Formal network methods in history: why and how?

Abstract

The article presents a critical overview of past and present research in the domain of networks in history, based both on methodological and theoretical perspectives. The author argues that concepts and methods of social network analysis should be taken seriously by historians who can be described as much too often relying on a purely metaphorical use of the term network. The very fact that the use of networks terminology seems to be popular and fashionable at the moment should not hinder more serious approaches within the historical sciences.