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Why local history should have an international perspective

What is this? Local history have an international perspective? Is this just a fad? An idea spurred by populist discussions revolving around the fashionable term "globalisation". Isn't local history all about what the word states, that is local history; the history of local communities and phenomena?

This website says no! It believes it is natural for local history to take an international perspective. It also believes that local history may be the best suited level, within history, to take an international perspective.

Is there such a thing as an isolated local community?

All communities, however small, have been influenced by others, also those far away. Trade has always been an important form of contact, whether it was wiith the next village or one far away. Work took people to far off places. Some never came back, like the emigrants to America. Others, such as sailors, came back with stories of new possibilities which spurred new projects at home. Death, in the form of e.g. the Black Plague, knew no borders, but had great local consequences. Culture was passed from one community to another. Pidgin languages were created to facilitate trade, and ideas, such as the use of the potato, were transferred across borders by books and letters. Also fashion passed borders and through the population at high speed.

Global trends and events pushed and pulled

Demand and supply, as well as new trends and changes in society influenced the individual and the local society, then, as today. The increased warfare, as well as trade with distant parts of the world in the early modern period, had effects in even the farthest places. One example is the need for more war ships, which created demand for timber, which again lead to increased income for timber men in Russia.

New products from Asia and America "pulled" the individual into making new choices, in order to buy sugar, tobacco, chocolate and porcelain. Not only the new ways of earning income are interesting, but also how the new products came to influence the community and people.

Comparisons teach us more about ourselves

People everywhere have been occupied with obtaining food, shelter and material things to sustain or improve their standard of living. Comparisons of how these common challenges have been solved in different local communities may explain why communities and societies have evolved so differently or so similarly. By comparing local histories, it also becomes clearer what is unique and what we have in common. Perhaps we also get new ideas for areas of study. For those who are more "professional", international local history comparisons can be used to test theories or perhaps find general trends which may spur new ideas.

Local history: the most practical level for international studies of history

Global historical analyses can be marred by inaccuracies because of the necessary aggregations. At the level of local history, details become clearer, and because of this, similarities and differences become more understandable.

In the past, contact between villages and communities in different countries was primarily on an individual level. Today, contacts have been institutionalised. Villages, towns and regions have foreign "friendship communities". The relationships are maintained by institutionalised networks which provide support for those who want to explore the international possibilities.

Find out how!

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Related articles

> Draft framework
> Local History World Wide - How to do it?

Related links

> International networks
> Specific countries

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