Social Mechanisms : An Analytical Approach to Social Theory (Studies in Rationality and Social Change)

Rating:
Summary: A lot of food for thought on what makes a good explanation.
Review: The approach discussed in Social Mechanisms is quite interesting and fruitful. Jon Elster has been calling for more considerations of mechanisms, basically micro explanations for macro level regularities, as an antidote for theoretical anemia for many years now. This book is the result of a conference held to discuss this issue. Several of the articles are really top notch: Hedstrom & Swedborg's intro essay, Schelling, Hernes, and Sorensen. (Elster's contribution is rather disappointing, actually.) We've used this in a methodology class for graduate students and the readings are very useful and accessible. The main failing of the material is that it stays at the abstract level too much and often fails to provide really useful concrete examples.