The Uses of Theory, Concepts and Comparison in Historical Sociology

The sociological study of history has only recently achieved recognition in American sociology. Although historical research occupied an important place in the nineteenth-century European sociological tradition, American scholars long accepted a disciplinary division relegating the study of the past...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Comparative studies in society and history 1980-04, Vol.22 (2), p.156-173
Main Author: Bonnell, Victoria E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Approaches to Historical Comparison
Collective violence
Comparative sociology
Empirical evidence
Historical methodology
History instruction
Social change
Social research
Social theories
Sociology
World systems
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Summary:The sociological study of history has only recently achieved recognition in American sociology. Although historical research occupied an important place in the nineteenth-century European sociological tradition, American scholars long accepted a disciplinary division relegating the study of the past to historians, while reserving contemporary subjects for sociological investigation. The field of historical sociology first witnessed a revival in the 1950s with the publication of Reinhard Bendix's Work and Authority in Industry (1956) and Neil Smelser's Social Change in the Industrial Revolution (1959). During these years, a small chorus of voices called for a more historical approach to sociological problems and closer cooperation between the two disciplines.
ISSN:0010-4175
1475-2999
1471-633X
DOI:10.1017/S0010417500009270