Microhistory, social leadership and popular political culture in Colombia

Abstract

Starting from microhistory in its methodological and epistemological possibilities and taking as a basis for analysis the works of the Italian social historian Carlo Ginzburg, this article proposes a reflection on key issues of contemporary Colombian history through the experiences, concerns and Experiences of Sergio Amaya Barrios, "Peace and Good", recycler, social leader and homeless citizen of the city of Bogotá, Colombia. Through this character it is revealed, in addition to a particular interpretation of the country's social leadership and political culture, the particular languages used by popular subjects to translate that interpretive experience, as well as the tensions generated by the inclusion of voices, experiences and reflections of the popular sectors in social studies, since it questions the hegemony of social discourse located in the figure of the "scholar", the "specialist" or the "intellectual", an issue that implies the vindication of principles of historiography criticism, in particular of microhistory, such as epistemological constructivism, the centrality of popular voices as a key reference point for analysis, and experimentation in the approach and analysis of historical facts, as proposed by Ginzburg.