Towards an Epistemology of Public History: Conceptual Proposals on History as a Public Matter

Abstract

This paper explores the possibility of developing an epistemology of public history that offers a positive definition of its aims and a critical engagement with so-called “general history,” moving beyond a merely oppositional stance toward academic history. It engages three key debates – transdisciplinarity, community epistemology, and epistemic justice – to frame history as a public practice. Drawing on these discussions, the paper challenges the view of Public History as simply a “field under construction” and questions the benefits of its normalization, proposing instead to conceive it as an open and situated epistemological position.

Keywords

Public history, communitarian epistemology, epistemic Justice, transdisciplinarity