Abstract
The argument here is a critical but cordial dialogue between two old friends about Charles Tilly’s historicism and issues of theory and method it raises. Our format is like history as Tilly views it: unscripted, unrehearsed, interactive, open-ended, and cumulative. Where the argument will lead, we do not know–and will not know until we get there. Argument is volatile not only because it can be lost through errors of fact and logic, but also because it can arrive at surprise conclusions and change minds. In a Platonic dialogue, the author works thespeakers as a ventriloquist works puppets. In this one, the authors are the speakers and speak for themselves: each tries to persuade the other, and both risk being persuaded in turn.
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Aya, R., Eden, L. (2011). SPOTLIGHT: Historicism, theory, and method. In: Hanagan, M., Tilly, C. (eds) Contention and Trust in Cities and States. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0756-6_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0756-6_2
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