What are transregional studies?

They are approaches that study connections and comparisons across multiple world regions rather than treating each region in isolation, responding to critiques of traditional area studies.

Comparative and Transregional Studies

Comparative and transregional approaches study connections and comparisons across world regions, moving beyond the bounded areas of classic area studies.

Definition

The study of cross-regional comparison and connection, including connected histories and transregional approaches that move beyond single bounded areas.

Scope

This topic examines methods that cross the borders of single areas: comparison across regions, connected and entangled histories, and global or transregional frameworks. It responds to critiques of area studies by tracing flows, links, and parallels among the cultures of the Global South and beyond.

Core questions

How can scholars compare across regions without flattening difference?
What do connected and entangled histories reveal?
How do transregional frames respond to the limits of area studies?

Key theories

Connected histories: Sanjay Subrahmanyam argued for connected histories that trace links across early modern Eurasia, against accounts confined to single regions or civilizations.
Global connections and comparisons: C. A. Bayly analyzed the making of the modern world through global connections and comparisons that cut across regional boundaries.

History

As area studies came under critique, scholars from the 1990s developed comparative, connected, and global approaches. Subrahmanyam's connected histories and Bayly's global synthesis exemplified a turn toward transregional analysis that area-studies critics like Ludden welcomed.

Debates

Comparison versus connection: Scholars debate whether to compare bounded cases or trace concrete connections, and how to combine both without losing regional depth.

Key figures

Sanjay Subrahmanyam
C. A. Bayly
David Ludden

Seminal works

subrahmanyam1997
bayly2004

Frequently asked questions

What are transregional studies?: They are approaches that study connections and comparisons across multiple world regions rather than treating each region in isolation, responding to critiques of traditional area studies.