Davison, K. (2019) Early modern social networks: antecedents, opportunities, and challenges. American Historical Review, 124 (2). pp. 456-482. ISSN 0002-8762
Abstract
This article reflects on the rising use of concepts, theories, and methodologies taken from social network analysis in early modern history, along with the opportunities and challenges it presents. Scholars have been quick to attribute the growing interest in historical social networks to movements for interdisciplinary research, new possibilities presented by digital technologies, and the prominence of the term “social network” in present-day culture. In contrast, this article reconnects recent trends to longstanding attention to the nature of early modern social relations, which has its roots in the foundations of modern social thought laid in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and developed through the postwar decades in both history and sociology. In doing so, the article shows the extent to which social network analysis shares antecedents, interests, and goals with more traditional historical methods. It argues that, when sensitively applied, network approaches present many opportunities for historians engaging with enduring questions about the nature of social relations in the past.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association. This is an author-produced version of a paper accepted for publication in The American Historical Review. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | social relations; methodology; digital |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > Department of History (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 30 Jan 2019 10:58 |
Last Modified: | 02 Apr 2021 00:38 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/ahr/rhz253 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:141504 |