Die neue Politikgeschichte hat die enge Definition von »Politik« hinter sich gelassen. Die Autorinnen und Autoren des Bandes verstehen das Politische als einen dynamischen Kommunikationsraum, dessen Grenzen und Inhalte beständig ausgehandelt werden - durchverbale, symbolische und teils auch gewalthafte Kommunikation. Diese Grenzziehungen und Kommunikationsformen werden an ausgewählten Beispielen dargestellt, um schließlich die Frage zu beantworten, was auf der Agenda einer künftigen historischenPolitikforschung stehen sollte.

ContentsI. IntroductionThe Political as Communicative Space in History: The Bielefeld Approach - Willibald Steinmetz and Heinz-Gerhard HauptII. Contested Concepts: "Politics" and "the Political"Introduction - Willibald SteinmetzFrom "Interest" to the "Political": Speaking of Ruling and Reigning in Early Modern Europe - Martin PapenheimFrom a Despised French Word to a Dominant Concept: The Evolution of "Politics" in Swedish and Finnish Parliamentary Debates - Pasi IhalainenWhat Did They Mean by Política? Debating over the Concept, Value, and Place of Politics in Modern Spain - Javier Fernández SebastiánNavigating Around Politics: British Progressive Thought and the "Political" in an Expanding Transnational Perspective - Michael FreedenIII. Boundary Disputes: The Political and Other SpheresIntroduction - Heinz-Gerhard HauptDrawing Boundaries between Politics and Religion: Early Modern Politics Revisited - Matthias PohligPolitical Economy and Statistics in the Late Ancien Régime - Lars BehrischLaws as the Basis and Object of Political Communication - Christoph GusyDepoliticalisation of the Private Life? Reflections on Private Practices and the Political in the Late Soviet Union - Kirsten BönkerMoving across Boundaries: Rudolf Virchow between Medicine and Politics - Tobias WeidnerIV. Violence: Means, Object or End of Political Communication?Introduction - Ingrid Gilcher-Holtey"Catholic and Breton Forever": Violence and the Visual in Early Twentieth-Century France - Eveline G. BouwersThe Limits of the Legitimate: The Quarrel over "Violence" between Autonomist Groups and the German Authorities - Freia Anders and Alexander SedlmaierVie chère, Violent Protest, and Visions of Protection: The Vie chère Controversy on the Eve of WWI in France (1905-1914) - Marcel StrengV. Epilogue: Moving beyond the "New" Political HistoryWriting Political History after the "Iconic Turn" - Bettina BrandtThe Political, the State, and Governance: Reflections on Essentially Contested Concepts - Thomas RisseHistorical Politics Research - Luise Schorn-SchütteThe Opening Up of Political History - Henk te VeldePolitical History Matters: Everyday Life, Things, and Practices - Frank TrentmannNotes on Contributors