It is an exciting time to consider changes in the field of comparative-historical sociology, as the discipline seeks to accommodate both old and new trends as well as the transforming spatial scales in which political power and social theory are increasingly embedded. Volume 20 of "Political Power and Social Theory" starts the ball rolling by showcasing articles that pursue similar themes. The question of what is old and what is new hovers over most of the contributions, particularly the peer-reviewed chapters in parts I and II, which consider such long-standing socio-historical concerns as...

"Political Power and Social Theory" is an annual review, committed to advancing our interdisciplinary, critical understanding of the linkages between social relations, political power, and historical development. Alongside peer-reviewed chapters dealing with a diversity of topics, this volume contains a special section on the politics of the 'new middle class' in the global south and post-socialist societies. Over the past few decades, globalization and urbanization have contributed to the development of a newly educated urban middle class around the world, but this new class has been rarely...

This volume of "Political Power and Social Theory" includes a selection of papers exploring Obama and the Politics of Race & Religion. Chapters examine the complex dynamics of race relations and racial meaning in America under the Obama administration. The "Scholarly Controversies" section features a debate on Obama and religion in the United States. This volume will be among the first to critically assess the meanings of race and religion in America under the Obama administration, featuring controversial chapters by Phil Gorksi of Yale University and Eduardo Bonilla-Silva of Duke University,...

As economic stagnation freezes the globe; capitalism is increasingly questioned; war, revolution and political instability unsettles the Middle East; and President Obama's campaign for the Presidency looms, Volume 23 of Political Power and Social Theory reflects on these and related issues. Chapters in this volume discuss the meaning of revolution, the origins of neoliberalism in India, identity formation in a Chicago social movement, the Palestinian National Question, and the Black middle-class in the US. Additionally, in the Scholarly Controversy section, Fred Block questions whether the...

Postcolonial theory has enjoyed wide influence in the humanities but for social science, and in particular sociology, its implications remain elusive. This special volume brings together leading sociologists to explore the concept of "postcolonial sociology," with brand new postcolonial readings of canonical thinkers like Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim and Robert Park. Chapters consider whether or not postcolonial theory is compatible with sociology; explore the relationship between knowledge and colonial power; and offer critical perspectives on the sociology of race and the...

Social theory and research has long faced the limitations of its conventional Eurocentric focus. The essays in this volume offer new thoughts and empirical studies for transcending those limitations. A continuation of PPST's previous volume on "Postcolonial Sociology," this volume, "Decentering Social Theory," questions old categories, advances new postcolonial themes in social science, and debates alternative theoretical paradigms. The "Scholarly Controversies" section contains a critical exchange on "Southern Theory" between Raewyn Connell and Patricia Hill Collins, Mustafa Emirbayer, Raka...