The "material turn" in world and global history

Abstract

This article charts the confluence and eventual overlap between two different fields: that of world/global history and that of material culture. At a basic level, world and global historians’ interest in “things” is the result of the fact that material artefacts-whether commodities, luxuries, scientific tools, ethnographic specimens or unique art objects—have been seen as mobile as than people. Yet, the so-called “material turn” in world/global history also raises a series of methodological and theoretical questions. I start with a historiographic overview to map the major currents and areas of global history affected by a “material turn.” Moving from a historiographical to a conceptual plane, the main body of this article is dedicated to showing how material culture might come to the assistance of world/global history. It provides a series of methodological and theoretical tools for historians to play with established narratives and to revise the conceptualization of connectivity—a key concept in global history. I conclude with some reflections on how a material approach might relate to recent forays into what is now called global microhistory, addressing issues of agency and the relationship between academic and public history.