1
Almanack. Guarulhos, n.14, p.1- 2 apresent ação do dossiê scales of global hist ory
Some words about t he dossier
Scales of Global Hist ory
1DOI: ht t p://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2236- 463320161401
João Paulo Piment a
Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo SP, Brasil jgarrido@ usp.br
Raf ael M arquese
Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo SP, Brasil marquese@ usp.br
Abst ract :
This t ext present s t he Scales of Global Hist ory dossier, w it h some ref lect ions about t he hist oriography of Global Hist ory.
Resumo:
Est e t ext o apresent a o dossiê Scales of Global Hist ory, com algumas breves ref lexões sobre a prát ica hist oriográfica da chamada Hist ória Global.
Keywords: Global Hist ory; Ninet eent h cent ury.
Palavras- chave: Hist ória Global; Século dezenove; XIX.
From M arch 3 t o 5, 2016, t he Faculdade de Filosof ia, Let ras e Ciências Humanas
of t he Universit y of São Paulo host ed t he Int ernat ional Seminar Scales of Global
Hist ory, organized by LabM undi- USP as part of act ivit ies relat ed t o t he Global Hist ory
Net work2. It s main purpose was t o bring t oget her t wo dozen hist orians f rom eight dif f erent count ries (Brazil, Argent ina, Peru, Unit ed St at es, Net herlands, Senegal, India,
1 Translat ed by Leonardo M arques. 2
The Global Hist ory Net work was conceived by Sven Beckert and M arcel van der Linden, and is formed by six inst it ut ions: East China Normal Universit y, Int ernat ional Inst it ut e of Social Hist ory (Net herlands), LabM undi- USP (Brazil), Universit y of Delhi (India), Universit é Cheikh Ant a Diop (Senegal), and Weat herhead Init iat ive on Global Hist ory- Harvard (USA).
2
Almanack. Guarulhos, n.14, p.1- 2 apresent ação do dossiê scales of global hist ory and China), at dif f erent st ages of t heir careers, in order t o discuss t he possibilit ies and
limit s of Global Hist ory. The papers present ed at t he seminar explored specif ic subject s
in various t imes and places, but all of t hem engaged wit h broad approaches t hat could
be ident if ied in dif f erent ways as global.
During t he seminar, t he part icipant s explored t opics t hat crossed oceans and
unit ed cont inent s such as migrat ory movement s, capit al and commodit y f lows, t he
shaping of t errit ories, labor dynamics in urban and rural set t ings, religious and polit ical
ideas, among ot hers. M ost debat es grappled wit h a cent ral issue: t he need t o
underst and cert ain social realit ies t hat by t heir very hist orical nat ure demand f rom
scholars t he capacit y t o use ext ensive empirical and t heoret ical t ools, t hus pushing t o
move beyond scales of observat ion t hat are t oo rest rict ed.
M any of t he papers present ed at t he seminar enriched by crit icisms and
suggest ions made by t he part icipant s comprise t his special issue of Almanack, a
journal t hat has been eminent ly cosmopolit an since it s incept ion. None of t hese
art icles present an uncrit ical def ense of global approaches, nor do t hey at t empt t o
def ine such approaches. The richness of t his issue lies precisely in t he f act t hat it
present s hist orical research of t he highest qualit y, which off ers t he most solid basis f or
evaluat ing any t heoret ical or met hodological proposal regardless of it s degree of real
innovat ion. In t he case of Global Hist ory, it seems wise t o consider t hat it s pot ent ial f or
innovat ion depends on t he exist ence of specif ic albeit spat ially broad cases in
w hich global approaches prove t o be ef f ect ive and usef ul.
In addit ion t o t heir individual hist oriographical cont ribut ions, t he art icles
present ed are examples of a Global Hist ory t hat is built upon concret e realit ies. They
are a healt hy warning against t he possibilit y t hat t he unt apped pot ent ial of global
approaches could become anot her shallow t heory or simply a new hist oriographical
sect .
Dat a de recebimento do texto:29/11/2016
