The rise of new orders in antique Greece. A structural and actor based analysis

Journal/Book: Kolner Z Soziol Sozialpsychol. 1997; 49: Postfach 5829, W-6200 Wiesbaden, Germany. Westdeutscher Verlag GmbH. 391.

Abstract: System theoretical conceptions are not able to explain processes of differentiation causally, to name the factors and forces for transformation. Antique Greece is taken as an example for such a causal explanation. The constellation or structural analysis examines the chances and possibilities which are offered for new courses of action: A broad distribution of power, no political and religious power centers, and political crises gave rise for the demand of new solutions. The situational or event analysis displays how the structural chances are used: New ideas and institutions were invented by specific actors and authorities or existing institutions were altered. Finally the developmental analysis examines the dynamic within the new constellation of orders: On the one hand a new principle of differentiation was established with the political and the intellectual order, on the other hand the missing economical and religious rationalization limits the dynamic of this unbalanced pattern of orders.

Note: Article Schwinn T, Univ Heidelberg, Inst Soziol, Sandgasse 9, D-69117 Heidelberg, GERMANY

Keyword(s): DIFFERENTIATION

Zurück | Weiter