Abstract
Historical sociology and civilizational studies are among the very first attempts to think globally about history. Sociology emerged as a field of history trying to make sense of the transformation beyond recognition brought about by the “twin revolutions”: the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. The comparative method was at the core of this effort, with Marx comparing modes of production, Émile Durkheim comparing traditional and modern societies, and Max Weber comparing religions, their economies, and societies. This last project, in fact, arranges the world as a set of civilizations derived from the major religions: Confucianism and Taoism in China, Hinduism and Buddhism in India, Judaism and Islam in the Middle East, Catholicism and Protestantism in Europe. This overlap between historical sociology and civilizational analysis exemplifies their cognate nature. Both stem mostly from sociology, rely heavily on the comparative method, and are pathfinders of global thinking.
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© 2015 Diego Olstein
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Olstein, D. (2015). Thinking History Globally: Conceptualizing through Social Sciences. In: Thinking History Globally. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137318145_7
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