Historical network research

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The Prosopographical Network deals with the networking and interaction of historical figures, applying, modern network analysis of methods. It has developed unevenly in the sub-disciplines of historical studies in recent years and was initially taken up by Anglo-American historians; in German-speaking countries it only started later.

background

The analysis of social networks of relationships and particularly successful networkers relates to different social dimensions such as personal contacts, socially standardized practices and transnational exchange. To describe these relationships, humanities and social scientists fall back on the term "network", mostly using the term as a synonym for trade, family or friendship relationships. In addition to the traditional descriptive investigation of the social environment of historical actors, analysis methods (see network research ) are now being added, with which the social network of people and organizations can be systematically investigated. This network approach takes into account the relationships rather than the actors themselves. This also delimits the field from prosopography , which collects information on members of a specific social group, such as collective biographies that consider the life paths of selected personalities and groups. A methodological problem is the definition of the relationships to be analyzed. For example, flows of recognition through citations or personal relationships constitute different networks, which Heiner Fangerau, for example, based on Ludwik Fleck, called “formal” and “informal” think tanks. Related approaches in social and economic history deepen the understanding of exchange processes via theoretical concepts such as trust and social capital and the investigation of fiefdom and client relationships based on informal dependency relationships.

The methodological foundations can be found in analysis programs for graph theory and geographic information systems , which are increasingly used in historical research. The widespread use of computerized social networks has also provided analytical methods.

Historical network research is the subject of the “ Historical Network Research ” working group, which organizes a series of workshops every six months and, in 2013, hosts the conference The Future of Historical Network Research at the University of Hamburg .

The research cluster “Social Dependencies and Social Networks” at the Universities of Mainz and Trier looks at network research and the like. a. from a historical point of view and pursues several projects to research historical networks. The main focus is on the historical consideration of economic and religious networks (the sub-areas include: "Credit relationships and network formation under the sign of monetary dependencies", "Religious difference and interdenominational cooperation" and "Network formation in the context of structural changes in Europe - historical and contemporary analyzes").

One aspect of historical network research is the Historical Elite Research analogous to the elite theory from the perspective of historical science historical elites researched and there - as especially in the understanding of the concept of elite power elite  - informal structures of power ambitions shows and the exercise of power. Appropriate approaches are currently being evaluated from an epistemological perspective.

use cases

Credit networks

One use case of historical network research deals with contractual obligations . So were z. B. edited by the German historian Gabriele B. Clemens as part of the research cluster “Social Dependencies and Social Networks. Historical research and present-day analyzes on the opportunities and risks of a form of social relationship ”, which publishes research on credit networks in Europe from the high Middle Ages to the end of the 19th century.

Student associations

The student history, which for a long time was mainly carried out by hobby historians from the field of student associations, has recently found renewed interest in the academic discourse and increasingly distinguished itself as a research field. In-depth studies can be found, among others, at Bernhard Löffler via the Federal Ministry of Economics under Ludwig Erhard.

According to Andreas Haka, membership in student associations often reflects the closest relationships between the studied university professors in mechanical engineering. For the American area, Nicholas L. Syrett gives an overview of the American white fraternities , whose role in the personal integration and socialization of newcomers to mass universities he, in addition to a few points of criticism about the wild behavior , and the previously very high demands on intellectuality, he considers a positive aspect sees.

Further examples

One of the pioneers and pioneers of this research is Lawrence Stone .

  • Josie M. Abbott: The Angel in the Office . British Sociological Association, 2009.
  • Peter S. Bearman, James Moody, Robert Faris: Networks and History . In: Complexity , no. 8, 2002, pp. 61-71.
  • Marten Düring, Martin Stark: Historical Network Analysis. In: George A. Barnett (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Social Networks . 2 vols. Sage Publishing, London 2011.
  • Marten Düring, Linda Keyserlingk: Network analysis in the historical sciences. Historical network analysis as a method for researching historical processes . In: Rainer Schützeichel, Stefan Jordan (Hrsg.): Processes - forms, dynamics, explanations . VS Verlag for Social Sciences, Wiesbaden 2012.
  • Marten Düring, Ulrich Eumann: Historical Network Research: A New Approach in History . In: Geschichte und Gesellschaft , 3/2013, pp. 369–390.
  • Marten Düring, Ulrich Eumann, Martin Stark, Linda von Keyserlingk (eds.): Manual Historical Network Research. Basics and Applications . LIT Verlag, Berlin / Münster 2016
  • Bonnie H. Erickson: Social Networks and History: A Review Essay . In: Historical Methods , 30, no. 3, 1997, pp. 149-157.
  • Heiner Fangerau: Evolution of knowledge from a network perspective: recognition as a selective factor in the history of science. In: H Fangerau, H Geisler, T Halling, W Martin (eds.): Classification and Evolution in Biology, Linguistics and the History of Science. Concepts, Methods, Visualization . Steiner, Stuttgart 2013, pp. 11–32
  • Andreas Haka: Social networks in mechanical engineering at German university and non-university research institutions 1920–1970 . Stuttgart Contributions to the History of Science and Technology, Volume 6. Logos Verlag, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-8325-3695-4 .
  • David Stark, Balazs Vedres: Social Times of Network Spaces: Network Sequences and Foreign Investment in Hungary . In: American Journal of Sociology , 111, no. 5, 2006, pp. 1367–1411, thesenseofdissonance.com (PDF)
  • Martin Stark: Networks in History. In: Curt W. Hergenröder (Ed.): Believer, Debtor, Arms. Networks and the role of trust. VS, Wiesbaden 2010, pp. 187-190.
  • Barry Wellman, Steven Berkowitz (Eds.): Social Structures: A Network Approach. Structural Analysis in the Social Sciences 2 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1998.
  • Stanley Wasserman: Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications . Cambridge University Press, November 25, 1994
  • Holger Zaunstöck , Markus Meumann: Law firms, networks, communication: New research on socialization in the century of the Enlightenment . Walter de Gruyter, 2003

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Marten Düring: Introduction.
  2. ↑ Morten Reitmayer, Christian Marx: Network approaches in historical science . In: Christian Stegbauer, Roger Häußling (Hrsg.): Handbuch Netzwerkforschung (=  network research ). tape 4 . VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-531-15808-2 , p. 869 ff . ( springer.com ).
  3. ↑ Heiner Fangerau: The exchange of knowledge and the reconstructive visualization of formal and informal thought groups . In H Fangerau, T Halling (Ed.): Networks. General theory or universal metaphor in the sciences? A transdisciplinary overview : Transcript-Verlag, Bielefeld 2009, pp. 215–246
  4. ^ Marten Düring et al .: Historical Network Research . 23rd July 2013
  5. ↑ netzwerk-exzellenz.uni-trier.de
  6. ↑ netzwerk-exzellenz.uni-trier.de
  7. ^ Fabian Goldbeck: Current Concepts for the Study of Elites . (PDF) Basel 2010
  8. ↑ Heinz Duchhardt : Historical research on the elites: a turnaround in historical studies? Ed .: Joint commission of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and the Gerda Henkel Foundation (=  Gerda Henkel lectures ). Rhema, Münster 2004, ISBN 3-930454-42-4 .
  9. ↑ Gabriele B. Clemens (Ed.): Debt burden and debt value . Credit networks in European history 1300 - 1900 (=  Trier historical research . Volume 5 ). Kliomedia, Trier 2008, ISBN 3-89890-124-6 .
  10. ^ Matthias Asche , Stefan Gerber: Modern University History in Germany. Lines of development and research fields . In: Helmut Neuhaus (ed.): Archives for cultural history. 90th Volume, Issue 1, 2008, pp. 153–202, here: p. 197.
  11. ↑ Bernhard Löffler. Social market economy and administrative practice. The Federal Ministry of Economics under Ludwig Erhard : 2002.
  12. ^ Workshop "Historical Network Research" Cologne 2009 Conference report at hsozkult on the dissertation project on German mechanical engineering research between 1920 and 1970
  13. ↑ Andreas Haka: Social networks in mechanical engineering at German university and non-university research institutions 1920–1970. Logos, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-8325-3695-4 , pp. 43–44, 194 f.
  14. ^ Nicholas L. Syrett: The Company He Keeps: A History of White College Fraternities . 2011