Braudel, Fernand (1902–1985)

Fernand Braudel was the leading figure of the so‐called second generation of the Annales School or historiographic tradition, a tradition that distinguished itself from the outset by its emphasis on what it called “total history.” Within this tradition, Braudel's work is noted for four major emphases: (1) concern with the unit of analysis, and in particular with a construct he called a “world‐economy” ( économie‐monde ); (2) analysis of social temporalities, which he asserted to be multiple, and in particular that of the longue durée ; (3) his insistence on interscience, which refers to his concern with breaking down the barriers between history and the other social sciences (sociology, geography, political science, and economics); and (4) an interpretation of economic life that drew a sharp and unusual distinction between the market and capitalism.