Other forms: contextualizations
Contextualization is the process of considering the specific situation in which something exists (or existed) as you try to understand it. Contextualization of French culture in the late 1800s would include Impressionism and the construction of the Eiffel Tower.
Contextualization comes from context and its Latin root contextus, "a joining or weaving together." This process involves putting events within a wider context — in other words, weaving together all the factors that affected a person's actions or a historical occurrence. Understanding why your little sister had a tantrum at her birthday party requires contextualization: she missed her nap and was already cranky, and another kid beat her at pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey.