Application of Conceptual History in Understanding Political Thought and Action

Conceptual history is a theoretical approach to the modern understanding of political thought and action over time and in the context of sociopolitical transformations. In this approach, concepts are rooted in social developments; In such a way that with the change and development in the society and the field of action, the concepts also change in terms of meaning and function. The question of this essay is how to understand and interpret the relationship between political practice and political theory and whether conceptual history can explain this relationship in a way that the researcher, besides exploring it, fulfills his responsibility of constructing a better society and a better world. The assumption is that conceptual history can both present the most appropriate interpretation of the quality of existence of affairs and opens horizon of future for intervening social affairs; in a way that the realm of the researcher’s action in a position of a theoretical actor is determined. Using descriptive and analytical method, this essay introduces conceptual history. This article seeks to comprehend and interpret conceptual history in the context of modern understanding.