World histories in conversation

Abstract

The essay poses the question of world histories’ value relevance to historians of other fields. It provides a critical overview of the world history narratives, points out the strengths and the limits of each individual narrative and groups them into two categories: universalist and thematic. The essay then endorses the pursuit of “big questions” and megathemes in world history and proposes humanity’s relationship with change as one such megatheme. The essay then takes Russian history as an example of how internationalization of a particular historical field can contribute to and benefit from world histories’ insights.