Citation

Esping-Andersen G. Br. J. Sociol. 2000; 51(1): 59-77.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, London School of Economics and Political Science, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1468-4446.2000.00059.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article shows the declining effectiveness of the sociological classics to make sense of the dramatically changing economy and society. However, the various ?post-something? analyses of such transformations, especially the post-modern emphases on language and discourse, are also shown to be inadequate. In their place the author advocates the use of various leitmotifs to establish certain constants, in order then to be able to describe and determine various patterns of variance. The article makes various recommendations for future sociology to be empirical and both diachronically and cross-sectionally comparative in order to comprehend those dramatic changes that currently surround us as sociologists. Sociology should establish such ?constants? and worry less about being ?theory-less?.

Keywords

comparative; economic sociology; empiricism; methodology; Theory