BOOK

Historical Consciousness and Practical Life: A Theory and Methodology.

Zanazanian (2025)
Published by University of Toronto Press.

For more information about the book, which is scheduled for release in February 2025.
https://utorontopress.com/9781487518899/historical-consciousness-and-practical-life/

IN A NUTSHELL
Historical Consciousness and Practical Life examines how individuals produce and use historical knowledge to position themselves on historically rooted social problems.

THE ONE-MINUTE READ
Historical Consciousness and Practical Life introduces a novel approach to examining how people construct and employ historical knowledge in their everyday lives. In viewing history as an embodied cultural practice that constitutes the background to our meaning making – brought alive through my conception of history-in-the-now -, the book demonstrates how researchers and others can investigate the ways in which people make sense of time’s flow in their now moment engagements with the world and use that information to position themselves regarding key social problems with historical roots.

To provide a glimpse at how humans enter historically embedded thinking problems, seeking to resolve them, Historical Consciousness and Practical Life draws on a study of the community leaders of English-speaking Quebec to illustrate the practical life methodology’s workings. In looking at their different uses of history for strengthening their group’s vitality in the province, I identify five key stances they employ for positioning their sense of purpose and responsibility for securing English-speaking Quebec’s future. Ultimately, Historical Consciousness and Practical Life argues that community leaders who complicate and problematize their uses of history are the best positioned to make positive transformations for their group.

HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND PRACTICAL LIFE: A THEORY AND METHODOLOGY.

Historical Consciousness and Practical Life: A Theory and Methodology.