抄録

　歴史社会学は,社会学における一般理論への偏重に対する自省から,分析対象地域の歴史経験や固有の事情をふまえつつ理論構築を志向する試みとして発達したが,同分野の定義をはじめ,さらには分析方法から理論の射程範囲に至るまで,現在もなお議論が続いている.なかでも比較分析は,歴史社会学分野において主要な分析方法として用いられ,また近年は広く社会科学分野においても,その意義が注目されているが,そのあり方をめぐっては諸論が展開している.本稿では,「歴史社会学」の軌跡を辿りつつ,比較分析の方法論ならびに研究例を通じ,その内容を検証すると同時に今後の課題を考察する.

abstract

This paper gives a critical review on the recent discussions of comparative analysis as one of the major approaches in the field of historical sociology. The review of the discussions illustrates the development of historical sociology as a subfield of the discipline as well as the major issues in the field. Historical sociology has been developed by scholars who had a strong motivation of reconstructing theories and concepts while emphasizing specificity of the object for analysis. While their claim is now widely shared not only by those who see themselves as historical sociologists but also by social scientists in other disciplines, discussions still continue on their theoretical premises as well as methodological approaches. This paper shows that the comparative analysis itself has served a critical role to illuminate historical context while not breaking away from the premise of social sciences for theorizing. Although it requires further discussions for analytical procedures, comparative analysis would be one of the promising methods that would further develop by transcending the boundaries of the field of historical sociology and becoming the major approach in the disciplines of social sciences.