What Is Classical Liberal History?

Description

Historians working in the classical liberal tradition believe that individual decision-making and individual rights matter in the making of history. History written in the classical liberal tradition emerged largely in the nineteenth century, when the field of history was first professionalized in Europe and the Americas. Professional historical research was then imbued with liberal values, which included rigorous attention to the sources, historicist suspicion of an ultimate mover, an honest and dispassionate rational outlook, and humility towards what could be known. Above all, liberals wanted to chart the history of liberty, warn against threats to liberty, and defend it in an evolving political world. They believed history was real, and that it had lessons to teach, but that these lessons could not provide sufficient knowledge to predict the future or reorganize society around a central plan. This book demonstrates how the classical liberal tradition in historical writing... Introduction, Michael J. DoumaChapter 1: Beyond Laissez Faire and State Power: A Critical Look at the Transformation Thesis and Classical Liberalism in Nineteenth Century America, Scott ShubitzChapter 2: Classical Liberalism and the "New" History of American Capitalism, Phillip W. MagnessChapter 3: The Historicity of Civil Liberties, a Liberal Predicament, Anthony GregoryChapter 4: Constituting Liberty: Toward a History and Science of Association, Lenore T. EalyChapter 5: Some Roads Taken, and Not Taken, from the Progressive Era to the New Deal, David T. BeitoChapter 6: A Manifesto for Liberty: Toward a New History of Civil Rights in US History, Jonathan BeanChapter 7: The End or Ends of Social History? The Reclamation of Old Fashioned Historicism in the Writing of Historical Narratives, Hans EicholzChapter 8: History through a Classical Liberal Feminist Lens, Sarah SkwireChapter 9: Classical Liberalism in Eastern Europe: Very Vibrant but So Mild, Leonid Krasnozhon and Mykola BunykChapter 10: "Start the Economy": Causation, Emergent Order, and Social Change in the Origins of Modern Economic Growth, Matthew BrownChapter 11: A Non-Manifesto of Liberal History, Alberto Garin