World history, civilizational analysis and historical sociology: Interpretations of non-Western civilizations in the work of Johann Arnason
2011 | journal article. A publication with affiliation to the University of Göttingen.
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World history, civilizational analysis and historical sociology: Interpretations of non-Western civilizations in the work of Johann Arnason
Spohn, W. (2011)
European Journal of Social Theory, 14(1) pp. 23-39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1368431010394506
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Details
- Original Title
- 13054
- Authors
- Spohn, Willfried
- Abstract
- The aim of this article is to assess Arnason's civilizational theory and methodology and their application to non-Western civilizations from a historical-comparative sociological perspective. Although civilizational analysis and historical sociology as historical-comparative orientations in sociology are closely connected, civilizational analysis concentrates particularly on the macro-history of civilizations, whereas historical-comparative sociology ( particularly in its American variety) is orientated rather to a meso-and micro-analytical foundation of societal developments and therefore is more time-and context-sensitive. From such a perspective, the article reconstructs, first, Arnason's theoretical and methodological approach to civilizational analysis and discusses his contribution to the civilizational origins and dynamics of the West as a measuring rod for non-European societies. Second, it then assesses Arnason's two major exemplary civilizational studies: the Soviet model in Russia, Eastern Europe and the non-European world as well as the Japanese civilization in the broader East Asian civilizational context. The article concludes with a critical summary of Arnason's highly innovative approach from the vantage point of a recently developing global orientation in historical and comparative sociology.
- Issue Date
- 2011
- Status
- published
- Publisher
- Sage Publications Ltd
- Journal
- European Journal of Social Theory
- ISSN
- 1368-4310