About the Journal
About the Journal
Since 1991, Comparativ has published thematic issues promoting innovative approaches and fresh empirical research in transnational, transregional, and global history that focus on the global condition and analyze longue durée processes of transregional interaction. The journal is a scholarly outlet for showcasing the efforts by various disciplines to historically investigate processes and projects of globalization. Focusing on entanglements, connections, and intercultural transfers, the journal also promotes comparative research. Comparativ places great emphasis on the significance and function of processes of respatialization by which social, cultural, political, economic, and legal orders are shaped. As the official journal of the European Network in Universal and Global History (ENIUGH), Comparativ facilitates dialogue between historians and area studies specialists from across Europe and colleagues from other parts of the world in order to overcome the lasting effects of Eurocentric legacies on world history writing.
Comparativ publishes 6 thematic issues a year and accepts articles in English, French, and German. All research articles published in the journal undergo a rigorous peer-review process based on initial editorial screening by the editorial board, the editors of the thematic issues, and anonymous peer reviewers. At an annual editorial symposium held every autumn, the editorial board considers proposals for thematic issues.
In addition to articles that form part of the issue’s thematic focus or stand alone as part of the journal’s Forum section, Comparativ publishes book reviews on international publications in transnational, transregional, and global history, which critically reflect on developments in these fields.
Comparativ is an open-access journal with a moving paywall of 24 months.
History of the Journal
Comparativ emerged as a response to—and a reflection on—the fundamental changes of 1989. With the growing international interest in global processes, a research team at Leipzig University established the journal as a symbolic continuation of the century-long tradition of world history writing in Leipzig. This tradition was started with Karl Lamprecht in the very early twentieth century, who was followed by, among others, Walter Markov, focusing on comparative colonial history and Manfred Kossok, investigating the history of modern revolutions through comparative analysis. The journal’s thematic issues became an effective instrument for networking, providing a platform for bringing together different perspectives from different disciplines and world regions around a common topic. Almost a thousand authors from more than 50 countries have, since its founding, contributed to the journal’s success and wide readership. Over time, this worldwide network of scholars became integrated into the slowly emerging community of global historians. As a result, Comparativ has become one of the leading journals in this field, and since 2002 has been the official journal of the European Network in Universal and Global History (ENIUGH), being a source of inspiration for cooperation both within and beyond the continent through its congresses. The Steering Committee of ENIUGH, comprising members from a wide range of European countries, serves as the international advisory board of the journal.
Though Comparativ was first published in the 1990s in a paper format, today it is available in both electronic and print formats. All past issues have been digitized and are available online.
Global history has undergone a series of changes over the past decades, which is reflected in the journal’s history. While at first conceptual questions and the construction of a historiographical legacy were at the forefront of scholary interest, new cohorts of scholars have pursued research in many archives, often across regions, and brought these empirical transregional studies to the journal. Global history became more and more dependent on cooperation between specialists on various regions, epochs, or societal dimensions. Comparativ offers such specialists the space to present the results of their intellectual interaction and provides readers with thematic issues that bring such expertise together.
Although global history seemed to be primarily concerned in the beginning with deterriolization—that is to say, the connecting effects of global flows—it has more recently developed a growing interest in the ways various actors exercise control over such flows, both through traditional and innovative means. This includes attention to the endpoints and loopholes within these connections. This focus on actors opened new avenues for fruitful research on the many variants of entanglements and globalization processes, or more precisely, of projects, agendas, initiatives, and ideas meant to determine the shape and paths of interconnectivity and globalization.