THE SOUND OF DISENSUS

Notes for a history/conception of political parties and organizations in a concrete research case

Abstract

Taking political parties as an object of study involves methodological risks to be properly analyzed. Some scholars tend to understand them as a monolithic group, free from internal differences, others tend to consider them as a restricted intellectual group, a type of political elite, apparently disconnected from the social conflicts that permeate and overcome it. Almost always, however, the uncompromising reality imposes itself. And if in many moments, from the interior of these objects, and from the archives available for research, the disharmony noises of dissenting voices sound, in others, what remains is to hear the sound of silence. Both can and should be interpreted by the attentive historian. Inspired by Gramsci's considerations, this article presents a theoretical methodological orientation on how to write about the history of political parties and organizations, using concrete research results on Polop.