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POLITICS
212(TH) WESTERN
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY Prof.
Sammy Basu |
Historiography And Author Text Context |
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Author |
Text |
Context |
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Historical
Empiricism |
Great men, Key figures, Generals |
Primary documents, official speeches |
Institutions Watershed events Turning points e.g. key battles |
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Whig
History |
Great men or villains Heroic intellectual figures Captains of industry What made them become such heroic
individuals valuing freedom? |
Argumentative texts Truth (freedom, democracy) will be
victorious What does the text do for freedom?
I.e., justify/critique? |
Who manages the progressive movement? Who is standing out and instigating
change or leading progress? Intellectual debates. |
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Marxist
History |
What is the authorÕs relationship to
the economic system? What are
his/her real economic interests? How has ideology shaped him/her? |
Who has access to the means of
information, the press etc? Text v pamphlets? What are the economic implications? What does the text do for the
economic system? I.e., justify/critique? Ideological analysis. |
What are the sources of material
value in the society? Who owns the means of production? Who has to work with their raw
physical labor power? How is work socially organized? Everyday economic life. |
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Feminist
History |
Male or female? How was author shaped by their
experiences with gender? E.g. parents, relationships? |
How does the text explicitly and
implicitly address gender issues and gendered distinctions? I.e.,
justify/critique? How did oneÕs gender affect access to
genres? To education, etc. Gendered analysis. |
Gendered (typically patriarchal)
institutions and their implications. Everyday engendered roles. |
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Postmodern
History |
In what ways did the diffuse, plural,
shifting energies take shape as the author? What inner ambivalence, contradiction, plurality, and
turmoil lurks beneath the surface? What anxieties etc? |
In what ways is the text immersed in
larger cultural systems? What are its gaps, slips, missing links, hidden
assumptions about self and power?
How is language used to beg questions? Genealogical analysis. |
Cultural systems of power/knowledge
that dictate the conditions for life. Total system |