Nordic Paths to Modernity

The 11 essays have been hammered out from earlier versions, some published in the journal Thesis Eleven (no. 77, 2003) and some from an April 2005 workshop in Uppsala. Historians and political scientists in or from the five Nordic countries reflect on features of the advent of modernity that are specific to the Nordic context. Among their topics are the centralized cultural community of Denmark 1740-1940, history and ethics in pre-revolutionary Sweden, the metamorphoses of Norwegian reformism, paradoxes of the Finnish political culture, and Icelandic modernity and the role of nationalism. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Johann Pall Arnason is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at La Trobe University, Melbourne, and visiting professor at Charles University, Prague. His research interests focus on comparative historical sociology, with particular emphasis on the comparative sociology of civilizations. Recent publications include: Civilizations in Dispute: Historical Questions and Theoretical Traditions (Brill 2003); Axial Civilizations and World History (co-editor, Brill 2005); and The Roman Empire in Context: Historical and Comparative Perspectives (co-editor, Blackwell 2010).

Bjorn Wittrock is Principal of the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS), Uppsala, and University Professor at Uppsala University. He has published extensively, currently eighteen books, in the fields of intellectual history, historical social science, social theory, and civilizational analysis. Recent publications include: Frontiers of Sociology (co-editor, Brill 2009) and Eurasian Transformations, Tenth to Thirteenth Centuries: Crystallizations, Divergences, Renaissances (co-editor, Brill 2004).