S. N. Eisenstadt is well known for his wide-ranging investigations of
modernization, social stratification, revolution, comparative
civilization, and political development. This collection of twelve major
theoretical essays spans more than forty years of research, to explore
systematically the bases of human action and society.
Framed by a new introduction and an extensive epilogue, which are
themselves important statements about processes of institutional
formations and cultural creativity, the essays trace the major
developments of contemporary sociological theory and analysis. Examining
themes of trust and solidarity among immigrants, youth groups, and
generations, and in friendships, kinships, and patron-client
relationships, Eisenstadt explores larger questions of social structure
and agency, conflict and change, and the reconstitution of the social
order. He looks also at political and religious systems, paying
particular attention to great historical empires and the major
civilizations.
United by what they reveal about three major dimensions of social
life--power, trust, and meaning--these essays offer a vision of culture
as both a preserving and a transforming aspect of social life, thus
providing a new perspective on the relations between culture and social
structure.