Statisti fuori dal governo e frontiere della politica. Per un approccio biografico al mutamento politico

This article examines some theoretical and methodological perspectives that using biography may allow for exploring political change. The acknowledged interest of biographies of statesmen, which are an exception to the general disinvestment of political science from the use of biography, is to describe how the profiles of the governing actors have changed over time. Starting from the biographical research that the author has shared with Ahmed Benkirane, a witness of almost a century of Moroccan history who has discontinuously occupied governmental roles throughout his life, the focus will be shifted from the profiles of the governing actors to the continuous transformations of the boundaries of the government process beyond the institutions. This reflection raises issues that, although not specifically concerning biographies, seem relevant for thinking about the relationship between history and the social sciences: the problems posed by the categories of analysis of individual behavior and by the definition of subjects as sources highlight the historical dimension of interpretative paradigms and lead us to take into account the relevance of the historicity of the research experience itself.