What does the term 'history from below' mean?

Question: What does the term 'history from below' mean!?
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Until recently, history was often regarded as solely a matter of what the powerful, the famous, and the wealthy thought and did!. It was "history from above!." What ordinary people felt and what they tried to accomplish was regarded as insignificant, not even worth regarding as part of history!.
Recently, a student at a state university heard mentioned a large and dramatic general strike that had occurred in 1920 in his home town of Waterbury, Connecticut!. He later wrote, "I live in the city that this incident occurred in and yet had never heard about it!. When it was mentioned during the class lecture!.!.!. it immediately aroused my curiosity!. Upon looking into the matter, I found that there was nothing said in any of the books concerning Waterbury's history (approximately 15 books included this period of time)!."
This part fo the life of his community had truly been "hidden from history!."
Such disregard for the history of ordinary people has led to a movement for "history from below!." This movement asserts that workers, women, immigrants, and ethnic and racial minorities have a history that deserves to be uncovered and made known!.
The movement for history from below has challenged not only the elitist conception of who history is about, but also elitist notions of who history who should do history and who it should be for!.
It has emphasized that not only professional historians but also ordinary people who are interested in the past of their families, communities, and organizations can contribute to the understanding of history!. And it has shown that history, appropriately presented, can find a wide audience when it addressed matters which concern ordinary people!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

In the past history was written by 'great men' about 'great men'!. This changed largely from the 1950s with the work of Hoskins and Thompson when social history and working class politics and culture became worthy subjects!. This coincided with the spread of the county archives network!. History from below is of the people, and from the people!. In the Western World history is democratic - we have public archives and anybody can use them free of charge!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

History from below is a level of historical narrative which was developed as a result of the Annales School and popularised in the 1960s!. This form of social history focuses on the perspectives of ordinary individuals within society as well as individuals and regions that were not previously considered historically important!. This includes women and the working class, as well as regions such as India or Africa!.

The historian Jim Sharpe, in Peter Burke's book New Perspectives on Historical Writing, warns that without context, history from below can become a casual definition of isolated cases devoid of any real significance!. Sharpe argues that this form of historical scholarship needs to be concretely linked to its place in history (e!.g!. its antecedents, consequences, etc) in a manner similar to what anthropologists call "thick description"!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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