This book argues that history and sociology share the same vital preoccupation: the desire to unravel the puzzle of human agency. How do large-scale social transformations occur, and what is the role of the individual in them? Phil Abrams devotes three chapters to the development of industrialism and scrutinizes, in that connection, the theories of Marx, Weber, and Durkheim. Subsequent chapters consider Talcott Parsons and the debate on "convergence"; the formation of "states"; the idea of the "event" as a legitimate concern of history and sociology; individuals and sociological generations; deviancy and revolution; and a final chapter on the limits of historical sociology.
- ISBN10 0801415780
- ISBN13 9780801415784
- Publish Date 28 February 1983 (first published April 1982)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Cornell University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 400
- Language English