Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Petitions and Petitioning in Historical Perspective

Huzzey, Richard; Janse, Maartje; Miller, Henry; Oddens, Joris; Waddell, Brodie

Authors

Maartje Janse

Henry Miller

Joris Oddens

Brodie Waddell



Contributors

Richard Huzzey
Editor

Maartje Janse
Editor

Henry Miller
Editor

Joris Oddens
Editor

Brodie Waddell
Editor

Abstract

This introduction charts the growth of a vibrant but fragmented field of research on petitions and petitioning across a wide range of different chronological and geographical contexts. The development of this literature has various causes, including dissatisfaction with established narratives regarding the 'rise' of democracy prompting an examination of non-electoral political practices; the emergence of e-petitions in the 21st century; and petitions’ utility for recovering the voices of groups – such as women, colonised or indigenous peoples, or refugees – marginalised within the official historical record. Mirroring the book’s structure, the introduction considers definition, chronology, and impact in turn. In defining petitions as a genre, it outlines various typologies before analysing the key elements that have historically characterised petitions. Petitioning’s history over the longue durée, it suggests, includes moments of transformation and rapid change mapping onto a broader story of social and political modernisation, but these exist alongside deep continuities that remain remarkably stable across long periods and regime changes. Finally, petitions have mattered, regardless of specific successes or failures, because of their many uses for both petitioners and authority. In particular contexts, petitioning has had the potential, sometimes realised, to catalyse sudden, unpredictable upheavals in politics, society, and the state.

Citation

Huzzey, R., Janse, M., Miller, H., Oddens, J., & Waddell, B. (2024). Petitions and Petitioning in Historical Perspective. In R. Huzzey, M. Janse, H. Miller, J. Oddens, & B. Waddell (Eds.), Petitions and Petitioning in Europe and North America: From the Late Medieval Period to the Present (1-30). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.5871/bacad/9780197267721.003.0001

Online Publication Date Jun 20, 2024
Publication Date Jun 20, 2024
Deposit Date Nov 20, 2023
Publicly Available Date Jun 21, 2026
Publisher Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Pages 1-30
Book Title Petitions and Petitioning in Europe and North America: From the Late Medieval Period to the Present
Chapter Number 1
ISBN 9780197267721
DOI https://doi.org/10.5871/bacad/9780197267721.003.0001
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1944688
Publisher URL https://global.oup.com/academic/product/petitions-and-petitioning-in-europe-and-north-america-9780197267721
Additional Information Richard Huzzey, Maartje Janse, Henry Miller, Joris Oddens, and Brodie Waddell
Contract Date Nov 20, 2023