History and Society has been the journal for historical social science for thirty years. On this occasion, current and previous editors discuss the future of social history in an international context. Some contributions take a look at classic topics of social history, others reformulate the foundations of a history of social structures and practices after the "cultural turn" and in view of the challenge posed by a global view of history. A third group deals with the relationship to neighboring disciplines of historical studies, especially political science and economics. Finally, a fourth focus of the volume is on state development and social change in the Federal Republic of Germany.