Vytautas Kavolis's historical sociology (methodological aspects)

This paper examines the problematic relationship between sociology and history that had a significant place in Kavolis’s historical sociology. In light of the methodological concerns, the paper attempts to provide a conceptual introduction to Vytautas Kavolis’s historical writings. Vytautas Kavolis was a Lithuanian and American sociologist who is considered one of the founders of the civilizational analysis. Although the concept of “civilizational analysis” has deep roots in the social sciences, Kavolis points out to an urgent need to re-think it for contemporary times. His method of civilizational analysis supports an interesting pluralist perspective. Kavolis suggests a need for sociology to more thoroughly integrate sociological, historical, anthropological, psychological, and philosophical analysis into its theory and practice. He has developed an interdisciplinary method along the lines of a historical, cultural, and existential sociology..