Theory as History

Theory as History

Author: Jairus Banaji

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2010-03-22

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 9004183728

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Winner of the 2011 Isaac and Tamara Deutscher Memorial Prize. The essays collected here straddle four decades of work in both historiography and Marxist theory, combining source-based historical work in a wide range of languages with sophisticated discussion of Marx's categories. Key themes include the distinctions that are crucial to restoring complexity to the Marxist notion of a 'mode of production'; the emergence of medieval relations of production; the origins of capitalism; the dichotomy between free and unfree labour; and essays in agrarian history that range widely from Byzantine Egypt to 19th-century colonialism. The essays demonstrate the importance of reintegrating theory with history and of bringing history back into historical materialism. An introductory chapter ties the collection together and shows how historical materialists can develop an alternative to Marx's 'Asiatic mode of production'.


Super Inequality: Theoretical Essays in Economics and Social Policy

Super Inequality: Theoretical Essays in Economics and Social Policy

Author: Christian Aspalter

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-09-16

Total Pages: 169

ISBN-13: 9819951690

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This book bridges the disciplines of micro-economics and social policy in general, and, in particular, behavioral/explanatory social policy and public choice theory, plus Leibenstein’s X-efficiency theory. Being trained as an economist and social policy scientist, the author leaps out of the comfort zone of most social policy scientists and experts, right into the exciting world of micro-economic theory, and then extending and connecting those theories to explain major social, political and economic conundrums of our time. In doing so, the book offers a new set of theoretical—and practical—explanations derived from the general proposition of micro-economic theory, of how government officers, policymakers, administrators and the people themselves alike are, by and large, motivated in their daily as well as strategic (long-term) decision-making. Using a meta-analytical approach (based on a number of grand theories), this book also explains systemic factors behind human behavior and the thereof resulting shortcomings in lifetime outcomes (health, wealth and happiness of a person) and at the same time societal, policy-making, and economic outcomes on societal level, and in global comparison. The outcomes thereof can be measured exactly (and hence validated), especially through the method of empirical comparative social science/economic research. Here, the author also (but not only) introduces the new method of using Aspalter's Standardized Relative Performance (SRP) Index in measuring exactly complex, aggregate performances of multiple governments, and that at the same time also across the entire world.


Liberating Women's History

Liberating Women's History

Author: Berenice A. Carroll

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 1976

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13: 9780252005695

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Papers furnishing a review and critique of past work in women's history are combined with selections delineating new approaches to the study of women in history and empirical studies considering ideological and class factors.


American Foreign Policy

American Foreign Policy

Author: G. John Ikenberry

Publisher: HarperCollins College

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 692

ISBN-13:

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These thought provoking essays, both classic and current, detail the problems encountered in generating a plausible theory of foreign policy and address international determinants of American foreign policy economic necessity as a driving force behind foreign policy, and ideological and cultural accounts of foreign policy.


Power, Trust, and Meaning

Power, Trust, and Meaning

Author: S. N. Eisenstadt

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1995-06-15

Total Pages: 418

ISBN-13: 9780226195568

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S. N. Eisenstadt is well known for his wide-ranging investigations of modernization, social stratification, revolution, comparative civilization, and political development. This collection of twelve major theoretical essays spans more than forty years of research, to explore systematically the bases of human action and society. Framed by a new introduction and an extensive epilogue, which are themselves important statements about processes of institutional formations and cultural creativity, the essays trace the major developments of contemporary sociological theory and analysis. Examining themes of trust and solidarity among immigrants, youth groups, and generations, and in friendships, kinships, and patron-client relationships, Eisenstadt explores larger questions of social structure and agency, conflict and change, and the reconstitution of the social order. He looks also at political and religious systems, paying particular attention to great historical empires and the major civilizations. United by what they reveal about three major dimensions of social life—power, trust, and meaning—these essays offer a vision of culture as both a preserving and a transforming aspect of social life, thus providing a new perspective on the relations between culture and social structure.


A Writing Halfway Between Theory and Fiction

A Writing Halfway Between Theory and Fiction

Author: Miriam Wallraven

Publisher: Königshausen & Neumann

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 9783826035708

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"This book is focused on the surprisingly large number of feminist women writers in literary history who use different genres for their feminist ideas while subverting or transgressing established boundaries between fictional and theoretical writing. In particular, texts by such diverse authors as Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Hays, Mary Robinson, Harriet Martineau, Olive Schreiner, Virginia Woolf, the French Feminists Hélène Cixous and Monique Wittig, Margaret Cavendish, and Michèle Roberts are analysed. This chronological in-depth reading of feminist texts is based on the interrelation of content, genre and discourse. The study provides the first analysis of the phenomenon of the gendering of genre and feminists' troubled involvement in "theory" as well as "literature". In this way, key questions concerning the emergence of feminism during the last four hundred years are presented in a new and revealing light; e.g., for what reason did Mary Wollstonecraft not only write her famous feminist treatise A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, but also a novel in which she tests the arguments of her theoretical treatise by means of fiction? What is the significance of Virginia Woolf?s "Novel-Essay" The Pargiters, which seeks to connect theoretical and fictional parts by juxtaposing them? How can the mixture of genres be interpreted which Catherine Clément attributes to the texts of Hélène Cixous as a "writing halfway between theory and fiction?'--Back cover.


Essays in Sociological Theory

Essays in Sociological Theory

Author: Talcott Parsons

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2010-05-11

Total Pages: 464

ISBN-13: 143911921X

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Talcott Parsons needs little introduction to anyone acquainted with the literature of sociology. Few men have dominated their fields so much as Dr. Parsons does his. In this collection of nineteen essays, Dr. Parsons focuses his attention on subjects ranging from the social structure of Japan to propaganda and social control, from sociological aspects of Fascist movements to the place of psychoanalysis in society. Also dealt with are such topics as: The role of ideas in social action, the motivation of economic activities, American social structure, social classes and class conflict, and the prospects for contemporary sociological theory. The whole body of essays presented here belongs in the broad field of "application" of sociological theory. It stands in the line of scientific development of the most advanced techniques for sociological investigation and evaluation of data.


The Collected Works of Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalytic Studies, Theoretical Essays & Articles

The Collected Works of Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalytic Studies, Theoretical Essays & Articles

Author: Sigmund Freud

Publisher: Good Press

Published: 2024-01-10

Total Pages: 1852

ISBN-13:

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In 'The Collected Works of Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalytic Studies, Theoretical Essays & Articles', Sigmund Freud delves into the complexities of the human mind and behavior through his revolutionary psychoanalytic theories. The book is a compilation of Freud's most important works, exploring topics such as dreams, sexuality, and the unconscious mind with a blend of clinical observation and theoretical analysis. Freud's writing style is both scholarly and accessible, making his groundbreaking ideas understandable to a wide audience. This collection is essential for anyone interested in the development of psychoanalysis and its impact on modern psychology. Freud's work paved the way for new understandings of human behavior and influenced countless other scholars in the field. His profound insights continue to spark debate and intrigue in the realms of psychology and beyond. 'The Collected Works of Sigmund Freud' is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the complexities of the human psyche and the origins of psychoanalysis.