Theory, method and British political life history
Theory, method and British political life history
The British tradition of political life history has six conventions: ‘tombstone’ biography, separation of public and private lives, life without theory, objective evidence and facts, character and storytelling. I describe each in turn and review the main debates in the tradition before turning to the swingeing critique by ‘the interpretive turn’. Postmodernism deconstructed grand narratives by pronouncing the death of the subject and the death of the author. I outline an interpretive approach that reclaims life history by focusing on the idea of ‘situated agency’: that is, on the webs of significance that people spin for themselves against the backcloth of their inherited beliefs and practices. I explore, with examples, the implications of this approach for writing life history, stressing the different uses for biography open to political scientists. I end with some brief thoughts on why the British tradition of political life history has proved resistant to change.
political biography, british government, interpretive turn, situated agency, storytelling
Rhodes, R.A.W.
cdbfb699-ba1a-4ff0-ba2c-060626f72948
Rhodes, R.A.W.
cdbfb699-ba1a-4ff0-ba2c-060626f72948
Abstract
The British tradition of political life history has six conventions: ‘tombstone’ biography, separation of public and private lives, life without theory, objective evidence and facts, character and storytelling. I describe each in turn and review the main debates in the tradition before turning to the swingeing critique by ‘the interpretive turn’. Postmodernism deconstructed grand narratives by pronouncing the death of the subject and the death of the author. I outline an interpretive approach that reclaims life history by focusing on the idea of ‘situated agency’: that is, on the webs of significance that people spin for themselves against the backcloth of their inherited beliefs and practices. I explore, with examples, the implications of this approach for writing life history, stressing the different uses for biography open to political scientists. I end with some brief thoughts on why the British tradition of political life history has proved resistant to change.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 16 June 2011
Keywords:
political biography, british government, interpretive turn, situated agency, storytelling
Organisations:
Politics & International Relations
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Local EPrints ID: 336479
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/336479
PURE UUID: be8db7bf-9b40-49c2-968d-5eb57757b910
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Date deposited: 27 Mar 2012 11:25
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:41
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