Mapping the Realm of historical sociology

reflections on Theda Skocpol’s theoretical-methodolo­gical Model

Abstract

The article intends to broaden the theoretical and methodological horizons of historical sociology by embracing within its boundaries rational-choice theory and interpretivist contributions (to give two examples). The approach used is a critique of Theda Skocpol’s theoretical-methodological model (the so-called triangular model), which has to date defined historical sociology’s parameters in discussions of theory and methodology. An alternative, called the quadrangular model, is proposed. The advantage of the new model is that when we look at historical sociology from two dimensions-agency-structure and particular-general-it becomes possible to incorporate other approaches, like rational-choice theory, within the horizons o f the field.