How Societies Change

This book, the only brief and affordable macro-sociology text available for undergraduates, describes how societies have changed over the past five thousand years. The discussion focuses on the idea that industrial societies, despite their great success, have created a new set of recurring and unsolved problems which will serve as a major impetus for further social change. This book explores development through historical narrative and examines the globalization/development paradox through in-depth case studies.

The only brief and affordable macro-sociology text available for undergraduates which describes how societies have changed over the past five thousand years. Shows how industrial societies, even though they have been a great success, have created a new set of recurring and unsolved problems which will serve as a major impetus for further social change.

Daniel Chirot is Professor of International Studies and Sociology at the University of Washington's Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. He has written other books about global social change as well as specialized works on the social history and politics of Eastern Europe. His most recent work is called Modern Tyrants: The Power and Prevalence of Evil in Our Age.