Charles Tilly's Historical Sociology

Charles Tilly (19292008) was one of the greatest sociologists of the second half of the twentieth century. His incredible energy and creativity were a powerful force in reviving the historical-comparative perspective in social sciences and produced many new insights. Tilly has covered a very broad range of subjects, from contentious behaviour, urbanization, proletarianization, and state formation, to migration, democratization, and persistent social inequality. His oeuvre is so vast he wrote or edited dozens of books and published hundreds of scholarly articles and countless book reviews that it has become a challenge to synthesize. In the following article I will try to offer a comprehensive critique, in the hope that this will further interest in and debate about the subject. First, I sketch Tillys intellectual development since the late 1950s. Next, I discuss a few recurring themes from his work that are of special interest to historians of the working classes. I conclude with a critical review of Tillys achievements. © 2009 Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis.