Eviatar Zerubavel Knihy

In this invitation to "concept-driven" sociology, defying the conventional split between "theory" and "methodology" (as well as between "quantitative" and "qualitative" research), Eviatar Zerubavel introduces a yet unarticulated "Simmelian" method of theorizing specifically designed to reveal fundamental, often hidden social patterns. Insisting that it can actually be taught, he examines the theoretico-methodological process (revolving around the epistemic and analytical acts of focusing, generalizing, "exampling," and analogizing) by which concept-driven researchers can distill generic social patterns from the culturally, historically, and domain-specific contexts in which they encounter them empirically. Disregarding conventionally noted substantive variability in order to uncover conventionally disregarded formal commonalities, Generally Speaking draws on cross-cultural, cross-historical, cross-domain, and cross-level analogies in an effort to reveal formal parallels acrossdisparate contexts. Using numerous examples from culturally and historically diverse contexts and a wide range of social domains while also disregarding scale, Zerubavel thus introduces a pronouncedly transcontextual "generic" sociology.

Who were the first inhabitants of North America? Does the West Bank belong to Arabs or Jews? Why are racists fixated on origins? Did the September 11 attacks signify the end of an era or the start of a new one? Eviatar Zerubavel explores these pressing questions in a groundbreaking examination of collective memory. He investigates the cognitive patterns that shape our understanding of the past, the mental strategies that connect disparate events into coherent narratives, and the social dynamics involved in conflicting historical interpretations. Using compelling examples from Hiroshima to the Holocaust, Watergate to the West Bank, and ancient Rome to the former Yugoslavia, Zerubavel illustrates how we construct historical origins and organize time into stories. He explains how we connect discontinuous events into eras, link families and nations through genealogies, and distinguish historical periods through significant milestones, such as the invention of fire or the fall of the Berlin Wall. Challenging conventional wisdom, such as the belief that the Roman Empire ended in 476, this work offers valuable insights for anyone interested in how our understanding of history is shaped.

Why is the term "openly gay" so widely used but "openly straight" is not? What are the unspoken assumptions behind terms like "male nurse," "working mom," and "white trash"? Offering a revealing and provocative look at the word choices we make every day without even realizing it, Taken for Granted exposes the subtly encoded ways we talk about race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, social status, and more. In this engaging and insightful book, Eviatar Zerubavel describes how the words we use - such as when we mark "the best female basketball player" but leave her male counterpart unmarked-provide telling clues about the things many of us take for granted. By marking "women's history" or "Black History Month," we are also reinforcing the apparent normality of the history of white men. When we mark something as being special or somehow noticeable, that which goes unmarked-such as maleness, whiteness, straightness, and able-bodiedness-is assumed to be ordinary by default. Zerubavel shows how this tacit normalizing of certain identities, practices, and ideas helps to maintain their cultural dominance-including the power to dictate what others take for granted. A little book about a very big idea, Taken for Granted draws our attention to what we implicitly assume to be normal-and in the process unsettles the very notion of normality.

In Don't Take It Personally, Eviatar Zerubavel comprehensively addresses the fundamental distinction between the specific and generic visions of personhood. While the former focuses on specifically "who" individuals are, as embodied by their driver's license and signature, the latter vision concerns itself with "what" they are, as interchangeable members of particular social roles or groups. Over the course of the book, Zerubavel articulates the fundamental features and underlying logic of impersonality and considers what is gained and what is lost by impersonalizing so much of modern social life.