What is important in historical sociology? What are the main routes of development in the subject? The Handbook of Historical Sociology consists of 26 chapters on historical sociology. It is divided into three parts. Part one is devoted to Foundations and covers Marx, / Weber, evolutionary and functionalist approaches, the Annales School, Elias, Nelson and Eisenstadt. Part two moves on to consider major approaches, such as modernization approaches, late Marxist approaches, historical geography, institutional approaches, cultural history, intellectual history, postcolonial and genealogical approaches. Part Three is devoted to the major substantive themes in historical sociology ranging from state formation, nationalism, social movements, classes, patriarchy, architecture, religion and moral regulation to problems of periodization and East-West divisions. Each part includes an Introduction that summarizes and contextualizes chapters. A general introduction to the volume outlines the current situation of historical sociology after the cultural turn in the social sciences.
It argues that historical sociology is deeply divided between explanatory 'sociological' approaches and more empirical and interpretative 'historical' approaches. Systematic and informative the book offers readers the most complete and authoritative guide to historical sociology.
