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Time, Place, and People in History and Sociology: Boundary Definitions and the Logic of Inquiry
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 January 2016
Extract
There may have been a time when one could characterize the difference between sociology and history in terms of sociological attention to generalization and theory in contrast to historical specificity. A quarter of a century ago, E. H. Carr (1961) was earnestly exorcising the ghost of Ranke from his discipline while C. Wright Mills (1956) was vehemently ranting against the twin devils of abstract empiricism and grand theory. Happily, we now only evoke the distinction between sociological universalism and historical particularism in required graduate classes or in ritualistic self-affirmations at professional meetings. When sociological books include chapters on Marc Bloch or E. P. Thompson and historical books liberally cite Marx, Weber, and Durkheim while urging social historians to seek higher levels of generalization, how do we explain the difference between the two disciplines to our poor confused graduate students?
- Type
- Comment and Debate Historical Sociology and Social History
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © Social Science History Association 1987
Footnotes
This paper is a revised version of a presentation at a panel on “Historical Sociology and Social History: A Dialogue” at the Annual Meeting of the Social Science History Association, Chicago, Illinois, November 23, 1985.
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