Method for study in a History of Society

Syntheses and hypotheses, contradictions and intuitions

Method and Concepts

By creating concepts that identify and categorise the patterns of problems and solutions in the evolution of societies we may ‘learn from history’. My objective is to examine the consistent forms in which challenges of governing social order have been manifested throughout history, and the persistent ingenuity of responses to these challenges. I propose a framework of commonalities and differentiations for understanding the long trajectory, the reasons why problems arise or recur, the patterning of failures and solutions, and the nature of the innovations that proved to be the most realistic selections.

Since my focus is on concerns that remained fairly constant at all times throughout the world, I select or create concepts that can be universally valid in simple early societies and in complex modern societies.

A solutions-oriented social science requires also that the concepts used to explain the the patterns of the past can be a source of insight into the likely o…