Käsitehistoria. Näkökulma historian poliittisuuteen ja poliittisen kielen historiallisuuteen

Authors

• Jussi Kurunmäki

Abstract

This article argues that historical study of concepts provides a way to go beyond reductionistic interpretations which view political and historical changes as mere reflections of social, economic or discursive changes. Conceptual history is a research strategy which considers the interplay between individual actors and structures. By analysing the history of concepts it is possible to find political conflicts in processes which might otherwise seem uncontested and self-evident. More specifically, the article discusses the possibility of combining the German Begriffsgeschichte, developed by Reinhart Koselleck, with the Cambridge approach to rhetorical analysis of historical situations, best known through the works of Quentin Skinner. These approaches can be understood as complementary to each other rather than incommensurable.