"In its 'golden age,' it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in history departments in Britain, Canada, France, Germany, and the United States."
This subfield seeks to understand the experiences of ordinary people during the modern period, including issues related to gender, race, and class.
Industrial Revolution: The period of rapid industrialization and a shift from traditional modes of production to machine-based manufacturing that began in the late 18th century and continued through the 19th century.
Labor history: The study of the history of working people and their struggles for better wages, working conditions, and social and economic justice.
Urbanization: The process of growth and development of cities, and the economic, social, and cultural changes that accompany it.
Class and inequality: The examination of social stratification and the ways in which different social classes are structured and interact with one another.
Immigration and migration: The study of the movement of people across national and regional borders and the social, economic, and political effects of this movement.
Women's history: The study of the role of women in society and their struggles for political and social equality.
Race and ethnicity: The examination of the social and cultural construction of race and ethnicity and their impact on social relations, politics, and economic development.
Nationalism and identity: The study of the emergence and development of national identities and the ways in which these identities shape political and social life.
Cultural and intellectual history: The examination of the values, beliefs, and ideas that shape cultural and intellectual life in a given historical period.
Modernity: The study of the historical and cultural shift towards modern ways of thinking, living, and organizing society.
Economic history: The study of how societies have produced, distributed, and consumed goods and services from the past to present.
Cultural history: The examination of the customs, beliefs, arts, and behaviors of a particular society during a specific period.
Gender and sexuality history: A field of study that seeks to understand how gender and sexual orientation shaped individual experiences and societies throughout history.
Political history: The study of political institutions, systems, and policies, including how they have changed over time.
Environmental history: Investigating how human societies interacted with and changed the natural environment throughout history.
Intellectual history: The study of the development of intellectual ideas and their influence on society.
Labor history: Examining the history of labor, work, and workers' movements, including the working conditions and struggles for workers' rights.
Social welfare history: Analyzing the implementation and impact of social welfare programs throughout history.
Urban and suburban history: Investigating city and suburban development, growth, and changes in social and cultural aspects.
Emotions history: Examining how emotions such as love, fear, anger, and joy have been experienced and expressed throughout history.
"In the two decades from 1975 to 1995, the proportion of professors of history in American universities identifying with social history rose from 31% to 41%."
"While the proportion of political historians fell from 40% to 30%."
"History departments in Britain, Canada, France, Germany, and the United States."
"Of the 3410 faculty members reporting, 878 (26%) identified themselves with social history."
"Political history came next with 841 (25%)."
"'Documenting large structural changes; reconstructing the experiences of ordinary people in the course of those changes; and connecting the two'."
"Economists have used cliometrics with economic and mathematical models as a quantitative means to study social history."