This introduction to a special issue on popular control in pre-modern Europe reviews both the contemporary resonance of the term in an era of reviving populism, and the conceptual challenges it poses for historians of all periods. It reconsiders the problem of the “popular,” the question of what constitutes effective control, and the relationship between collective and coordinated action. Briefly highlighting particular aspects of articles in the issue, it stresses above all the usefulness of thinking with concrete cases. Here those range from the late medieval Languedoc to eighteenth-century Germany via Castile, northern France, and England. Doing so helps us to see how popular control operated across a range of scales. It frequently developed from bottom-up political practice, often being articulated within a range of micro-sovereignties of different sorts. Here it remained volatile and plural within a set of shared but often contested norms. That volatility extended to those exercising popular control since they could pass into the ranks of those holding official powers just as, at other times, office-holders might equally be found amongst the ranks of those acting more informally.

中文翻译：

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前现代欧洲的大众控制简介


本文介绍了有关前现代欧洲的民众控制的特刊，回顾了该术语在民粹主义复兴时代的当代反响，以及它对各个时期的历史学家提出的概念挑战。它重新考虑了“大众”问题、有效控制的构成问题以及集体行动与协调行动之间的关系。它简要强调了本期文章的特定方面，首先强调了结合具体案例进行思考的有用性。这里的范围包括从中世纪晚期的朗格多克到十八世纪的德国，途经卡斯蒂利亚、法国北部和英格兰。这样做可以帮助我们了解流行的控制是如何在一定范围内运作的。它经常从自下而上的政治实践中发展而来，通常在一系列不同类型的微观主权中得到阐明。在这里，它在一套共享但经常有争议的规范中仍然不稳定和多元化。这种波动性延伸到了那些行使民众控制权的人，因为他们可能会进入拥有官方权力的人的行列，就像在其他时候，公职人员可能同样会出现在那些行事更为非正式的人的行列中一样。