Breaking Down History with the SPICE Factors
Historians are often confronted with a huge volume of sources. Even when we are lucky enough to have our sources pared down to a single book (like, say, our textbook), we still face the problem of organizing information in a way that allows us to make new and interesting observations.
Luckily, we have several tools at our disposal. One approach we will utilize in this course is the “SPICE” factors. “SPICE” is an acronym representing five important modes of historical analysis: social, political, intellectual, cultural, and economic. By charting these together we can organize our sources to filter out unnecessary facts, sharpen our focus, and draw connections. We can use this basic template to analyze major events in world history. Once you have mastered this approach, you can modify it by trying out other categories like “ecological.”
Luckily, we have several tools at our disposal. One approach we will utilize in this course is the “SPICE” factors. “SPICE” is an acronym representing five important modes of historical analysis: social, political, intellectual, cultural, and economic. By charting these together we can organize our sources to filter out unnecessary facts, sharpen our focus, and draw connections. We can use this basic template to analyze major events in world history. Once you have mastered this approach, you can modify it by trying out other categories like “ecological.”
Acronym |
Description |
Social |
How human welfare is distributed within a community, specifically among various divisions within that community. Human welfare can be measured according to material wealth, health, and overall quality of life.
|
Political |
How individuals or groups seek or exercise power, especially through the state. Politics also relates to how people aim to protect themselves from the state or other community members.
|
Intellectual |
How people perceive the world around them, and how those ideas change over time.
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Cultural |
How common ideals, beliefs, and artistic taste are expressed. When our notion of expression extends to the core function of language, the line between “cultural” and “intellectual” becomes fuzzy. For our purposes, we will try to keep the two separate.
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Economic |
How material necessities and luxuries are created, circulated, and consumed.
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