Author: Unger, Roberto Mangabeira
Title: Plasticity into Power : Comparative-historical Studies on the Institutional Conditions of Economic and Military Success ..,.
Description: London, Verso, 2004. orig.wrappers. 21x13cm, vi,240 pp, PAPERBACK. Series: Politics, a work in constructive social theory, 3.. Minor rubbing. VG. ¶ Full title reads: "Plasticity into power : comparative-historical studies on the institutional conditions of economic and military success : varations on themes of Politics, a work in constructive social theory" [" Plasticity into power works out, through historical examples, a major theme of Unger's work--the relation between institutional and organizational flexibility and the development of our collective ability to produce or to destroy. The message of the book is that the practical success of a society depends on its capacity for permanent innovation. Certain practices and institutions--the history and content of which Unger explores--can nurture this capacity. Unger pursues this topic through wide-ranging historical inquiries into the European escape from the recurring crises that foreclosed political and economic breakthroughs in the great empires of the past; the invention of revolutionary approaches to the governmental protection of wealth; and the social conditions of military success, viewed as sources of insight into the social foundations of economic growth. Throughout, Plasticity into Power exemplifies a conception of the relation between theory and history that remains faithful to the surprising, open-ended quality of lived experience" - Publisher's description].

Keywords: Political Sociology, Social Theory, Power, , , , , ,