The social role of history : Maria Inés La Greca, Kalle Pihlainen i Jacques Rancière

In the paper I only partially address questions about the social role of history: to what extent can historiography change the world? What are history's inherent practices, knowledge resources, or writing forms that allow it to be an effective instrument of political action? What relationship between historians and their readers can a responsible historical discourse establish? I critically discuss how contemporary English‑language historical theory responds to these questions drawing on the contributions of María Inés La Greca and Kalle Pihlainen. In doing so, I make use of the philosophy of Jacques Rancière and thus attempt to incorporate his ideas into this debate. As a result, I propose some directions for further thinking about the social role of history.