Until recently, dominant theoretical paradigms in the
comparative social sciences did not highlight states as
organizational structures or as potentially autonomous
actors. Indeed, the term 'state' was rarely used.
Current work, however, increasingly views the state as
an agent which, although influenced by the society that
surrounds it, also shapes social and political
processes. The contributors to this volume, which
includes some of the best recent interdisciplinary
scholarship on states in relation to social structures,
make use of theoretically engaged comparative and
historical investigations to provide improved
conceptualizations of states and how they operate. Each
of the book's major parts presents a related set of
analytical issues about modern states, which are
explored in the context of a wide range of times and
places, both contemporary and historical, and in
developing and advanced-industrial nations. The first
part examines state strategies in newly developing
countries. The second part analyzes war making and state
making in early modern Europe, and discusses states in
relation to the post-World War II international
economy.The third part pursues new insights into how
states influence political cleavages and collective
action. In the final chapter, the editors bring together
the questions raised by the contributors and suggest
tentative conclusions that emerge from an overview of
all the articles. As a programmatic work that proposes
new directions for the analysis of modern states, the
volume will appeal to a wide range of teachers and
students of political science, political economy,
sociology, history, and anthropology. |
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