Dlittle30

LATEST ARTICLES ( 866 )

• What is the Role of Character in Action?

  

  I've been seriously interested in the question of character since being invited to contribute to a volume on the subject a few years ago. Read more

  Posted on 27 November 2016 SOCIETY

• Coarse-graining of Complex Systems

  

  The question of the relationship between micro-level and macro-level is just as important in physics as it is in sociology. Is it possible to derive the... Read more

  Posted on 24 November 2016 SOCIETY

• Ssha 2016

  

  Image: Palmer House lobbyThe 41st annual meeting of the Social Science History Association is underway in Chicago this weekend. Read more

  Posted on 19 November 2016 SOCIETY

• DeLanda on Concepts, Knobs, and Phase Transitions

  

  image: Carnap's notes on Frege's Begriffsschrift seminarPart of Manuel DeLanda's work in Assemblage Theory is his hope to clarify and extend the way that we... Read more

  Posted on 13 November 2016 SOCIETY

• Nine Years of Understanding Society

  

  image: Anasazi petroglyphs at Newspaper RockThis week marks the ninth anniversary of Understanding Society -- 1105 posts to date, or over 1.1 million words. Read more

  Posted on 06 November 2016 SOCIETY

• Coleman on the Classification of Social Action

  

  Early in his theoretical treatise of rational-choice sociology Foundations of Social Theory, James Coleman introduces a diagram of different kinds of social... Read more

  Posted on 29 October 2016 SOCIETY

• New Structural Economics

  

  Does economic theory provide anything like a concrete set of reliable policies for creating sustained economic growth in a middle-income country? Read more

  Posted on 26 October 2016 SOCIETY

• Rational Choice Institutionalism

  

  Where do institutions come from? And what kinds of social forces are at work to stabilize them once they are up and running? These are questions that... Read more

  Posted on 25 October 2016 SOCIETY

• A New Exposition of Assemblage Theory

  

  Manuel DeLanda has been a prominent exponent of the theory of assemblage for English-speaking readers for at least ten years. His 2006 book A New Philosophy of... Read more

  Posted on 12 October 2016 SOCIETY

• What is "conceptual History"?

  

  The post-war German historian Reinhart Koselleck made important contributions to the theory of history that are largely independent from the other sources of... Read more

  Posted on 05 October 2016 SOCIETY

• Guest Post by Paul Draus and Juliette Roddy

  

  Paul Draus and Juliette Roddy have been involved in street-level sociological research in Detroit for over ten years. Roddy is an economist and a member of the... Read more

  Posted on 02 October 2016 SOCIETY

• New Directions in the Philosophy of Social Science

  

  I am very happy to say that my new book appeared this week, New Directions in the Philosophy of Social Science. Thanks to all the people at Rowman ... Read more

  Posted on 24 September 2016 SOCIETY

• Measuring Happiness Internationally

  

  One reasonable way of thinking about the most fundamental goal of international economic development is to increase the level of human happiness in all... Read more

  Posted on 19 September 2016 SOCIETY

• Guest Post by Dave Elder-Vass

  

  [Dave Elder-Vass accepted my invitation to write a response to my discussion of his recent book, Profit and Gift in the Digital Economy (link). Read more

  Posted on 15 September 2016 SOCIETY

• Tilly on Moving Through History

  

  We have long given up on the idea that history has direction or a fundamental motor driving change. There are no iron laws of history, and there is no... Read more

  Posted on 14 September 2016 SOCIETY

• Capitalism as a Heterogeneous Set of Practices

  

  Image: O. Beauchesnes, "Map of the Geographical Structure of Wikipedia Links" (link)A key part of understanding society is making sense of the "economy" in whic... Read more

  Posted on 05 September 2016 SOCIETY

• Sociology Circa 2008

  

  I often find handbooks in the social sciences to be particularly valuable resources for anyone interested in thinking about the big issues and challenges... Read more

  Posted on 01 September 2016 SOCIETY

• Thurgood Marshall's Future

  

  Thurgood Marshall was awarded the Liberty Medal by the National Constitution Center in 1992 (link). Marshall had stepped down as a justice of the US Supreme... Read more

  Posted on 30 August 2016 SOCIETY

• Interdisciplinary Discussions in Mexico

  

  I've just spent several interesting days at the second science and humanities conference of the Mexican Academy of Sciences in Mexico City (link). My thanks to... Read more

  Posted on 28 August 2016 SOCIETY

• The Rise of Austrofascism

  

  Several recent posts have commented on the rise of a nationalistic, nativist politics in numerous contemporary democracies around the world. Read more

  Posted on 21 August 2016 SOCIETY