Abstract
While many human geographers maintain a long-standing interest in historical analysis, we believe that there is a need to more explicitly examine the theories, methods, and, ultimately, the stakes of such work. For this forum, we invited five geographers to reflect on their own approach to historical analysis and its implications for scholarly and political debates in the present. These commentaries suggest that, at its best, historical analysis is not just about the past; it is also crucial for critical human geographers’ efforts to understand, and intervene in, the present. Thus, we argue for a rejuvenation and extension of approaches to historical-geographical scholarship which are inspired by direct engagement with problems in the present and intend to do something about them.