The Rise and Propagation of Historical Professionalism

Book excerpt: This book examines the evolution of historical professionalism, with the development of an international community that shares a set of values regarding both methodological minimum demands and what constitutes new results. Historical professionalism is not a fixed set of skills, but a concept with varying import and meaning at different times depending on changing norms. Torstendahl covers the propagation of these different ideals and of new educational forms from the late 18th century to the present, from Ranke’s state-centrism to a historiography borne by social theories.