“A spectre is haunting our time: the spectre of the short term.” This sentence, echoing one of the most influential texts of the modern world, is how historians Jo Guldi and David Armitage begin their own manifesto calling for historians to return to the longue durée. Only this approach, the authors argue, will enable us to engage in current debates and counter the short-term horizons that characterize so much discourse in the public sphere.
Since its publication last year, The History Manifesto has elicited numerous responses and provoked impassioned debate. The April issue of the American Historical Review will include a critique by historians Peter Mandler and Deborah Cohen and a response from Guldi and Armitage. Because of the importance of this conversation, we have published the exchange on the AHR website in advance of its release in print. You can download the PDF of the AHR Exchange now.
We also encourage readers of The History Manifesto and the AHR Exchange to engage in dialogue with Guldi, Armitage, Cohen, Mandler, and other readers by adding their comments below.
This post first appeared on AHA Today.
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