Читать книгу Political Science For Dummies - Marcus A. Stadelmann - Страница 51

Historical sociology is one of the newer schools in political science. It traces its origins back to the 19th century but didn’t become popular until the 1960s. In the 19th century, some of the most famous social scientists, including Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber, were active, and all were historical sociologists. They based their works on historicism, believing that all academic work in the social sciences is subjective and biased, because researchers bring their own values into their research. For this reason, they were attacked by positivists who believed that the social sciences could be a true science and value-neutral.

Historical sociology understands that the present is a product of the past and can be understood only by using a historical approach. People make history under circumstances encountered from the past. A society is constructed historically by individuals who are constructed historically by society. Individuals are shaped by society, which in turn influences their thinking. Therefore, the political scientist has to focus on the historical and social period of a person to detect the true meaning behind a scholar’s work.

So what is historical sociology and how does it work? First, the social scientist looks at one or more societies and analyzes the way groups within society interact with each other. These groups can be classes, like in modern society, or castes like in more traditional societies. The way these groups interact in turn shapes form of government and policy outcomes.

For example, the way social classes interact with each other can determine what form of government a society has. Barrington Moore, Jr. demonstrates this in his classic work Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy (Beacon Press). His research shows that social class alliances shape governments. Whenever an aristocracy aligns itself with the peasantry, a fascist government develops. If, however, the working class aligns itself with the peasantry, socialism is the result. Finally, if an aristocracy aligns itself with the middle classes, capitalism develops.