Knights, Mark. (2010) Towards a social and cultural history of keywords and concepts by the Early Modern Research Group. History of Political Thought, Vol.31 (No.3). pp. 427-448. ISSN 0143-781X

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Abstract

This article considers different ways in which keywords and concepts have been, and might be, explored. It summarizes the methodological discussions of a project to analyse 'commonwealth' in the period 1450-1800. 'Commonwealth' was a part of a conceptual field of terms to do with the public good and thus serves as a case study for wider problems of approaching such keywords through a collaboration across disciplines and reflects the importance of recent attempts to provide social and literary contexts for political discourse. Early modern states and their authority are now recognized to be as much socially and culturally as politically constructed, thus widening not only the essential 'context' which students of political discourse must take into account, but also requiring social historians to engage with the language of politics, the metaphors, images and genres of which scholars of literature and art likewise can illuminate. This social and cultural turn to political discourse helps the recovery of the language of vice and virtue which was so intrinsic to the deployment of keywords and concepts. The German conceptual history school is also relevant and useful in requiring us to think about how concepts were constituted and change over time, though its chronological focus needs to be extended to embrace more fully the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Finally, the article offers some pointers about how technology might be utilized to maximize the necessary collaborations that have been outlined.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	D History General and Old World H Social Sciences > HM Sociology J Political Science > JA Political science (General) P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts > History
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	State, The -- History -- 16th century, State, The -- History -- 17th century, State, The -- History -- 18th century, Political science -- Methodology, Political science -- Social aspects, Political science -- Language
Journal or Publication Title:	History of Political Thought
Publisher:	Imprint Academic
ISSN:	0143-781X
Date:	January 2010
Volume:	Vol.31
Number:	No.3
Number of Pages:	22
Page Range:	pp. 427-448
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/5331

Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge

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