Historical methodologies : archival research and oral history in social movement research

Historical data have been very often used in social movement research. However, methodological reflections are rare. This chapter underlines the practical problems social movement scholars are bound to encounter when using historical sources. In particular it concentrates on two historical methodologies: archival research and oral history. In the discussion of these it draws mainly on the authors’ empirical work on contentious politics in Germany, Italy and Northern Ireland, in particular the history of the First of May since 1890, the civil rights movement, and political violence between the 1960s and 1980s. It concludes suggesting how historical approaches can provide additional input for social movement research beyond the recovering of single protest events and movements of the past.