Leading anthropologists and political scientists are brought together in this volume to debate the problem of comparison, taking up a variety of topics from nationalist violence and labor strikes to ritual forms and religious practices. The contributors criticize conventional forms of comparative method, and introduce new comparative strategies, ranging from abstract model building to ethnographically based methods. They represent a wide variety of theoretical positions, from rational choice theory to interpretivism, and the issues are clarified in the cut and thrust of debate.

Leading anthropologists and political scientists are brought together in this volume to debate the problem of comparison, taking up a variety of topics from nationalist violence and labour strikes to ritual forms and religious practices. The contributors criticise conventional forms of comparative method, and introduce new comparative strategies, ranging from abstract model building to ethnographically based methods. They represent a wide variety of theoretical positions, from rational choice theory to interpretivism, and the issues are clarified in the cut and thrust of debate. This will be an excellent case book for courses on comparison across the social sciences.