Libro: "TREATISE OF INTEGRAL HISTORY OF CLUB ATLÉTICO BOCA JUNIORS - Methodology applied to historical research" de Ulises Barreiro
Treatise of Integral History of Club Atlético Boca Juniors
Methodology Applied to Historical Research proposes an approach to the history of Club Atlético Boca Juniors from a broad, documentary, and methodological perspective. The work stems from a central premise: the history of a sports institution cannot be reduced exclusively to the results achieved by its main discipline; rather, it must reconstruct the whole set of sports, cultural, social, economic, and political-institutional relationships that formed its historical trajectory.
The concept of Integral History developed in the Treatise is structured around three major dimensions: sports, cultural, and political-institutional. These dimensions are not studied as isolated compartments, but in permanent articulation with one another, seeking to understand how each intervened in the Club's historical construction.
The work focuses especially on the methodology of historical research. It posits the need to start from facts and to work with a critical and orderly selection of sources, avoiding turning institutional history into a mere compilation of anecdotes, memories, or statistics.
One of the central aspects of the proposed method is the cross-referencing of sources. No document should be considered in isolation: the information gathered must be contrasted with other sources to determine its context, origin, temporality, and potential relationship with other events.
The Treatise also addresses issues linked to method, methodology, information recording, the creation of research cards, documentary selection, historical interpretation, and problems of causality. Another fundamental principle consists of understanding that a sports event does not take place in isolation from the historical context in which it occurs.
The decisions of a board of directors, the construction of a headquarters or stadium, the creation of a new sports discipline, an institutional election, or an international tour can all be related to economic, social, political, and cultural factors. Therefore, Integral History seeks to reconstruct these connections and explain how different events influence one another.
From this perspective, the Treatise aims to contribute to a methodological revolution in Xeneize historiography, proposing a transition from a history built mainly on memory, oral tradition, or the enumeration of results toward historical research grounded in sources.
The goal is not to devalue previous works, but to expand the field of research and generate new questions about the institution's past.
This proposal finds a concrete application in the research conducted on different periods and dimensions of Boca Juniors. For instance, the work on 1953 was addressed from various angles and led to studies on football, amateur sports, culture, and political and institutional history, showing how different research topics can complement one another to build an integral vision of a single season.
Ultimately, the Treatise of Integral History of Club Atlético Boca Juniors does not intend merely to tell the story of Boca Juniors, but to reflect on how to research, document, interpret, and write that history. Its methodological proposal views the Club as a complex historical institution embedded in a specific society and era, whose trajectory must be reconstructed through the articulation of its various dimensions.