Milan Zafirovski – författare

This book explores the historical and contemporary relationships of Protestant Puritanism to political and social authoritarianism. It focuses on Puritanism’s original, subsequent and modern influences on and legacies in political democracy and civil society within historically Puritan Western societies, with emphasis on Great Britain and particularly America, from the 17th to the 21th century.

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Authoritarianism: Puritanism, Democracy and Society''s importance and novelty lie in its original theoretical argument and empirical demonstration that Puritanism constitutes or reproduces political-social authoritarianism rather than liberal-secular political democracy and free civil society, contrary to the conventional wisdom in Puritan societies, especially America. The book’s methodological approach is thoroughly interdisciplinary by integrating methods, theories and data in sociology with those in other social sciences such as political science, history and economics. In addition, the book uses a comparative-historical method through comparisons of Western (and other) societies at various points of history in terms of the impact of Puritanism on authoritarianism.

The Enlightenment of the late 17th and 18th century is characterized by an emphasis on reason and empiricism . As a major shaping philosophy of Western culture, it had a historical impact on the religious, cultural, academic, and social institutions of 18th century Europe. In this compelling volume, the author explores the lasting impact of Enlightenment thinking on modern Western societies and other democracies.With an interdisciplinary, comparative-historical approach this volume explores the impact of Enlightenment ideals such as liberty, equality, and social justice on current social institutions. Combining sociological theory with concrete examples, the author provides a unique framework for understanding modern cultural development, including a picture of how it would look without this Enlightenment basis.

This work provides a multi-faceted approach, including: an historical overview, analysis of the Enlightenment’s influence on modern democratic societies, modern culture, political science, civil society and the economy, as well as exploring the counter-Enlightenment,  Post-Enlightenment, and Neo-Enlightenment philosophies.

A Modern Guide to Economic Sociology positions contemporary studies in relation to earlier developments, highlighting the importance of understanding how stages of economic sociology have corresponded and converged with institutional, social, political and behavioural economics over time. Chapters offer a broad range of perspectives of topical and pressing themes including: wealth inequality, unsustainable development, ethical consumption, society and work, institutions and the economy, and society and entrepreneurship.

Covering both empirical and theoretical aspects of the field, this book will benefit economic sociologists as well as economic sociology students. It will also be an important read for both economics and sociology students looking to better understand the interactions between the two fields and how they depend upon and advance one another.