Absztrakt

Since the 1990s, global history has gained increasing prominence in international historiography. However, by the mid-2010s, this momentum appeared to slow down, and criticism began to mount. The critiques have focused on the wide variety of works grouped under the label of global history, the lack of clarity regarding its methodological and theoretical foundations, its deterministic and teleological view of history, its disregard of individual agency, and the marginalization of primary sources. One possible response to these challenges is the emerging approach of global microhistory, which seeks to combine global and microhistorical perspectives. The present study offers an overview of current international discourse surrounding the reconciliation of global history and microhistory, and the potential of global microhistory as a new direction. Special emphasis is placed on the issue of scale in historical analysis. The discussion is based primarily on two thematic journal issues: the 2018 special section of the French Annales: Histoire, Sciences Sociales, and the 2019 special issue of the British Past and Present, addressing this topic. Other key works related to this debate are also considered in order to chart earlier developments and thereby situate ongoing discussions within a broader historiographical context.