On the Importance of Intellectual Flexibility

One of the hallmarks of comparative research is its ability to spring surprises.  As Carl Degler wrote some 35 years ago, "comparison will emphasize aspects of our past that may have gone unnoticed before, just as it will call for explanations where none was thought necessary before."[1]  But this tendency also poses one of the comparative historian's biggest challenges--to respond flexibly and constructively when one's  assumptions do not pan out.  My comments will offer examples of this challenge from my research on railroads and on chain stores in the United States and Germany.

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[1] Carl N. Degler, "In Pursuit of an American History," American Historical Review 92 (February 1987): 7.