Big Structures Large Processes Huge Comparisons

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This bold and lively essay is a remarkable intellectual achievement, encapsulating vast erudition and analytical depth in a concise format. It tackles a central question: How can we enhance our understanding of the large-scale processes that transformed the nineteenth century and continue to shape our world today? Tilly argues that twentieth-century social theories are burdened by outdated "pernicious postulates" from the nineteenth century. He rigorously critiques these misleading beliefs, challenging standard social science paradigms and methodologies. Instead of relying on timeless, placeless models of social change, Tilly advocates for a concrete, historically grounded analysis and systematic comparison. To demonstrate these research strategies, he evaluates the works of key practitioners in comparative historical analysis, using this selective review to present his own speculative and unconventional interpretations of recent history. Historically oriented social scientists will appreciate this provocative essay and its expansive agenda for comparative research. Other social scientists, students, and interested general readers will find Tilly's work both stimulating and accessible. This essay is part of a five-volume series commissioned by the Russell Sage Foundation for its seventy-fifth anniversary. "In this short, brilliant book, Tilly suggests a way to think about theories of historical social change...." —Choice