History and Sociological Explanation

Tad Skotnicki, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

In this paper, I examine four ways that sociologists describe and make use of history in explanations of social life: as 1) anti-history/transhistory, 2) historical combinations of transhistorical parts, 3) epochal history, and 4) situational history. My principle interest is in the tacit historical implications of explanatory claims. What kind of historical appeals, in other words, do explanatory claims imply? This requires close attention to the ways that sociologists deploy concepts and distinctions, formulate arguments, and adduce evidence. For various reasons, sociologists tend to be least comfortable with appeals to epochal history. Thus, I pay special attention to the structure, difficulties, and possibilities of explanatory appeals in the epochal mode. By delineating the historical content of explanatory forms, I expose unappreciated epistemological and practical considerations for working sociologists.

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 Presented in Session 143. Power and Normativity in Society and History II: Historicism Conceptually Reconfigured