Cultural History for a Changing World

This volume explores the changing field of cultural history to map out its new developments and future directions, covering major themes such as environment, digitization, heritage and identity. After the rise of the 'new cultural history' in the 1980s, the field of cultural history is once again undergoing a time of change. This collection maps out these changes, highlighting new themes from the body and race to technology and animals, and shows how the field has become increasingly entangled with other disciplines such as gender studies, science and technology, media and critical heritage studies. Featuring a team of innovative experts working in cultural history today, Cultural History for a Changing World maps out the current state of the field and its future directions. Presenting new developments and ongoing debates in cultural history, it covers major themes such as such as nature and the environment; knowledge, technology and digital culture; affect and the body; and identity, heritage and politics. Each chapter historicizes and problematizes their topics, gives an overview of the different reactions within the field, and offers an outlook about future avenues and opportunities of research the respective topic offers. Also highlighting the opportunities offered by new approaches such as global, environmental and digital methodologies, Cultural History for a Changing World sets out how this field has been adapting to, and sometimes instigating, shifts in society, and demonstrates how global cultural, social, political and economic shifts are affecting the theories, methods and practices of cultural historians.