History and Social Theory

By Peter Burke

Book Overview

What is the use of social theory to historians, and of history to social theorists? In clear and energetic prose, a preeminent cultural historian here offers a far-reaching response to these deceptively simple questions. Peter Burke reviews the emergence of the fields of history and social science and traces their tentative convergence as he reappraises the relations between them.

Burke first examines what uses historians have made--or might make--of the models, methods, and concepts of the social sciences, and then analyzes some of the intellectual conflicts that are at the heart of the tension between history and social theory. Throughout, he draws from a broad range of cultures and periods to illustrate how history, in turn, has been used to create and validate social theories.

This new edition brings the book up to date with the addition of examples and discussions of new topics such as social capital, globalization, and postcolonialism.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801472857
• ISBN13: 9780801472855
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A Challenging Prose for Historians and Social Theorists

With utmost precision and transparency, Burke examines indiscriminately and critically a wide spectrum of intellectual works in the fields of anthropology to classical sociology and cultural, political history; and illustrates how history and social theory have been used interchangeably to draw definitive conclusions in understanding the long lasting "confrontations" in the Western intelligentsia. In his critical survey that includes such scholarly endeavors from the ancient world to contemporary period, Burke first discusses the central problem of which is the intricate dialectic between history and social theory, and then draws his conclusion from a broad range of exemplary works to categorize models and methods as important methodologies, central concepts as ways of seeing the world, materially and socially, and finally central problems as defined by the pioneering scholars since the Enlightenment. In this very clear argumentative style, in other words, his principal aim is to discuss the forms and the proponents of the problem themes; to define the conceptual frameworks to comprehend them; and finally, to describe the methods necessary for exploring both problems and methods simultaneously. With his final review over six monographs Burke also attempts to broaden the reader's intellectual vision in the sense that the "collision" of history and social theory is imminent in many ways and "social change" is the most vital "end product" of this intellectual journey. This is a really excellent book and definitely useful for historians, social theorists and those who need to examine anthropology, political science and social philosophy under one scholarly roof.