Book Review: Masamichi Sasaki,Jack Goldstone,Ekkart Zimmermann and Stephen Sanderson (eds),Concise Encyclopedia of Comparative Sociology

Despite the valiant efforts of sociological patriarchs, comparative sociology remains a largely unexplored country. Yet, it is difficult to overstate the importance of a comparative perspective when studying social phenomena. It is even more difficult to overstate the need for comprehensive handbooks dealing with the essence of comparative research and sociology per se. In the framework of a brief review, it is not possible to do full justice to the many thought-provoking and illuminating strands, claims, and arguments to be found in the essays of this volume. The range of topics as well as the material and data presented is too large for a detailed examination in a single review. Thus, the length and depth of the comments to follow obviously cannot do justice to this ambitious and successful book; they are mere introductory observations with a sincere invitation to read the book.

Let me begin this quick analysis by emphasizing three points. First, the Encyclopedia should be welcomed as a fundamental contribution to comparative sociology. This excellent collection is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the historical background and state of the discipline as well as those students interested in the future directions of comparative analysis and methodology.

Second, the volume effectively advances sociological theory in important directions that received insufficient attention in the late 20th century; the Encyclopedia should help comparative researchers to win (deserved) recognition from mainstream sociology. It would be a shame if this Encyclopedia were ignored or underestimated by sociologists because the volume is prepared for everyone in the business of sociology, not just for those whose ‘turf’ is comparative analysis or methods.

Third, this is a successful book about comparative sociology, though one that leaves much room for future discussions and studies. There can be no doubt that this volume will generate dialogue between proponents of understanding comparative sociology as a subfield in sociology and those who believe that comparative sociology equals comparative methods or those who see things differently.

A brief glance at the name index confirms a basic statement of the Encyclopedia: the founding fathers of sociology were all comparative researchers. The most mentioned names in the index are canonical thinkers: Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, Alexis de Tocqueville, and Karl Marx. The most cited author is Max Weber (45 references) followed by Durkheim (31), Marx (22), and Parsons (15). As for the prominent contemporary ‘luminaries,’ to whom editors pay attention in the preface (R Collins, Moore, Lipset, Mann, Tilly, Wallerstein), they share a similar number of references (each one is mentioned 8–10 times).

Many of the essays in the volume were penned by some of the most insightful people working in the field. Among the authors are such prominent social scientists as Hans-Peter Blossfield, Mattei Dogan, Shmuel Eisenstadt, Mike Featherstone, Julian Go, Andrew Jorgenson, Robert Marsh, Masamichi Sasaki, Saskia Sassen, Piotr Sztompka, Henry Teune, Jonathan Turner, and Michel Wieviorka. In total, 69 authors have prepared 98 entries.

Obviously, the contributors are not all of one mind on matters of sociology and comparative research. The styles and approaches of the articles are as different and individual as their authors. The book was conceptualized, and chapters were commissioned, to show the richness of comparative sociology.

Of the Encyclopedia’s six parts, the first (four entries) is intended to be a basis for further reading. It has an entry that provides an overview of the historical development of comparative sociological research; an entry that focuses on comparing societies across scales and varying units; and it has essays on qualitative and quantitative methods in comparative research.

Part II (four entries) and Part V (six entries) characterize macro-variations in time and space. Part II deals with comparative historical sociology; it considers ancient civilizations and modern societies. Part V concentrates on comparisons of states and world regions. The genres of the articles are diverse, varying from comparative case studies to regional studies, from analysis of comparative methods in sociological research to an overview of research literature.

Part III (21entries) and Part IV (23 entries) together make up over half of the volume and provide comparative perspectives on social institutions, structures, and processes. In this section, the articles vary not only in their focus, structure, and positions, but in their ‘comparative-ness.’ The material and data presented in some entries have just a slight emphasis on comparison with trivial attempts to conceptualize the data being compared. To put it in another way, a number of articles are comparative in potentia. There are, however, essays that develop intellectual insights and compare social processes, articles that involve efforts to verify comparative statements in important subdomains of comparative sociology (e.g., comparative education), analyze strategies of comparative research (e.g., social movements), and discuss comparative methodology (e.g., opinion surveys).

Part VI presents 41 biographies of classical and contemporary contributors to comparative sociology (representatives of comparative historical macro-sociologists dominate, though).

The main advantage of the Encyclopedia is its material, which is rich and full of insights for the sociological imagination. In general, the volume presents and makes visible the differences and diversity in the practice of comparative sociological research. It provides answers to basic questions: What is the state of the art in comparative sociology? What can we expect of comparative sociology in the years ahead?

There are weaknesses in the Encyclopedia, however, ranging from the soundness of the arguments, to underrepresentation of important subjects. I summarize the drawbacks below.

First, the understanding of comparative sociology compared to comparison in sociology constantly shifts from one article to another. Indeed, sometimes it looks like different parts of the volume belong to different books with different theoretical and methodological orientations. The essays in Part I deal with the use of comparative methods in studying nations/societies and do not provide sufficient distinction between perspectives developed in comparative political science. The essays in Part II deal with rather abstract generalizations of universal history, whereas entries in Part V are mainly regional studies. The articles, really brilliant, I have to acknowledge, in Part III and Part IV could successfully constitute an encyclopedia for a general sociology. As a result, what comparative sociology is (and what it should be) remains vague. What are the differences between comparative sociology and comparative political science? How does comparative sociological research differ from comparative historical sociology? What are the essentials of comparative sociology compared to the hard sciences? Such questions remain unanswered.

Second, although the Encyclopedia provides rich material on various macro-processes and macro-structures, the micro-level of social reality is almost ignored. The entries that deal with emotions and small groups instead discuss the absence of comparative research in the field, then provide its conceptual and methodological progress.

Third, the volume largely relies on such popular concepts as economic development, democracy, and modernization. However, their usage, though typical for the last century, in current sociology look increasingly oversimplified. These and related concepts often are able to grasp specificity of the ‘West,’ but for the thorough analysis of the ‘Rest’ they have proved to be insufficient. Fourth, the reader is likely to find discussions in the entries sometimes challenging and dense. It makes reading a little tiresome and to take longer than it needs to. Fifth, an informed reader will note that really important issues and perspectives in contemporary comparative sociology have been left untouched. For example, the Charles Ragin’s Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is underrepresented as well as Comparison Theory developed by Guillermina Jasso.

By any measure, the Concise Encyclopedia is an impressive achievement. Its scope is ambitious, covering almost everything in the field and it opens up new and promising directions in some old sociological themes. Its scholarship is first-rate; its main goals are novel insofar as it undertakes a wholesale interpretation of comparative sociology. The reader will find that the volume is driven by a powerful set of arguments, and even those who disagree with the authors’ visions and conclusions should benefit from their work. In short, this is a valuable and timely scholarly volume that illustrates the wide-ranging nature of comparative sociology, revealing comparative analysis to be one of the most fascinating preoccupations in contemporary sociology. I have no doubt that this new Encyclopedia will gain the influence it so richly deserves.