Canons and Colleges: The Structure of Coherence in a Fragmented Subdiscipline

• In Event: 3525 - Comparative-Historical Sociology Refereed Roundtables (60 minutes)
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 min): Table 8: Epistemic Communities: Historical and Comparative Perspectives

Abstract

Historical sociology is famously divided, theoretically, methodologically, and substantively. What then binds the field together as a coherent “thing”? In this paper we explore two possibilities: that the field is unified by a shared canon, whether empirical or theoretical; and that a concrete social network, whether centered around concrete institutions or an “invisible college” of interlocutors, binds historical sociology together. Using a variety of data, we find strong support for the existence of a historical comparative canon, as well as suggestive evidence of a weak institutional and interpersonal network binding the field.

Authors

• Nicholas Hoover Wilson, Stony Brook University

• Damon Mayrl, Colby College