What is the use of social theory to historians, and of history to social theorists? In clear and energetic prose, a pre-eminent cultural historian here offers a far-reaching response to these deceptively simple questions. In this classic text, now revised and updated in its second edition, Peter Burke reviews afresh the relationship between the fields of history and the social sciences and their tentative convergence in recent decades. Burke first examines what uses historians have made - or might make - of the models, methods, and concepts of the social sciences, and then analyzes some of the intellectual conflicts, such as the opposition between structure and human agency, which are at the heart of the tension between history and social theory. Throughout, he draws from a broad range of cultures and periods to illustrate how history, in turn, has been used to create and validate social theories. This new edition brings the book up to date with the addition of examples and discussions of new topics such as social capital, globalization and post-colonialism. The second edition of History and Social Theory will continue to stimulate both students and scholars across a range of disciplines with its challenging assessment of the roles of history and social science today.

What is the use of social theory to historians, and of history tosocial theorists? In clear and energetic prose, a pre-eminentcultural historian here offers a far-reaching response to thesedeceptively simple questions. In this classic text, now revised andupdated in its second edition, Peter Burke reviews afresh therelationship between the fields of history and the social sciencesand their tentative convergence in recent decades.Burke first examines what uses historians have made - or mightmake - of the models, methods, and concepts of the social sciencesand then analyzes some of the intellectual conflicts, such as theopposition between structure and human agency, which are at theheart of the tension between history and social theory. Throughouthe draws from a broad range of cultures and periods to illustratehow history, in turn, has been used to create and validate socialtheories. This new edition brings the book up to date with theaddition of examples and discussions of new topics such as socialcapital, globalization and post-colonialism.The second edition of History and Social Theory will continue tostimulate both students and scholars across a range of disciplineswith its challenging assessment of the roles of history and socialscience today.

* Preface* 1 THEORISTS AND HISTORIANS* A Dialogue of the Deaf* The Differentiation of History and Theory* The Dismissal of the Past* The Rise of Social History* The Convergence of Theory and History* 2 MODELS AND METHODS* Comparisons* Models* Quantitative Methods* The Social Microscope* 3 CENTRAL CONCEPTS* Roles and Performances* Sex and Gender* Family and Kinship* Communities and Identities* Class and Status* Social Mobility and Social Distinction* Consumption and Exchange* Social and Cultural Capital* Patrons and Clients* Power and the Public Sphere* Centres and Peripheries* Hegemony and Resistance* Social Protest and Social Movements* Mentalities, Ideologies, Discourses* Communication and Reception* Postcolonialism and Cultural Hybridity* Orality and Textuality* Memory and Myth* 4 CENTRAL PROBLEMS* Rationality versus Relativism* Concepts of Culture* Consensus versus Conflict* Facts versus Fictions* Structures versus Agents* Functionalism* The Example of Venice* Structuralism* The Return of the Actor* 5 SOCIAL THEORY AND SOCIAL CHANGE* Spencer's Model* Marx's Model* A Third Way?* Essays in Synthesis* Patterns of Population* Patterns of Culture* Encounters* The Importance of Events* Generations* 6 POSTMODERNITY AND POSTMODERNISM* Destabilization* Cultural Constructions* Decentering* Beyond Eurocentrism?* Globalization* To Conclude* Bibliography* Index