I am currently professor of sociology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where I have
taught since 1975. I was born in 1945, am married, and have two children, 13 and 10 as of
this date (1-29-93).
I received my Ph.D. degree from the University of Nebraska in 1973. At that time I
concentrated on sociological theory and social psychology, writing my dissertation on the
relationship between Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral reasoning and religious and
political ideologies. This kind of work occupied me until about 1977, when I began to lose
interest in it and develop an interest in social evolution and comparative macrosociology.
In 1978 I started writing a general sociology textbook that took nearly six years to write
and that was finally finished and published by Harper and Row in 1988 as
MACROSOCIOLOGY: AN INTRODUCTION TO HUMA SOCIETIES. A second edition
appeared in 1991 and a 3rd edition is currently in the making, to appear in late 1994.
This book project caused much blood, sweat, and tears, but it was a kind of test by fire
that, in a sense, completed reeducated me as a sociologist. I am now a knowledgeable
comparative macrosociologist whose primary interest is in very long-term social evolution,
and I have developed a research agenda that will be keeping me busy for many years to
come. I adopt a rigorous materialist perspective and have been greatly influenced by the
anthropologist Marvin Harris and such sociologists as Immanuel Wallerstein, Gerhard
Lenski, and Randall Collins.
In 1990 I published SOCIAL EVOLUTIONISM: A CRITICAL HISTORY, with Basil Blackwell
in Charles Tilly's "Studies in Social Discontinuity" series. A paperback version of this
book appeared in 1992. At the moment I am midway through a sequel to this book, SOCIAL
TRANSFORMATIONS: A GENERAL THEORY OF HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT, also to be
published by Blackwell. I hope it will appear as early as mid-1995. This book articulates
a general theory of social evolution and applies it to the greatest social transformations of
the last 10,000 years: the Neolithic Revolution, the rise of civilization and the state, and
the rise of the modern world-system in the 16th century.
When this book is finished I hope to begin work on what I see as my magnum opus, THE
WORLD OF MODERN SOCIAL THEORY: A CRITIQUE OF THE LAST QUARTER CENTURY.
This will be a critical analysis of the most important strands of social theory from about
1975 to 2000. Scathing critiques of strongly disliked theories (e.g., ethnomethodology,
postmodernism) are on the agenda, and it is hoped that something of a synthesis of favored
theories (e.g., cultural materialism, world-system theory) can be produced, leading to a
new general theory of human society. (It won't really be an original theory, but a
synthesis and formalization of the best strands of current social theory.)
I teach in a rather intellectually isolated environment. I'm the only one in my department
who is interested in comparative, historical, and macrosociological sorts of things. My
department is so fragmented that it is difficult to find two people who share truly
overlapping interests. However, I have been very fortunate in the last few years to make
connections with highly intelligent and active comparative, historical, macrosociological,
and world-system people with whom I carry on a relationship via mail, e-mail, and
conferences. Without these contacts I would probably go a little batty. I am always
interested in expanding my outside intellectual contacts.
I have also been fortunate to have had several outstanding students to work with, some of
whom have gone on to Ph.D. programs to distinguish themselves. I always have a few
especially good ones around. Our university isn't great, but it always attracts a few top
students from Pennsylvania who are bright enough to go to big-name places but cannot
afford it, or perhaps students who do not really recognize how good they are. This has
been a saving grace for me, providing me with another intellectual outlet. I have published
with some of these students and hope to continue to do so with some future students.
I like teaching very much and take it very seriously. I am a demanding taskmaster and
throw a great deal at the students. This has allowed me to attract some of the best and
most highly motivated students, while at the same time scaring the hell out of some of the
rest. My approach to education is a no-nonsense one.
I would always be interested in improving my intellectual horizons, i.e., moving to a more
distinguished university with a better intellectual environment and a good Ph.D. program
in sociology, if that were ever possible. I think I have now published enough good work
to justify that. Plus I am very intellectually active and have quite a bit of what I think is
very good work still to come. My problem is I'm a well-paid, tenured full professor, and
there aren't that many jobs for such people. But if anyone ever knows of one that would
fit me well, I would really appreciate knowing.
ABBREVIATED PUBLICATION LIST
(those mostly likely to be of
interest to WSN users)
ARTICLES
"Explaining the transition from feudalism to capitalism: the Japanese case and its
theoretical significance." Forthcoming in REVIEW late 1993 or early 1994.
"Precapitalist world-systems analysis: a commentary on the papers." Forthcoming in Peter
Peregrine collection of papers presented at the annual meeting of the Society for American
Archaeology, Pittsburgh, April 1992. Blackwell may be the publisher.
"Evoluzionismo." Forthcoming late 1993 in ENCICLOPEDIA DELLE SCIENZE
SOCIALI. Rome: Instituto della Enciclopedia Italiana. [Invited article]
"Historic European household structures and the capitalist world-economy." JOURNAL OF
FAMILY HISTORY 16:419-32, 1991. [Junior author, with Arthur S. Alderson]
"The evolution of societies and world-systems." Pp. 167-92 in Christopher Chase-Dunn
and Thomas D. Hall, eds., CORE/PERIPHERY RELATIONS IN PRECAPITALIST WORLDS.
Boulder: Westview Press, 1991.
Review of Thomas Richard Shannon, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD-SYSTEM
PERSPECTIVE. (Boulder: Westview Press, 1989). TEACHING SOCIOLOGY 18:410-11,
1990.
"Racial antagonism and the origins of apartheid in the South Africa gold mining industry,
1886-1924: a split labor market analysis." Pp. 225-247 in Cora B. Marrett and Cheryl
Leggon, eds., RESEARCH IN RACE AND ETHNIC RELATIONS. Volume 5. Greenwich,
CT: JAI Press, 1988. [Junior author, with Siyabonga W. Ndabezitha]
"The neo-Weberian revolution: a theoretical balance sheet." SOCIOLOGICAL FORUM
3:307-14, 1988.
"What kind of ecologist was Braudel? a reply to Hudson." SOCIOLOGICAL FORUM
3:277-80, 1988.
BOOKS
MACROSOCIOLOGY: AN INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN SOCIETIES. New York: Harper
and Row, 1988. 2nd ed., 1991, 3rd ed. in preparation.
SOCIAL EVOLUTIONISM: A CRITICAL HISTORY. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1990.
SOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONS: A GENERAL THEORY OF HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT.
Basil Blackwell, forthcoming 1995.
