Signing on: a contractarian understanding of how public history is used for civic inclusion

Abrahams, D. (2023) Signing on: a contractarian understanding of how public history is used for civic inclusion. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 26, pp. 651-665. (doi: 10.1007/s10677-023-10386-0)

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Abstract

What makes public history more than just another hill to fight over in culture war politics? In this paper I propose a novel way of understanding the political significance of how public history creates and shapes identities: a contractarian one. I argue that public history can be sensibly understood as representing groups as a society’s contracting parties. One particular value of the contractarian approach is that it helps to elucidate the phenomenon of “signing on,” where a marginalized or oppressed group is offered membership in a society without the social order being meaningfully changed.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:This paper was completed with the help of postdoctoral funding from the Society for Applied Philosophy.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Abrahams, Daniel
Authors: Abrahams, D.
College/School:College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Philosophy
Journal Name:Ethical Theory and Moral Practice
Publisher:Springer
ISSN:1386-2820
ISSN (Online):1572-8447
Published Online:28 March 2023
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2023 The Authors
First Published:First published in Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 26:651-665
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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