Explication of a social fact: seasonal variation in the outbreak of insurrections

«If you wish to mature your thought, devote yourself to the study of a great master; take a system apart, laying bare its innermost secrets.»(Émile Durkheim) This oft-quoted advice from the great French sociologist was obviously taken to heart by Philippe Besnard and made his own. Though Durkheim remains best known for path-breaking substantive contributions to the study of human social groups, he was himself an inveterate student of the antecedents of sociological thought. Besnard’s publishe..