Global Microhistory

Moving Toward a Relational History

Abstract

Microhistory and global history are usually considered as opposed to each other or as a mere re-launch of the well-known micro–macro controversy. This article argues instead that both approaches share a broad common ground: Both approaches overcome methodological nationalism by dissolving the history of fixed and enclosed units into the history of relations. This common ground is easily overlooked because microhistory and global history emerged in very different academic settings. Whereas from the late 1970s onward, microhistory developed mainly in opposition to social history, global history emerged more than a decade later, building on the spatial turn. Despite the common ground, it is difficult to combine the two approaches. By borrowing basic theoretical tools from gender history this article succeeds in developing a concept of a global microhistory that draws on both approaches and overcomes the respective shortcomings of micro- and global history.