The Civic Responsibilities of historians
Résumé
The author addresses the role of historians in political discourse and action through a lecture delivered at the University of Melbourne on 29 April 2008. He argues that historians have a civic responsibility to educate the public on the shared past and analyze its effects on the present and the future of the concerned society. The issue is discussed with reference to the work of several 19th- and 20th-century French historians in interpreting the past and its influence on contemporary political events.