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Theoretical Methods in Social History examines how generality can be wrested from historical facts. The book explores the various aspects on the application of social theory to historical materials. Chapters delve on various historical issues such as the sociological bias of Trotsky and De Tocqueville; functional analysis of class relations in Smelser and Bendix; and the analogy between intellectual productions. Historians and philosophers will find the book interesting.

Plantations, especially sugar plantations, created slave societies and a racism persisting well into post-slavery periods: so runs a familiar argument that has been used to explain the sweep of Caribbean history. Here one of the most eminent scholars of modern social theory applies this assertion to a comparative study of most Caribbean islands from the time of the American Revolution to the Spanish American War. Arthur Stinchcombe uses insights from his own much admired Economic Sociology to show why sugar planters needed the help of repressive governments for recruiting disciplined labor. D

The essays in this collection, on stratification, organization and the discipline of sociology, all bear upon a general theoretical question: what models of rationality are necessary or suitable to explain individual and collective action in institutional contexts? Professor Stinchcombe was one of the first sociologists to write on this question; and this collection includes a new essay which takes account of recent work done in the tradition Stinchcombe did much to institute. The first group of essays - on class, stratification and mobility - addresses core problems of the discipline and offers imaginative conceptualizations with interesting empirical consequences. The second section - essays on the sociology of organizations - displays, like the first, Stinchcombe's wide knowledge of sociological traditions from structuralism to Marxism. The final section, 'comments on the discipline', deepens the readers understanding of sociological theorizing by presenting different modes of analysis of universities and research institutions and providing challenging, and often funny, insights into the subject

Economic Sociology introduces the student to the main conceptions of economic sociology; illustrates the application of the concepts and theories of economic sociology; and critiques the growing literature that uses economic sociology in the explanation of macroscopic social phenomena, mostly deriving from the Marxist tradition. The book features chapters that discusses the ecological analysis of societies; how economic objectives get translated into requirements on social relations; the basic structure of claims on the flow of benefits from economic enterprises; the reproduction of relations.

Builds on Charles Tilly's (1986) argument that repertoires are features of social structure to explore liberalism in terms of multiplication of the variety of choices & making "elite" alternatives available to many. It is maintained that the vastness of the repertoire of cultural choices is largely a social production, & the historic liberal concern with repertoire enhancing emphasizes the link between the corporate creation of alternatives & increased personal liberty. The development of viable alternatives often requires the creation of autonomy & choice in corporate groups, & some choices need groups to produce/sustain their viability, making governmental support necessary for the viability of multiple groups. The contribution to liberty of autonomous corporate groups is examined, along with conflicts between public availability of contributions to a repertoire, & individual claims to reward for expanding the repertoire. Attitudes toward civil liberties are examined in various situations, eg, disputes over intellectual properties, contending that liberalism exists in the same places as social structures for expanding & maintaining rich repertoires. J. Lindroth

This comment is in response to Frederic L. Pryor (2000). "The Millennium Survey: How Economists View the U.S. Economy in the 21st Century."The American Journal of Economics and Sociology. 59 (January), pp. 3‐33.