Historical Consciousness and Practical Life introduces a novel approach to examining how everyday people construct and employ historical knowledge in their daily lives. In viewing history as an embodied cultural practice that constitutes the background to our meaning making, the book demonstrates how researchers and others can investigate the ways in which people make sense of time’s flow in their now-moment engagements with the world and use that information to position themselves regarding key social problems with historical roots.
The book provides a glimpse at how humans enter historically embedded thinking problems, seeking to resolve them. Paul Zanazanian draws on a study of the community leaders of English-speaking Quebec to illustrate the practical life methodology’s workings. In looking at their different uses of history for strengthening their group’s vitality in the province, he identifies five key stances they employ for positioning their sense of purpose and responsibility for securing English-speaking Quebec’s future. Ultimately, Historical Consciousness and Practical Life argues that community leaders who complicate and problematize their uses of history are the best positioned to make positive transformations for their group.
Preface
1. Historical consciousness and human mental functioning
Viewing historical consciousness through the lens of history-as-interpretive-filter
Why examine the historical consciousness of English-speaking Quebec’s community leaders?
A comprehensive methodology for examining historical consciousness and its impact on trendsetters’ epistemic thinking
Overview of the book’s contents
2. Historical consciousness and the comprehensive methodology
Part 1: Historical consciousness and its component parts
Historical consciousness as the interpretation of the passage of time
Natural time and historical time
Historical sense-making
Narrative and schematic narrative templates
History-as-interpretive-filter and content-configurations-of-past-present-future as schematic narrative templates
The comprehensive methodology: Accessing schematic narrative templates
Six steps to accessing interpreting-actors’ schematic narrative templates.
Part 2: Historical consciousness and its enactment
Historical consciousness as a cultural form of practice
Sociocultural theory and mediated action
Historical culture and cultural memory
History-as-interpretive-filter as a conceptual resource of epistemic thinking
The comprehensive methodology: Accessing enactment
3. Historical consciousness’ schematic narrative templates, intersections, and epistemic enactments
Schematic narrative templates and their intersections for constructing historical knowledge
Five main epistemic stances for enacting historical knowledge
4. History is an instrument for positive outcomes and key epistemic stances
History is an instrument for positive outcomes
Enacting history is an instrument for positive outcomes for social change
5. History is group empowerment and key epistemic stances
History is group empowerment
Enacting history is group empowerment for social change
6. Historical consciousness and social change
Historical consciousness and mobilizing concerted social action
The five epistemic stances and their impact on mobilizing concerted action for social change
The comprehensive methodology’s main contributions and new pathways for future research
The comprehensive methodology’s pedagogical implications for effectuating social change
References
Index
Height:229
Width:152
Spine:25
Weight:1.00