ABSTRACT
The pioneer scholar of transnational history Akira Iriye has argued: ‘National histories have been the predominant scholarly category since the study of history was established as a discipline in Europe in the nineteenth century’ (Iriye 2004: 211). In the period since the end of the Cold War, however, this has become increasingly challenged by historians’ growing concern with subjects that transcend national boundaries. The emerging discipline of ‘transnational history’ is now manifested in many forms, including academic centres, book series, edited collections, journals, monographs, networks and websites. This chapter aims to provide an introduction to transnational history, its nature, purposes and contributions, as well as to the practice of conducting historical research into transnational phenomena. The example of peace activism – one of the oldest and richest forms of transnational political historical research – will be used in illustration, and reference will be made to The Palgrave Dictionary of Transnational History (Iriye and Saunier 2009), which has helped to define this emerging field of research.
