Comparati
e History

5,000 per year in the paychecks of those performing Steinberg R 1992 Gendered instructions: Cultural lag and gender
historically female work. Even flawed studies with bias in the hay system of job evaluation. Work and Occupations
gender biased evaluation systems have resulted in 19: 387–423
Steinberg R J 1999 Emotional labor in job evaluation: Rede-
important wage increases for hundreds of thousands
signing compensation practices. Annals American Academy of
of women. For many women, it represents the dif- Political and Social Sciences 561: 143–57
ference between poverty and economic autonomy. It Steinberg R, Figart D 2000 Pay Equity: The Policy and the
would empower women as decision makers in their Movement in North America. unpublished
families. It would make visible and positively reward Steinberg R J, Haignere L 1987 Equitable compensation: Op-
the productive contribution of women’s labor market erational criteria for comparable worth. In: Bose C, Spitze G
work. (eds.) Ingredients in Women’s Employment Policies. SUNY
Press, Albany, NY
Treiman D J 1979 Job E
aluation: An Analytic Re
iew. National
See also: Economic Development and Women; Econ- Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC
omic Sociology; Education and Income Distribution; Treiman D J, Hartmann H I (eds.) 1981 Women, Work, and
Feminist Theory: Liberal; Feminist Theory: Marxist Wages: Equal Pay for Jobs of Equal Value. National Academy
and Socialist; Gender and Feminist Studies in Econ- Press, Washington, DC
omics; Gender and Feminist Studies in Sociology;
Gender, Economics of; Labor Markets, Labor Move- R. J. Steinberg
ments, and Gender in Developing Nations; Labor
Movements and Gender; Sex Differences in Pay; Sex
Segregation at Work; Sexual Harassment: Legal Pers-
pectives
Comparative History
Comparative history differs from other historical
Bibliography methods in that it takes an explicit line of questioning
to compare two or more cases stemming from different
Acker J 1989 Doing Comparable Worth: Gender, Class, and Pay contexts. The aim of this operation is either to bring
Equity. Temple University Press, Philadelphia, PA out the similarities and differences of the different
Cuneo C J 1990 Pay Equity: The Labour-Feminist Challenge.
cases, or to determine the scope of social scientific
Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK
England P 1992 Comparable Worth: Theories and E
idence.
theories or theoretical approaches. Seldom does com-
Aldine de Gruyter, New York parison itself lead to the formulation of theories.
Hutner F C 1986 Equal Pay for Comparable Worth. Praeger, These characteristics distinguish historical compari-
New York son monographic work concentrating on case studies,
Kessler-Harris A 1990 A Woman’s Wage Historical Meaning from historical syntheses with an international scope
and Social Consequences. University Press of Kentucky, and from implicit comparison, which indeed belongs
Lexington, KY among the analytical instruments of all historical
Kim M 1989 Gender bias in compensation structures: A case work.
study of the historical basis and persistence. Journal of Social
Issues 45: 39–50
Milkman R 1987 Gender at Work: The Dynamics of Job
Segregation by Sex During World War II. University of Illinois 1. The Story of ‘Comparati
e History’
Press, Urbana, IL
Schwab D P 1980 Job evaluation and pay setting: Concepts and Although the comparative perspective has appeared
practices. In: Livernash E R (ed.) Comparable Worth: Issues repeatedly in the history of historiography, it has only
and Alternati
es. Equal Employment Advisory Council, presented itself as a methodical instrument of explicit
Washington, DC theoretical comparison since the 1930s. Of course, the
Shepala and Viviano 1984 In: Remick H (ed.) Comparable historiography of the Enlightenment made use of
Worth and Wage Discrimination: Technical Possibilities and comparison in its endeavor to grasp the specific
Political Realities. Temple University Press, Philadelphia, PA characteristics of the historical process by means
Steinberg R J 1984 ‘A want of harmony’: perspectives on wage of universal historical types; in this context,
discrimination and comparable worth. In: Remick H (ed.) Montesquieu, Adam Smith, and the Cameralist
Comparable Worth and Wage Discrimination: Technical Pos- J. H. G. Justi should be mentioned. In Scottish,
sibilities and Political Realities. Temple University Press,
Philadelphia, PA
English, French, and German Enlightenment litera-
Steinberg R 1990 The social construction of skill: Gender, power ture as well, cultural areas and development stages
and comparable worth. Work and Occupations 17: 449–82 were compared. Thus, just as the demarcation of the
Steinberg R 1991 Job evaluation and managerial control: the European model against non-European civilizations
politics of technique and the techniques of politics. In: Fudge in the eighteenth century belonged to the arsenal of
J, McDermott P (eds.) Pay Equity: Theory and Practice. universal history, so did the belief that developed
University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada societies can trace their own history in that of less-

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developed societies (e.g., Karl Marx). In this attempt, of feudalism. He then applied this to the various
development thinking became closely intertwined with manifestations of feudal domination, which he found
a Eurocentric perspective. This universal historical to be particularly pronounced in Russia, Japan, and
tradition persisted, carried on in the twentieth century the Islamic countries.
by such diverse authors as Oswald Spengler and In the period following World War II in particular,
Arnold Toynbee, Karl Polanyi, and Schlomo the number of theoretically based works with an
Eisenstadt. internationally comparative perspective increased.
Modern comparative history, however, is not rooted The science of history bore a complex interrelationship
in this tradition. Profoundly affected by the experience to historical sociology. On the one hand, it profited
of World War I and the traumas suffered by parts of from the broad scope of sociology’s macro compari-
academia under nationalistic exclusionism, compara- sons, which were limited neither to a specific epoch nor
tive history established its argument for comparison as to a specific continent. These comparisons studied
a fruitful enterprise particularly based on the results different national cases, using stringent argumentation
produced in neighboring sciences. Henri Pirenne, a to examine theoretical questions. Thus Barrington
Belgian historian and one of the pioneers of inter- Moore inquired as to the role of agrarian development
nationally comparative historiography, did admittedly in the emergence of either democracy or dictatorial
make reference to universal history in his opening fascistic regimes in a broad comparison of six national
speech at the fifth international conference of cases, while Jack Goldstone compared revolutionary
historians in Brussels in 1923, but with the intention crises of the early modern age in Europe and Asia. On
of combating the narrowness of purely national per- the other hand, however, it was only the historical
spectives and the subjection of historical research research in monographic form that made available to
to functional ends. However, Marc Bloch and Otto historical sociologists the theses and research results
Hinzte, two of the most influential forerunners in the that would enable them to carry out extensive
field of comparative study, were even more active in comparisons. The stimuli obtained from historical
taking up approaches from neighboring disciplines sociology were also accompanied by critique of its
where comparison had long been a commonly prac- generalizations and its handling of the historical state
ticed method. Historiography, as a historically com- of research, which it did not always improve upon
parative discipline, was a latecomer compared with extensively. Nevertheless, historical sociology pro-
other sciences. In fact, as early as the late eighteenth vided an important stimulus to comparative history.
and early nineteenth centuries, various sciences had Its works elicited an increasingly favorable response in
practiced comparative study successfully. Such works the 1960s to the extent that history was open to
were produced not only in anatomy and physiognomy, theoretical questions, and gradually after 1970, these
but also in religious studies, jurisprudence, geography, works were also emulated.
and philosophy. Among them was that of F. Max The theory of modernization, which originated
Mu$ ller, the first Introduction to the Science of Religion, mainly in the United States in the 1950s, provided a
published in 1873. Thus it was no coincidence that powerful comparative impetus as well, and elaborated
Marc Bloch, in his 1928 essay advocating the practice parameters of development against which it measured
of comparative history, does not cite historians, but individual societies. The successful combination of
rather Antoine Meillet and the broad range of scholars market economy and political democracy was its
who had been carrying out internationally compara- criterion for modernity. In this sense, the vague but
tive linguistic research since as early as the nineteenth positively cast concept of ‘modernity’ was used widely
century. in historiography on the nineteenth and twentieth
In the development of modern comparative history, centuries; it emphasized structures, functions, and
contact with the social sciences played the central interdependencies among the different parts of systems
defining role. Marc Bloch, whose works on the ‘royal more strongly than their historical individuality. In
touch,’ on the agrarian history of England and France, individual historiographies—particularly in those
and on the different forms of feudal society in Europe countries catching up in industrial and political devel-
up to 1940 provided important examples of com- opment—the comparison to the Anglo-Saxon ‘leader’
parative study, had received theoretical stimuli, above countries soon became one of the standard lines of
all from Emile Durkheim. Durkheim saw comparison argumentation. In the West German debate about the
as the sociological method par excellence, enabling the long-term and medium-term causes of National
delineation of the fundamental characteristics of social Socialism, structural deficits were identified in com-
types. Bloch used this method, for example, in his parison to Anglo-Saxon development, which itself was
analysis of feudal society when he concentrated on its admittedly highly typological and idealized: these
dominant dependency relationships. Otto Hintze, who included the feudalization of the German middle
was among the pioneers of historical comparison, also classes, a general deficit in the middle-class way of life,
took the work done in the social sciences as his model. the exceptional proximity of middle-class life to the
He adopted the concept of the ideal type from Max state, and the persistence of privilege-based social
Weber and went on to construct an ideal-type concept orders in the old and new middle class. Especially in

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this debate about Germany’s Sonderweg (‘unique theless take on specific forms. Research on resistance
path’)—but in Italian historiography as well—it was movements and on social systems or constitutions
no longer just the linear and unceasing advance toward paved the way for the advancement of comparison in
modernity that was at issue, but the ruptures, contra- social history .
dictions, and deficits in the development. Nevertheless, since the mid-1960s, sociohistorical
Within the science of history, comparative methods comparison has taken on a leading role, showing a
by no means penetrated all disciplines to the same remarkable breadth of research and differentiation in
degree or simultaneously. They emerged earlier in approaches. In Europe, at least a handful of papers
economic history, population history, and political have been published every year since 1970 on com-
history than in social history, gender history, or parative social history, none limited to a specialized
cultural history. As early as 1957, the Economic area, but including the history of the family and social
History Association dedicated one day of its annual classes, and the development of the social state, the
conference to comparative economic history, and it city and education. These studies have been focused
was no coincidence that one year later, economic mainly on three central issues. First, they deal with the
historian Sylvia Trupp founded the journal Com- explanation of national peculiarities, which often—
parati
e Studies in Society and History with the because of political events—are seen as characteristic
expressed goal of publishing studies of an inter- of the social development of the last few centuries. In
disciplinary and comparative nature. In Europe, the the debate about the German Sonderweg, this orien-
English model of industrialization and its spread was tation of comparative sociohistorical research has
the central topic of the comparative studies that taken its most comprehensive and probably also most
appeared even before 1960. The most broad-based and fruitful form as a scientific heuristic device. Second,
influential comparative analysis was produced by they focus on the different pathways of individual
Alexander Gerschenkron, who studied the basic simi- European societies into the modern age: their dis-
larities and differences within the European process of tinctive features are identified above all in comparisons
industrialization, inquiring into not just the different between different societies, and between European
answers to similar challenges, but also the functional and non-European cultures. A third focal point has
equivalents among European societies. He explains been the European model and its social characteristics.
the differences in development on the basis of both the All these studies have demonstrated methodical di-
specific position of the individual economy in the versity in both quantity and in quality; have integrated
system as a whole (‘relative backwardness’) and the social, political, and economic factors; and have
influences generated by developed societies. Walt focused attention on both linear and cyclical develop-
Rostow’s ‘stage theory’ of economic growth also ments. Furthermore, they have compared societies as
provided an impetus to comparative economic history well as parts of societies.
after 1960, as did Simon Kuznets’s quantitative European historiographies have not all made use of
studies. Rostow’s thesis that every society has to go the comparative method to the same degree. Sur-
through similar phases of economic growth and that prisingly, Marc Bloch’s appeal in France went unheard
therefore each society’s position can be identified for many years, as French historiography was and
against this background was almost a direct invitation continues to be strongly oriented toward monographic
for checking by historical comparison. Kuznets, in work and highly skeptical of theory. In Great Britain
contrast, instead emphasized the uniformity of modern as well, historical comparison did not catch on because
economic growth, although without ignoring its of the dominance of national history and the distance
national diversity. His three-sector thesis also led to from the social sciences. In Italy, comparative history
comparative studies. remained on the periphery—despite the proximity of
In historical demography, in 1963 at Princeton, many historians to debates in the social sciences—
Ansley Coale began comparing 600 European regions because of the strong regional orientation. In West
to answer the question of whether and why the birth Germany, Scandinavia, Switzerland, and Austria
rate was declining in Europe; this was called the comparative work remained rather limited within total
European Fertility Project. Although the project historical production, even though the number of
did produce convincing demographic results, the ex- comparative works was significantly higher than the
planation of demographic behavior on the basis of number of other European historiographies. Although
historical macro processes came under criticism. The sociohistorical comparison was particularly strong in
reasons for the early comparative studies of political Germany, this was a result of both debate on the
movements and institutions can be found not only in theory of the German Sonderweg, which was dealt
the field of ‘comparative politics,’ which gained im- with in many comparative historical essays, and the
portance in the USA in the 1960s, but also—according explicit discussions of social-scientific theories and
to Klaus von Beyme—in a unique approach to proposed explanations that characterized modern
research within political science. This approach German social history. In general, one may assume
applies to institutions that can be classified under the that internationally comparative history had a difficult
general type of democratic systems, but that never- time gaining a foothold wherever the relation to theory

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e History

was weak, and wherever attempts to explain national Comparison plays a heuristic role when it alone can
patterns of development in the philosophy of science offer explanations and reveal phenomena that had
remained only peripheral. Before 1989, this was the been unknown or inadequately known up to that
case in Iberian societies as well as in Eastern Europe. point. This function was already referred to by Marc
The study of history in the United States, where, Bloch, who, based on his knowledge of the English
according to Raymond Grew, comparison is a weak enclosure movement, sought an equivalent in French
point rather than a strong one, has not only brought agrarian history. Founding his thesis on research in
forth a series of excellent comparative studies on regional history, he dates the disappearance of col-
European history, but also practices transepochal lective rights in Provence as early as the fifteenth
and transatlantic comparison more intensively than century, and concludes from this that similar move-
does European historiography. Among the compara- ments took place in France not only earlier, but also
tive works on Europe, those of Charles Tilly, Peter under other conditions. Thanks to the comparative
Baldwin, and Susan Pederson are particularly worthy method, Bloch was able to discover a characteristic of
of mention. The study by Arno Mayer on the French agrarian development through his studies of
Holocaust, which he sees in the tradition of the the agrarian history of other countries.
Crusades and the Thirty-Years’ War, takes a trans- Historical comparison can be called contrastive
epochal and internationally comparative approach when it serves to define more precisely the special
and presents a comparative tableau of the situation of features of a specific case. Above all in German–
Jewish people in Eastern European societies in the French comparison, this method was used to bring
1930s. Transatlantic perspectives are opened up by into bold relief the particularly xenophobic character
those studies that place slavery in the South, the of German nationalism in the early nineteenth century,
frontier problem, and the situation of migrants in a the insurance character of Germany’s social security
larger, multinational context. system, and its unique characteristic of having a highly
In gender history, the comparison of male and educated middle class. Comparison of Italian and
female roles was for a long time the constitutive Anglo-Saxon developments brought out the regressive
element of analysis, and only recently have theoretical, state of Italian industrial development, its lack of a
internationally comparative studies been produced. modern party system, and its unique feature of having
These have concentrated on institutions or sub-areas a patrician, noble class. Depending on the country
which, like social laws, have attained a special selected for comparison and the logic behind this
meaning for gender roles. Modern cultural history as comparison, specific characteristics of the mostly
well, which discusses the creation and relevance of isolated national case but also of regional patterns of
stems of meaning, rituals, and symbols, has concen- development are illuminated and brought into clear
trated thus far on national configurations and ascribed contrast against the totality. At least two problems
little importance to international comparison. emerge in this endeavor: the further the development
In historiography on classical antiquity, the Middle stage in the reference country or region deviates from
Ages, and the early modern age, comparative studies the individual case in question, the less suitable it is for
were carried out, comparing rulers, regimes, and defining the specifics of the case beyond mere identifi-
individual institutions. Because of the international cation of general deficits. If one measures the economic
character of political systems, the national aspect development in Italy in the nineteenth century using as
decreased in importance as a unit of comparison. a yardstick the conditions that promoted industrializ-
However, theoretically oriented comparisons re- ation in England, one can only determine that these
mained scarcer in this area than in the historiography conditions were lacking in Italy, but cannot identify
on modernity. the specific conditions for the economic growth that
took place there. The more that the comparative
reality is used merely as a foil to highlight the contours
of a specific case, the more typological and reductive
2. Functions of Historical Comparison the resulting picture. International case studies written
in comparison to the German case with the aim of
The comparative method pursues two goals alter- presenting a general view of the livelihood and benefits
nately. On the one hand, it seeks to accentuate the of German white-collar employees have only rarely
distinctive feature of each individual case, and on the provided convincing analyses of the individual
other, attempts to derive evidence on general develop- national developments in the employee milieu. This
ments from case studies. While historians tend toward inherent bias of comparison should be borne in mind
the first approach, the second is more prevalent among in each case.
social scientists. Comparative historical studies do, Comparison has an analytical character when it
however, also deal with the question of commonalities. either tests a scientific hypothesis or identifies constel-
Four functions are granted to comparison in these lations of causes in a specific situation. The thesis that
studies: a heuristic function, a contrastive function, an a causal relationship exists between capitalism and
analytical function, and a distancing function. feudalism is relativized by the fact that strong fascist

2400
 Comparati
e History

movements did not emerge in all capitalist societies; certain degree evades historical comparison. In so far
they were able to develop only under specific con- as it compares more than two cases, it depends more
ditions. Ju$ rgen Kocka qualified this assumption in heavily on secondary literature than on the evaluation
his comparison of American and German society of a consistent body of sources. Thus, it also faces the
between the two World Wars. In a study of the problem of having to assess adequately the historio-
French, Russian, and Chinese revolutions, Theda graphic context, where each individual work of sec-
Skocpol inquired as to the results of collapsed ondary literature interprets the original sources in its
administrative apparatuses, broad peasant rebellions, own specific way.
and movements among political elites, thereby Another of the principles of historical study is that
demonstrating the extreme diversity in the constel- individual aspects of reality cannot be understood
lations of causes which explain the outbreak of separately from their place within a totality or within
modern revolutions. a historical development. The full meaning of details
In this analytical approach, comparison can also comes into focus only when looked at in synchronic
serve as an indirect experiment. When phenomenon a and diachronic perspective. The method of isolating
is ascribed to cause b, the historian can test their variables—a common one in empirical social research
hypothetical connection by looking for constellations and political economy—can and should be used within
in other societies in which a appears without b, or the framework of research projects, but is inadequate
where b exists without leading to a. This heuristically for representing the results of research. Comparisons
useful procedure is distinguished from experiments in can trace diachronic development processes in their
the natural sciences in that here, the ceteris paribus similarities or differences, but they can also examine
conditions are seldom given. trans-epochal cases along one specific line of ques-
Comparison has a distancing effect when it offers tioning. For example, Raymond W. Goldsmith studies
another perspective to observation and analysis. It can the premodern financial systems in ancient Mesopo-
produce surprising discoveries as well as relativizing tamia, the Indian Mogul empire, and England under
the tradition-based context of national historiogra- the rule of Elizabeth I. For him, what is of interest is
phies. Especially for those historiographies that are not how an epoch can be characterized, but the
deeply embedded in a national context, comparison contribution of different states and ages to a central
can open up new and often broader vistas. When line of questioning. Comparison can also evade both
confronting comparisons with other reference cases— chronology and the total context in question: one
especially those from other cultures—not only does separates out the individual cases, subjects them to
one gain experience with different types of question examination from a specific perspective, reduces their
and method, but also fundamental assumptions of complexity, and studies them as exemplary cases
one’s own historiography can be revealed and their belonging to a ‘universal,’ the tertium comparationis.
problems expounded. The comparative view can also Because of this isolation and reduction, the metho-
contribute new insights: Skocpol, for example, uses dology of comparison enters into a relationship of
the comparative method to shed new light on the unresolvable tension with fundamental principles
similarities between the French Revolution of the of historical study. What has proven to be a rule of
eighteenth century and the Chinese revolution of thumb is that the loss of context in comparative study
the twentieth century in her comparison of revolu- is less severe the smaller the number of reference cases.
tions, and between the cities of France and Japan in By choosing medium-range theories and argumen-
the eighteenth century. Taking into consideration the tation on a moderate level of abstraction, one limits as
variety of alternative pathways into the modern age far as possible both the loss of concreteness and the
prevents exclusive concentration on the European distance from the object of study. To do justice to the
development path, and offers insight into those diverse kinds of relationship affecting a particular
conditions of European development which cannot case, comparative historical studies include processes
be generalized. rather than constellations, and link the analysis of
individual situations with questions derived from the
historical study of relationships. The integration of
3. Methodology of Comparison individual cases into the total social context can be
intensified through close attention to the linguistic and
Although comparative history does not possess its conceptual specifics that define and influence these
own methodology, it does present particular methodo- contexts.
logical problems in bold relief. Despite all of these methodical problems, historical
Historians have used the proximity of their work to comparison also has a positive impact on historical
original sources as a special proof of its scientific research by raising its consciousness about the extent
nature. The goal of reconstructing history via a and limits of different approaches, the implicit prem-
multitude of sources in as comprehensive a manner as ises of scientific study, and the coherence of the total
possible is one of the fraternity of historians’ stan- context. It opens up historical study to theoretical
dards. This fundamental methodological principle to a reflection.

2401
Comparati
e History

The unit of comparison changes according to the they are enmeshed in a visible or invisible web of
line of questioning and the information being sought. relationships that influence them decisively. The ques-
For a long time, a national framework of study was tion of how specific constellations develop through
dominant in the science of history, both because this direct influence, appropriation or imitation of foreign
framework influenced the problems being studied, and models does indeed increase the complexity of com-
also because answers to questions of national history parison, but in no way replaces it. As is well known,
were sought in comparison. Research on nationalism Marc Bloch extolled the study of societies in the same
and welfare states, democracy and religious denomi- epoch which are neighboring, mutually influential,
nations have been given a privileged place in the and subjected to the same macro changes as one of the
national framework. This national approach has been ideal methods of historical comparison.
called into question by two developments: micro-
history and intercultural history.
Microhistory has brought increased interest to local,
often unique sources and problems which give a 4. Comparati
e History’s Agenda and Unsol
ed
privileged role to the viewpoints of the people in- Problems
volved, and which—because of the emphasis on
individuality—had been excluded previously from Comparison poses methodical and theoretical prob-
methodical comparison. In addition, this shows the lems for the science of history, but at the same time
importance of another area which calls into question challenges it, and can even work as a factor to increase
the self-assuredness of past research on national method-consciousness and support theoretical reflec-
historical developments. For the study of family tion. Currently, an expansion of previous approaches
constellations and famine unrest, local frameworks and fields of comparison in the following directions
present themselves as the most appropriate, while for could be considered:
the analysis of linguistic dialects or industrialization, Until now, comparative studies have limited them-
the regional level is preferable. As the study of history selves to defining the range and meaningfulness of
becomes increasingly global, the national level will theories. Such problems as whether Weber’s class
decrease continuously in significance. This does not theory is appropriate for the history of the European
just apply to colonialism, the migration movements of middle class, whether Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, or the global cultural capital is useful for an analysis of intellectuals,
economy that has been developing since 1880. Marc or whether Marx’s theory can be applied to modern
Bloch pointed out as early as 1928 that the develop- revolutions—and whether all of these can explain
ment of manorial rule in the Middle Ages and early more than just national cases—have been the focus of
modern age in individual localities and regions cannot interest thus far. However, the question of what
be understood independently of the decline of money changes must be made in theoretical concepts if they
rent throughout Europe. are to explain more than one national development
In so far, then, as one seeks to identify the special and encompass a multitude of empirical cases has
features of Europe’s development, it is necessary to seldom been asked. Therefore, comparative history
include non-European cultures, which, however, has contributed little to the development of theory
should no longer serve merely as a foil as they did for thus far, and has seldom taken the step to formulate
Max Weber, but rather be examined with a differ- theoretical alternatives by relativizing existing ap-
entiated view to their independence and specificity. proaches.
In order to obtain a new perspective, Ju$ rgen In historical comparison, progressive types and
Osterhammel proposes a new approach: instead of structures—rather than the constitutive processes of
analyzing non-European cultures from a European historical facts and materials—were, for a long time,
standpoint, one should take the opposite point of view at the center of attention. With the increasing im-
and determine European specifics from the stand- portance of constructivist approaches, individual
point of non-European cultures. The methodical sources such as reports and statistics are being inter-
problems of such a perspective are as obvious as its preted to be more a representation of individual
advantages: these include on the one hand problems administrations or rulers than an account of social or
of languages, the knowledge of often very different political reality. Comparisons that strengthen this
historiographies, and aggregation of data that de- point of view would involve representations and
crease in meaningfulness and are often statistically strategies of representation, and prevent the naive use
antiquated, and on the other, a new view of known of sources and statistics. In this area, new fields of
developments, and the opening of a wider sphere of research are opening up.
activity and relationships. In numerous comparative studies, the process of
In particular, the history of transfer processes modernization is built in as the tertium comparationis.
brought attention to Galton’s problem of ethnologies This enables that the trajectory of development of
when it questioned whether two or more cases can each particular case be identified and defined. The
really exist independently alongside one another, or if more that temporally staggered comparisons are used

2402
 Comparati
e Method, in E
olutionary Studies

in these studies, however, the less importance they Gerschenkron A 1962 Economic Backwardness in Historical
ascribe to synchronic observation and the more they Perspecti
e. Cambridge, MA
ascribe to the content of the line of questioning. In Goldstone J A 1991 Re
olution and Rebellion in the Early Modern
this way, comparison concentrates less on the charac- World. Berkeley, CA
terization of phases of historical development, and Haupt H G, Kocka J 1996 Geschichte und Vergleich. AnsaW tze und
more on different contexts—such as collectives’ self- Ergebnisse international
ergleichender Geschichtsschreibung.
Frankfurt, Germany
descriptions, social placement strategies, ascription
Hintze O 1964 Soziologische und geschichtliche Staatsauf-
of religious meaning—which it analyzes for several fassung. In: Oestreich V G (ed.) Soziologie und Geschichte—
collectives. Gesammelte Abhandlungen. Go$ ttingen, Vol. 2, pp. 239–305
Contemporary processes of globalization have left Kaelble H 2000 Der historische Vergleich. Frankfurt, Germany
their mark above all on the capital and labor markets, Kocka J 1977 Angestellte zwischen Faschismus und Demokratie.
but have also called into question the national contexts Zur politischen Sozialgeschichte der Angestellten, USA 1890–
of thinking prevalent in the sciences. On the one hand, 1940 im international Vergleich. Go$ ttingen, Germany
historiography in the European framework reacts to Mayer A 1988 Why Did the Hea
ens Not Darken? The ‘Final
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privileged role both to comparison between individual Moore B 1966 Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy.
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means of isolating and identifying the factors of Welfare State: Britain and France 1914–1945. Cambridge,
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dividual societies themselves have become complex Rostow W W 1960 The Stages of Economic Growth. Cambridge
Rossi P (ed.) 1990 La storia comparata. Approcci e prospetti
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e
coding have merged in them, accompanied by Analysis of France, Russia and China. Cambridge
national-historical and global-social influences. With Tilly C 1984 Big Structures, Large Processes, Huge Comparisons.
the increasing demand for an adequate survey of New York
contemporary society, the demands placed on a van den Braembussche A A 1989 Historical explanation and
theoretically based, methodically differentiated com- comparative method: Towards a theory of the history of
parative history will increase as well, expanding the society. History and Theory 28: 2–24
spectrum of questions with which history will be
interpreted. H-G. Haupt

See also: Civilization, Concept and History of; Civili-

zational Analysis, History of; Comparative Method,
in Evolutionary Studies; Economic History; Global
History: Universal and World; Historical Demo-
graphy; History and the Social Sciences; Marx, Karl
(1818–89); Modernization and Modernity in History;
Modernization, Sociological Theories of; Polanyi, Comparative Method, in Evolutionary
Karl (1886–1964); Social History; Weber, Max Studies
(1864–1920)
Comparative methods seek evidence for adaptive
evolution by investigating how the characteristics of
organisms, such as their size, shape, life histories, and
Bibliography behavior, evolve together across species. They are one
of evolutionary biology’s most enduring approaches
Atsma H, Burguie' re A (eds.) 1990 Marc Bloch aujourd’hui. for testing hypotheses of adaptation. This article
Histoire compareT et Sciences sociales. Paris discusses the application and interpretation of com-
Bloch M 1928 Pour une histoire compare! e des socie! te! s euro- parative studies, reviews their historical development,
pe! ennes. In: Bloch M (ed.) MeT langes historique. Paris, I, pp.
then describes new methodologies for analysing com-
16–46
von Beyme K 1988 Der Vergleich in der Politikwissenschaft.
parative data.
Munich, Germany One of the classic comparative relationships is that
Espagne M 1999 Sur les limites du comparatisme en histoire between the size of an organism’s body and the size of
culturelle. GeneZ sis 17: 102–21 its brain (Fig. 1): brain size increases steadily and
1988 German history before Hitler: The debate about the predictably with body size in mammals, and this
German Sonderweg. Journal of Contemporary History 23: relationship also holds within most other animal
3–16 groups. Much of the interest that comparative rela-

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