History, uncertainty, and disciplinary difference: Concluding observations by a social scientist

Abstract

Change involves risk since it contains uncertainty. Putting together first a workshop and then a volume which draws together authors and contribu tions from a great diversity of scholarly disciplines has also been a somewhat risky undertaking. The fact that there have been fruitful discussions is cer tainly also due to the readiness of most participants in the original exercise and of the contributors to this volume to look for common strands, even though these may be attained only at some difficulty in communication and through controversial debate.