Comparison and Beyond

The merits of the comparative approach to history are undeniable. Comparison helps to identify questions, and to clarify profiles of single cases. It is indispensable for causal explanations and their criticism. Comparison helps to make the “climate” of historical research less provincial. Still, comparative historians remain in a minority. Many cherished principles of the historical discipline — proximity to the sources, context, and continuity — are sometimes in tension with the comparative approach. More recently, new transnational approaches — entangled histories, histoire croisée –challenge comparative historians in a new and interesting way. But histoire comparée and histoire croisée can be compatible and need each other.