The sources of social power
By: Michael Mann.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1986
Place of publication: Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 560
Subjects: Social history.; Power (Social sciences)
Description: Distinguishing four sources of power in human societies - ideological, economic, military, and political - The Sources of Social Power traces their interrelations throughout history. In this first volume, Michael Mann examinese interrelations between these elements from neolithic times, through ancient Near Eastern civilizations, the classical Mediterranean age, and medieval Europe, up to just before the Industrial Revolution in England. It offers explanations of the emergence of the state and social stratification; of city-states, militaristic empires, and the persistent interaction between them; of the world salvation religions; and of the particular dynamism of medieval and early modern Europe. It ends by generalizing about the nature of overall social development, the varying forms of social cohesion, and the role of classes and class struggle in history. First published in 1986, this new edition of Volume 1 includes a new preface by the author examining the impact and legacy of the work. -- from back cover of Volume 1.

This second volume of Michael Mann's analytical history of social power deals with power relations between the Industrial Revolution and World War I, focusing on France, Great Britain, Hapsburg Austria, Prussia/Germany, and the United States. Based on considerable empirical research, it provides original theories of the rise of nations and nationalism, of class conflict, of the modern state and of modern militarism. While not afraid to generalize, it also stresses social and historical complexity. Michael Mann sees human society as "a patterned mess" and attempts to provide a sociological theory appropriate to this. This theory culminates in the final chapter, an original explanation of the causes of World War I. First published in 1993, this new edition of Volume 2 includes a new preface by the author examining the impact and legacy of the work. -- from back cover of Volume 2.

This third volume of Michael Mann's analytical history of social power begins with nineteenth-century global empires and continues with a global history of the twentieth century up to 1945. Mann focuses on the interrelated development of capitalism, nation-states, and empires. Volume 3 discusses the "Great Divergence" between the fortunes of the West and the rest of the world; the self-destruction of European and Japanese power in two world wars; the Great Depression; the rise of American and Soviet power; the rivalry between capitalism, socialism, and fascism; and the triumph of a reformed and democratic capitalism. -- from back cover of Volume 3.

This fourth volume of Michael Mann's analytical history of social power covers the period from 1945 to the present, focusing on the three major pillars of postwar global order: capitalism, the nation-state system, and the sole remaining empire of the world, the United States. In the course of this period, capitalism, nation-states, and empires interacted with one another and were transformed. Mann's key argument is that globalization is not just a single process, because there are globalizations of all four sources of social power, each of which has a different rhythm of development. Topics include the rise and beginnings of decline of the American empire, the fall or transformation of communism (respectively, the Soviet Union and China), the shift from neo-Keynesianism to neoliberalism, and the three great crises emerging in this period - nuclear weapons, the great recession, and climate change. -- from back cover of Volume 4.
Notes: Includes bibliographies and indexes.
Table of contents: title: v. 1. A history of power from the beginning to A.D. 1760; title: v. 2. The rise of classes and nation-states, 1760-1914; title: Volume 1, A History of Power from the Beginning to AD 1760    DETAILED TABLE OF CONTENTS     1. Societies as organized power networks, 1 -              [intro]              Ultimate primacy              Human nature and social power              Organizational power                          Collective and distributive power                          Extensive and intensive and authoritative and diffused power                                      Figure 1.1. Forms of organizational reach , p. 9              Current Stratification Theory              "Levels, dimensions" of "society"              Criticisms                          Human beings are social, not societal                          In which society do you live?              The promiscuity of organizations and functions              Organizations of power                          Example 1: the rise of the European pike phalanx , p.18 -                          Example 2: The emergence of civilizational cultures and religions              The four sources and organizations of power                          Ideological power                          Ideological organization                          Economic power                          Economic organization                          Military power                          Military organization                          Policital power                          Political organization              The overall IEMP model, its scope and omissions                                      Figure 1.2. Causal IEMP model of organizational power              Bibliography , p.32-3