Whither Historical Sociology?’: A Review Essay on the Current Scholarship

Ten gears ago, Theda Skocpol noted how historical sociology in the mid-1980s brought in new scholars and new visions to almost revolutionize sociological practice. Describing this process of transformation, she asserted that (1984, 357): (H)istori'cal sociology is no longer exclusively the province of the odd, if honored, grand older men of the discipline. Students and rising young sociologists, even women and middle-Americans, can and do make modest or major contributions to sociology through historical genres of research. Nowadays, historical questions or methods are the stuff of which conferences, courses, and sessions are made... Historical sociology did indeed bring in a new cadre of scholars and an innovative approach to historical events and, with it, a growing body of literature that continues to flourish. Partly a s a consequence of this expanding corpus of work, greater attention than ever before is being devoted to questions of research strategy. A decade ago, Skocpol (1984, 362-3) identified three research strategies comprising what can be termed the "extensive " strategy, whereby a general, overarching model was applied to explain numerous historical instances, the "intensive " strategy which employed concepts to develop a meaningful historical interpretation of a single case, and th