Abstract
Critical family history challenges historians to ask about their ancestors. Who else (what other groups) was around, what were the power relationships among groups, how were these relationships maintained or challenged over time, and what does all this have to do with our lives now? These are different questions from the questions most family historians ask. This introductory essay elaborates on what critical family history is and where the concept came from, then provides a brief overview of the articles included in this Special Issue.
Highlights
The field of family history is exploding as more and more people dive into electronic databases, send off for DNA analysis, watch genealogy-themed TV shows, and interact with other amateur family historians
Based on a survey of 1406 Australian family historians, Shaw (2020) identified six general motivations: seeking some specific information, inheriting a sense of obligation to research the family, having an interest sparked through an external prompt such as a school project, having a general interest in history, curiosity, and enjoying family history as a hobby
Critical family history challenges historians to ask about their ancestors: Who else was around, what were the power relationships among groups, how were these relationships maintained or challenged over time, and what does all this have to do with our lives now? Whose records were kept, whose were not, and what difference does this make regarding whose stories are told (Scodari 2013)? As Scodari (2016) put it, “advancing from personal to collective identity is only one step in the direction of a critical genealogy; recognizing correspondences between one’s own collectives, and those of others, often separated by time, space, class, and/or race/ethnicity is, perhaps, the most illuminating and challenging” (p. 49)
Summary
The field of family history is exploding as more and more people dive into electronic databases, send off for DNA analysis, watch genealogy-themed TV shows, and interact with other amateur family historians. Shaw (2020) observes that “Family history research, identified as one of the top three leisure pursuits in the world, is a multibillion-dollar industry with literally millions of participants around the globe” (p. 109). Based on a survey of 1406 Australian family historians, Shaw (2020) identified six general motivations: seeking some specific information, inheriting a sense of obligation to research the family, having an interest sparked through an external prompt such as a school project, having a general interest in history, curiosity (without elaborating on what that meant), and enjoying family history as a hobby She concluded that family history personalizes the past: “the family historians in this research appeared to be interested mainly in the micro-historical narratives of the past as they pertained to their own individual familial stories. In their study of what family historians do, Darby and Clough (2013) found most of their research participants focused on filling out the family tree; less than 20% sought information about the context in which the family lived This individual focus seems especially prominent among white family historians. Critical family history draws attention to the impact of racism and other social structures on families’ experiences
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