for the subject also indicates that historic principles are not specific and they depend on an individual’s argument. The popular definitions of history depict the availability of different methods of studying history. The varied definition of history can also be considered as an indication of diversities in the society. Such diversities make history to have various meaning and definition to various people. The existence of various definitions for the subject is also necessary since different people have varied understanding and reactions towards the subject. History is a form of philosophy since it seeks to develop human behavior through simple ideas. The philosophical aspect of history is applied on the theoretical approach of the subject. The philosophical aspect f history distinguishes critical historic ideas from speculative ideas3. History can therefore be considered as the connection between the past and the present. History seeks to establish the impacts of past events in modern context. This indicates that the subject acts as the link between the past and the present. Learning the subject enables people to avoid committing past mistakes in the present and the future. Teaching the subject also enable people to adopt and practice important or useful values into the present. History is therefore, a measure of the rights and wrongs within a given society. The subject can also be considered yardsticks or a measure that different societies use to define their future. The philosophical aspect of history places the subject in a perfect position to intervene in various controversies. The past 20 years have had various controversies that arise from people’s needs to do what is right. Such controversy arises from people’s desire to differentiate between ethical and non-ethical actions. The different ideologies and ways of life in various societies around the world create these controversies. This is because different people around the world have different things in their list of rights and wrongs. Different societies have contradicting views concerning various ideologies and ways of doing things. In the recent past, the United States has been faced with the controversy of personal privacy vs. national security. In this relation, some people or societies consider a country or state that respect personal freedom to be above a country that values state’s security. The different considerations or reasons for controversy in the issue arise from different ethical considerations on the issue. Each of the factions that constitute the controversy has their own ethical definition or consideration of the issue. This implies that the notion of right or wrong depends on the views and definition of different societies. What a certain society or community considers to be right might have a different meaning and implication to a different society. A historian should therefore have a non-partisan approach when dealing with such controversies. Such approaches assume that each of the society involved in the controversy can be either wrong or right. The approach also assumes equality in the different reasons presented by the different parties. Assuming equality on the reasons behind the different controversies, enable historians to study the subject through a factual approach. Historians, who study the subject through a factual approach, are able to present a balanced chronological account of past events that is free from influences. The availability of debate and controversies within history is also important for the development of the subject. Availability of debate within the subject enable historian to develop new knowledge and ideas from the existing ideas. Controversies within the subject also enable historians to have detailed analysis and consideration of different historical issues. Existence of controversies within the subject also enables historians to make appropriate conclusions resulting from a historical analysis. Controversies and debate also enable historians to refine their arguments and different approaches to the subject. Conclusion History seeks to establish the relationship between current and past events. Historians rely on different approaches or historical methods to establish the chronological sequence of events and occurrences within different societies. The different approaches applied by historians to study the subject depend on the availability of material and the competence of the historian. The different historical approaches are therefore beneficial to the subject. The existence of different historical approaches is responsible for various definitions of history. Each of these definitions has a different meaning and implication to different people. Existence of different definitions indicates the diversity of the subject. Debate and controversies within the subject also indicates the diversity of history through different interpretation. Existence of controversies and debate within the subject also contribute to the development of the subject. References Charles, Peter. Past imperfect: Facts, Fictions, Fraud American History from Bancroft and Parkman Ambrose, Bellesiles, Ellis, and Goodwin. Boston: PublicAffairs, 2007 Munslow, Alan. Historical Studies, 2nd edition. London: Routledge, 2000. Read More