Nicos P. Mouzelis - Böcker

The American Journal of Sociology says of this book "Mouzelis knows and handles the literature well and accurately brings the reader up to the early sixties. A summarizer, synthesizer, and historian of modern theories, he serves his novice well. The more initiated student of formal organizations will appreciate the critiques of his favorite theorists: Mouzelis cuts clean and bold. Along with order, he does add critical insight to his borrowed materials."This book is a carefully integrated and very straightforward guide to the labyrinth of theory on organizational phenomena, and surveys the most important approaches to the study of organizations and the manner in which these approaches are interrelated. The author's interest is in showing the successive stages of theory generation and development in the two major traditions of thought on this subject, thereby providing a coherent overview of the field, a method for systematically investigating it, and an unusually broadening supplement to the standard treatment of organizations in undergraduate and graduate courses.The author discusses the writings of such theorists as Marx, Weber, and Michels who, from a very wide perspective, tried to assess the impact of large-scale bureaucracy on the power structure of modern society. He also examines the other tradition of organizational writings that starts with Taylor and the movement of scientific management. Finally, an analysis is made of recent theoretical trends that indicate a certain convergence of the bureaucracy and the managerial lines of thought.In emphasizing the conceptual frameworks that underlie organization theory and in showing the dynamics of theory progression, the author provides students with invaluable assistance in understanding the levels of theoretical analysis, the variables to be taken into consideration, and the manner in which these variables may be accounted for in a systematic manner.

Nicos Mouzelis puts forward a post-Marxist conceptual framework which overcomes economic reductionism while at the same time retaining some distinctive features of the Marxist paradigm - features which, when radically restructured, are indispensable for macrohistorical comparisons and more generally, for an examination of how whole social orders are constituted, maintained and transformed. The author demonstrates the utility of the conceptual framework proposed by showing how it can overcome some typical theoretical dilemmas and research difficulties that Marxists are facing in their analysis of late industrializing societies. More specifically, the limitations of Marxist analysis and ways to overcome them are demonstrated by looking in depth at a single case: the complex political and economic developments leading to the 1909 "bourgeois revolution" in Greece.

This volume argues against a marked tendency in present-day sociology to conflate philosophy and sociological theory. In trying to demonstrate the relative autonomy and specific logic of sociological theorizing, the book draws from a variety of theoretical traditions in order to construct a set of interrelated concepts useful for bridging the gulf between macro and micro sociologies. Drawing examples from the sociology of development and from the theory of organizations, Nicos Mouzelis shows how the conceptual framework proposed can help the researcher to avoid both the reification of macro institutional structures and their reduction to the intersubjective understandings of micro actors. Other works by Nicos Mouzelis include "Organization and Bureaucracy: An Analysis of Modern Theories", "Modern Greece: Facets of Underdevelopment", "Politics in the Semi-Periphery: Early Parliamentarism and Late Industrialization in the Balkans and Latin America" and "Post-Marxist Alternatives: The Construction of Social Orders".

First published in 1998. This is Volume VIII of the eighteen in the Sociology of Work and Organization series and offers an analysis of modern theories in relation to organisation and bureaucracy. The present study tries to provide some guidance which may help students to orient themselves with greater ease in the labyrinth of organisational writings. More specifically, it tries to identify and examine critically some of the major approaches to the study of organisations, and the ways in which such approaches are linked with each other.

First published in 1998. This is Volume VIII of the eighteen in the Sociology of Work and Organization series and offers an analysis of modern theories in relation to organisation and bureaucracy. The present study tries to provide some guidance which may help students to orient themselves with greater ease in the labyrinth of organisational writings. More specifically, it tries to identify and examine critically some of the major approaches to the study of organisations, and the ways in which such approaches are linked with each other.

There is a growing conflict between modern and postmodern social theorists. The latter reject modern approaches as economistic, essentialist and often leading to authoritarian policies. Modernists criticize postmodern approaches for their rejection of holistic conceptual frameworks which facilitate an overall picture of how social wholes (organizations, communities, nation-states, etc.) are constituted, reproduced and transformed. They believe the rejection of holistic methodologies leads to social myopia - a refusal to explore critically the type of broad problems that classical sociology deals with. This book attempts to bridge the divide between these two conflicting perspectives and proposes a novel holistic framework which is neither reductionist/economistic nor essentialist. Modern and Postmodern Social Theorizing will appeal to scholars and students of social theory and of social sciences in general.

There is a growing conflict between modern and postmodern social theorists. The latter reject modern approaches as economistic, essentialist and often leading to authoritarian policies. Modernists criticize postmodern approaches for their rejection of holistic conceptual frameworks which facilitate an overall picture of how social wholes (organizations, communities, nation-states, etc.) are constituted, reproduced and transformed. They believe the rejection of holistic methodologies leads to social myopia - a refusal to explore critically the type of broad problems that classical sociology deals with. This book attempts to bridge the divide between these two conflicting perspectives and proposes a novel holistic framework which is neither reductionist/economistic nor essentialist. Modern and Postmodern Social Theorizing will appeal to scholars and students of social theory and of social sciences in general.

The American Journal of Sociology says of this book "Mouzelis knows and handles the literature well and accurately brings the reader up to the early sixties. A summarizer, synthesizer, and historian of modern theories, he serves his novice well. The more initiated student of formal organizations will appreciate the critiques of his favorite theorists: Mouzelis cuts clean and bold. Along with order, he does add critical insight to his borrowed materials."This book is a carefully integrated and very straightforward guide to the labyrinth of theory on organizational phenomena, and surveys the most important approaches to the study of organizations and the manner in which these approaches are interrelated. The author's interest is in showing the successive stages of theory generation and development in the two major traditions of thought on this subject, thereby providing a coherent overview of the field, a method for systematically investigating it, and an unusually broadening supplement to the standard treatment of organizations in undergraduate and graduate courses.The author discusses the writings of such theorists as Marx, Weber, and Michels who, from a very wide perspective, tried to assess the impact of large-scale bureaucracy on the power structure of modern society. He also examines the other tradition of organizational writings that starts with Taylor and the movement of scientific management. Finally, an analysis is made of recent theoretical trends that indicate a certain convergence of the bureaucracy and the managerial lines of thought.In emphasizing the conceptual frameworks that underlie organization theory and in showing the dynamics of theory progression, the author provides students with invaluable assistance in understanding the levels of theoretical analysis, the variables to be taken into consideration, and the manner in which these variables may be accounted for in a systematic manner.

Nicos Mouzelis argues against a marked tendency in present- day sociology to conflate philosophy and sociological theory.

How can we understand social democracy today? This ambitious book offers a global perspective on the nature of capitalism; its past and future possibilities of survival; the differentiation between neoliberal, authoritarian and social democratic systems, exemplified by the United States, China, and the EU; and the conflict relationships between them.Reflecting on urgent global risks, such as climate change, pandemics and nuclear confrontation - Mouzelis & Sotiropoulos explore why these risks can only be dealt with by the cooperation of these three major players in the global arena. They explore how the model of social democracy, which in the previous century tamed unfettered capitalism in some national contexts, can help contain the excesses of global capitalism now. In clear, compelling and coherent terms, the authors demonstrate how unchecked antagonism among these three major players has the potential to spill-over into inertia or reluctance to manage these urgent risks, to the detriment of humanity as a whole.