>Yeah, well Brenner's a red. But the Brenner debate was, what, 25-30
>years ago, right?
Right, but it was revisited in the late 80s.
>I am sorry to say that the debate about what causes
>major historical changes did nor end with the Brenner
>debate. Not exactly sorry to say it, but there was,
>more recently, the debate around Francois Furet (and
>his crowd) and the French revolution,
Yeah. I should have clarified and said debates among historians in the U.S. Even with the Brenner debate, I think Brenner was the only U.S. based participant. But even here there has been a big shift in thinking about the major lines of the history of the American West that is very recent and still ongoing. And there's the world system stuff. One book that I wish was read much more widely is Abu-Lughod, Janet 1989. Before European Hegemony. The World System A.D. 1250-1350. New York: Oxford University Press.
Great book, albeit with a clunky title. So you're right, nothing dies completely.
>The New Left didn't have much impact on American politics, but they
>had a huge impact on the study of it in such old disciplines as
>history, sociology, geography, anthropology, area studies, and
>literature (though exercising little influence on economics and
>political science) and created such new disciplines as women's
>studies, ethnic studies, and queer studies.
Yup. The changes haven't been a total wash.