Global Historical Sociology

Bringing together historical sociologists from Sociology and International Relations, this collection lays out the international, transnational, and global dimensions of social change. It reveals the shortcomings of existing scholarship and argues for a deepening of the 'third wave' of historical sociology through a concerted treatment of transnational and global dynamics as they unfold in and through time. The volume combines theoretical interventions with in-depth case studies. Each chapter moves beyond binaries of 'internalism' and 'externalism,' offering a relational approach to a particular thematic: the rise of the West, the colonial construction of sexuality, the imperial origins of state formation, the global origins of modern economic theory, the international features of revolutionary struggles, and more. By bringing this sensibility to bear on a wide range of issue-areas, the volume lays out the promise of a truly global historical sociology.

In this volume of Political Power and Social Theory, a special collection of papers reconsiders race and racism from global and historical perspectives. Together, these articles serve as an entry point for sharpening our sociological understandings of how racism operates in current times.

International relations theorists are increasingly turning to historical sociology as a means both of broadening and refining their discipline, and critiquing mainstream thinking. Nevertheless, there is still only a rudimentary understanding of what historical sociology is and what it can offer the subject. This book acts as a manifesto for historical sociology, considering a range of issues, including accounts of the major variants of historical sociology; how they can be applied to international relations; why international relations theorists should engage with these approaches; and how historical sociological insight can enhance and reconfigure the study of international relations. In addition to describing the seven major approaches - neo-Weberianism, constructivisim, critical historical materialism, critical theory, postmodernism, structural realism and World Systems theory - the volume s introductory and concluding chapters set out in detail an approach and research agenda that revolve around what the editors call world sociology .

Sociology began as a historical discipline, created by Marx, Weber and others, to explain the emergence and consequences of rational, capitalist society. Today, the best historical sociology combines precision in theory-construction with the careful selection of appropriate methodologies to address ongoing debates across a range of subfields. This innovative book explores what sociologists gain by treating temporality seriously, what we learn from placing social relations and events in historical context. In a series of chapters, readers will see how historical sociologists have addressed the origins of capitalism, revolutions and social movements, empires and states, inequality, gender and culture. The goal is not to present a comprehensive history of historical sociology; rather, readers will encounter analyses of exemplary works and see how authors engaged past debates and their contemporaries in sociology, history and other disciplines to advance our understanding of how societies are created and remade across time. This illuminating book is designed for use in graduate and advanced undergraduate courses as an introduction to historical sociology and as a guide to employing historical analysis across the discipline.

This book is the first to offer a full exploration of the theory of uneven and combined development

Systematic and informative, this book is a complete and authoritative guide to historical sociology in three parts foundations, different approaches and major substantive themes.

This book provides an original analysis of recent work by key historical sociologists through the prism of International Relations. Stephen Hobden investigates the number of issues which overlap between the two disciplines by focusing on three main themes: * the ways in which historical sociologists approach international relations in general and the concept of an international system in particular * recent advances on the concept of the state as developed by Historical Sociology and their implications for International Relations * the potential for productive dialogue between the two schools of thought.

Political Sociology in a Global Era provides a critical analysis of the origins, nature, development, and transformation of the state and society historically and today, examining the class nature and social basis of politics and the state in different societal settings. The book emphasizes the centrality of class relations in explaining political power and the role of the state in class-divided societies by providing powerful theoretical and empirical analyses of themes in political sociology in an era of globalization. It examines in detail the major political issues and events of our time, and makes them relevant to the study of power and politics today. Some of the features of this text include: Introduces a global political sociology emphasizing the dynamics of power relations Provides a critical analysis of the role of politics and the state within the world-historical process Describes classical and contemporary theories of politics and the state Explains the origins and development of the state, discussing the nature of the state, its class basis, and contradictions in different types of societies Considers the dynamics of the capitalist state and traces its development in Europe and the United States from the 18th century to the present Details the role of the advanced capitalist state in the global political economy at the current, advanced stage of late capitalism Discusses the social movements that have been actively struggling against the capitalist state from earlier times to the present, including the Arab Spring, focusing on recent developments in both advanced capitalist and less-developed capitalist societies where mobilization of the masses has led to struggles against the capitalist state on a global scale Offers an original analysis of global capitalism and places it in the context of the current crisis of the global capitalist system