S. N. Eisenstadt is widely known for his extensive research on modernity, social stratification, revolution, comparative analysis of cultures, and political development.
This collection of twelve significant theoretical essays, spanning over forty years of research, systematically explores the foundations of human action and society.
Framed by a new introduction and an extensive epilogue, which themselves constitute significant statements on the processes of institutional formation and cultural creativity, the essays identify the major developments in contemporary sociological theory and analysis.
Examining issues of trust and solidarity among migrants, youth, and generations, Eisenstadt explores broader questions of social structure and agency, conflict and change, and the reconstruction of social order.
He also engages with political and religious systems, paying special attention to major historical empires and principal cultures.
Linked by what they reveal about the three main dimensions of social life – power, trust, and meaning – these essays provide a view of culture as both a conservative and transformative aspect of social life, thus offering a new perspective on the relationships between culture and social structure.
“This volume brings together a series of penetrating theoretical works by Eisenstadt on the interaction between social structure, culture, and agency. This is, surely, comparative sociological analysis at its best.” – Robert Merton, Columbia University.
Translation, Scientific editing, Introduction, Notes: Manousos E. Maragoudakis
