Conceptual Histories and Modern Temporalities
Summary
Conceptual history investigates the emergence, transformation and circulation of key ideas that have shaped our understanding of time, change and experience. It traces the semantic shifts of terms—such as “progress,” “revolution” and “modernity”—within differing cultural, political and social contexts. Modern temporalities refer to the myriad ways in which past, present and future are configured in contemporary life, ranging from linear chronologies underpinning nation-state narratives to multiple or overlapping temporal registers that challenge singular historical trajectories. This field has expanded in recent years to encompass digital methods for mapping semantic networks, critical studies of colonial and postcolonial time regimes, and analyses of environmental crises as disruptions of anticipated futures. By drawing on intellectual traditions from eighteenth-century historicism to late twentieth-century critical theory, conceptual history and modern temporalities together offer a toolkit for understanding how societies domesticate novelty, negotiate temporal hierarchies and envision alternative futures. Their insights are central to debates on temporal justice, sustainability and the politics of memory in an increasingly interconnected world.
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Conceptual Histories and Modern Temporalities publication trend
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Technical terms
Historicization: The process by which events or phenomena are situated within a broader narrative of historical development.
Temporality: The experiential or conceptual modes through which time is perceived and structured.
Plural histories: An approach that recognises multiple, co-existing temporal narratives rather than a single, linear chronology.
Temporal domestication: The integration of novel experiences or future expectations into established temporal frameworks.
References
- History in the plural: Reconfigurations of past–present–future. Review of International Studies (2024).
- Domesticating the future through history. Time & Society (2021).
- The rise and demise of non-existent universalism: Reinhart Koselleck and the universality of legal concepts. History of European Ideas (2022).
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