Sociology, the Basic Concepts

Politics & Social Sciences

Sagarin, Edward

Barbera, Henry

Social Sciences

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School

Rich nations and poor in peace and war;: Continuity and change in the development hierarchy of seventy nations from 1913 through 1952

Lexington Books

Great migrations, natural disasters, explorations, foreign ideas, exceptional persons, or rapid advances in weapons technology all have the power to transform society. But the greatest catalyst of change is war and total war. War unifies and rallies populations, triggers nationalism and civic incorporation, occasionally initiates civil conflict, and sparks intense religious, economic, political, and military debates which often lead to revolution. The distinctive mark of statehood is metamorphosis from a decentralized, prepolitical social order into a centralized, political society. Since 1945, more than one hundred sovereign states in the global arena have emerged, exemplifying the diffusion of democratic spirit, nationalism, equality, universal conscription, impersonal taxation, citizenship, and centralized government—ideas that involve every human being. In the first of a two-volume work onThe Military Factor in Social Change, Henry Barbera traces societal transformations; bonds of personal duty and collective obligation give way to territorial identification nurtured by individual rights and the sense of freedom. Using the ancient Athenians, Sicilians and southern Italians (1061-1250), and Brandenburgers and Prussians (1648-1850) as case studies, Barbera illustrates how, in an embattled social order, individuals and institutions adjust their behavior and belief to antithetical notions: authority and power, custom and law, loyalty and morale, and duty and rights. He discusses ethnic, religious, and regional conflicts in the world, many of which stem from issues of group worth and recognition. Barbera also examines European hegemony, and subsequently, how formerly colonized peoples achieved independence and self-determination. From Provincial to Political Society provides a fascinating tour de force through historical societies, illustrating how contemporaneous their experience of total war and universal military conscription appears, as codes, customs, and conventions become unworkable or no longer accepted as creed. Scholars of history, jurisprudence, political science, and sociology will find this book indispensable. It offers a landmark reconsideration of fundamental theory in military and social history. And the writing is so clear that students will read this work with pleasure and profit.

The Military Factor in Social Change: Volume 1, From Provincial to Political Society

History

Routledge

In this book, Henry Barbera interweaves social and political history with military matters in recounting the stories of state building and centralization in ancient Attika, medieval Sicily, and modern Prussia. His mastery of the material together with his eye for detecting similar responses to such intrusive events as wars, great migrations, natural disasters, explorations, foreign ideas, and exceptional persons makes for compelling reading. Tracing the responses to such events in a kinship society, a feudal society, and a Stand (estate) society, the author suggests “natural” foundations for the consolidation of power, the imposition of law, the mobilization of mass sentiment, and the extension of individual rights in the great transition from provincial to political society.  The State as Revolution is a fluent account of the rise of political society. Its conceptual framework reveals an encyclopedic grasp of detail without losing sight of the larger picture. It demonstrates that the basic properties and dynamics of political society are bound by neither time, space, nor cultural background. His analysis concludes that equalizing social conditions and human freedom are functions of state centralization and the homogenization of society and that these, in turn, are the adaptive responses to certain intrusive events.  Barbera’s presentation of data in conjunction with his finding that the same social patterns occur in different societies under similar conditions would make this a fascinating text, even without the theoretical speculations at which he is also adept. Students of history, jurisprudence, mass communication, political science, and sociology will find this book indispensable. Along with volume 1, From Provincial to Political Society, it offers a landmark reconsideration of fundamental theory in political, military, and social history. There are few students who will not learn from it.

The Military Factor in Social Change: Volume 2, The State as Revolution

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