Stein Rokkan Explained

Stein Rokkan
Birth Date:4 July 1921
Birth Place:Vågan, Norway
Death Place:Bergen, Norway

Stein Rokkan (July 4, 1921 – July 22, 1979) was a Norwegian political scientist and sociologist. He was the first professor of sociology at the University of Bergen and a principal founder of the discipline of comparative politics.[1] He founded the multidisciplinary Department of Sociology at the University of Bergen, which encompassed sociology, economics and political science and which had a key role in the postwar development of the social sciences in Norway.[2]

Career

Stein Rokkan was born on the Lofoten archipelago in the far north of Norway and raised in the nearby town of Narvik. Rokkan completed his gymnasium years in 1939, and he received a magister artium in political philosophy from the University of Oslo in 1948.[3] Rokkan's studies were interrupted in 1943 when the German occupation closed the University of Oslo and he returned to the university after the liberation in 1945.[4]

Rokkan then turned to empirical research, and studied at Columbia University, Chicago and the London School of Economics between 1949 and 1951. In the United States, Rokkan was a Rockefeller Foundation fellow at Columbia and Chicago from 1948 to 1950.[5] At Columbia University, his work with Paul Lazarsfeld acquainted him with modern social research methods. At the London School of Economics, he met T. H. Marshall.[6]

He subsequently worked at the Norwegian Institute for Social Research (ISF) from 1951 until 1957, and moved to Bergen in 1958, where he worked at the Chr. Michelsen Institute from 1958 to 1966. In 1966 he became Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Bergen.[7]

Over the years Rokkan was three times a fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and a visiting professor at various universities (Manchester, Stanford, Geneva, the London School of Economics, the Instituts d'études politiques in Paris. He also held a permanent appointment as visiting professor at Yale University.[8]

Rokkan co-founded, with Shmuel Eisenstadt, Morris Janowitz, and Seymour Martin Lipset, the Committee on Political Sociology (CPS) of the International Sociological Association (ISA) in 1960 and served as its secretary from 1960 to 1970. He was vice-president of the International Sociological Association from 1966 to 1970; president of the International Political Science Association from 1970 to 1973; chairman (from 1970 to 1976) and co-founder of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR); and president of the International Social Science Council (ISSC), which was founded by UNESCO, from 1973 to 1977.[9]

Awards

Rokkan received many awards. He was a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,[10] a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States,[11] an international member of the American Philosophical Society,[12] and a member of the Finnish and Norwegian Academies of Sciences. He received honorary degrees from the University of Uppsala in 1970, the University of Helsinki in 1971, and the University of Geneva and the University of Aarhus in 1979.[13]

Rokkan's work "Norway: Numerical Democracy and Corporate Pluralism" (1966)[14] was selected for the Norwegian Sociology Canon in 2009–2011 as one of 25 works that "had the greatest influence on sociology in Norway."Norwegian Sociology Canon

Academic research

After focusing on individual voters, he turned his attention to the study of politics, especially the formation of political parties and European nation-states. Peter Flora's overview of Rokkan's oeuvre points out that the "unity of Rokkan work stems from his constant concern with the European nation-state and its democratization."[15]

"Cleavage Structures, Party Systems, and Voter Alignments"

In this 1967 co-authored work with Seymour Martin Lipset,[16] Rokkan introduced critical juncture theory and made a substantial contributions to cleavage theory. Peter Flora notes that the "initial analysis of the origins of cleavage structures and their transformation into party systems appeared in 1965 ... in German" in a version that "carried Rokkan's name alone."[17]

Seymour Lipset and Stein Rokkan (1967) and Rokkan (1970) introduced the idea that big discontinuous changes, such as the reformation, the building of nations, and the Industrial Revolution, reflected conflicts organized around social cleavages, such as the center-periphery, state-church, land-industry, and owner-worker cleavages. In turn, these big discontinuous changes could be seen as critical junctures because they generated social outcomes that subsequently remained "frozen" for extensive periods of time.[18]

In more general terms, Lipset and Rokkan's model has three components:[19]

Rokkan (1970) added two points to these ideas. Critical junctures could set countries on divergent or convergent paths. Critical junctures could be "sequential," such that a new critical junctures does not totally erase the legacies of a previous critical juncture but rather modifies that previous legacy.[20]

"The Structuring of Mass Politics in the Smaller European Democracies"

In this 1968 article, Rokkan elabores the idea that a process of democratization has to overcome four institutional thresholds:

Conceptual Maps of Europe

During the 1970s, Rokkan worked on the development of conceptual maps of Europe. These maps were presented in several chapters.[25] These conceptual maps summarized the principles of geopolitical differentiation within Europe. Tilly remarks that these conceptual maps "cast new light on an old paradox: the fact that capitalism and national states grew up together, and presumably depended on each other in some way, yet capitalists and centers of capital accumulation often offered concerted resistance to the extension of state power."[26]

Influence

Rokkan has been described as "one of the world's leading social scientists since World War II",[27] "one of the great masters of comparative politics",[28] and "a leading international scholar during the second phase of the post-war social science with its foci on macro studies and international comparisons."[29]

Rokkan has also been described as "one of the world's foremost researchers on elections" and "Norway's most influential social scientist of all times."[30]

He influenced thinking about cleavage, comparative history, party systems and Catalan nationalism, among other topics. He helped launch a research tradition on critical junctures.[31]

Rokkan was the creator of a series of models for state and nation formations in Europe.

Rokkan, along with T. H. Marshall, is credited with the establishment of "what has become the standard narrative of the evolution of modern democratic citizenship."[32]

He is also known as a pioneer of using computer technology in the social sciences.

Legacy

The Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research has been awarded by the ISSC, the ECPR and the University of Bergen since 1981.[33]

The Department of Comparative Politics has, since 1981, arranged an annual Stein Rokkan Memorial Lecture as a tribute to his memory.https://www.uib.no/en/sampol/37942/stein-rokkan

The University of Bergen has a Stein Rokkan Centre for Social Studies[34] and a Stein Rokkan Building[35] at street address Nygårdsgaten 5.[36]

Selected works

Resources on Rokkan and his research

External links

Notes and References

  1. Encyclopedia: Stein Rokkan. Norsk biografisk leksikon. 2021-07-17.
  2. Ørjar Øyen: Sosiologien i Bergen, 1994, ISBN 82-578-0134-8
  3. Dahl, R., & Lorwin, V. (1980). "Stein Rokkan." PS: Political Science & Politics 13(1), 110-111, pp. 110; Mjøset, Lars. "Stein Rokkan's Thick Comparisons." Acta Sociologica 43(4)(2000): 381-397, p. 381.
  4. Erik Allardt, "Stein Rokkan and the Twentieth Century Social Science", Stein Rokkan Centre for Social Studies, Bergen University Research Foundation. 2003, Working Paper 14 - 2003, p. 8.
  5. Richard Rose, Learning about Politics in Time and Space. Colchester, U.K.: ECPR, 2013, p. 61.
  6. Peter Flora, "Rokkan, Stein (1921–79)", pp. 744-47, International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences 2nd edition, Volume 20 (2001), p 744.
  7. Mjøset, Lars. "Stein Rokkan's Thick Comparisons." Acta Sociologica 43(4)(2000): 381-397, p. 382.
  8. Dahl, R., & Lorwin, V. (1980). "Stein Rokkan." PS: Political Science & Politics 13(1), 110-111, pp. 110.
  9. Peter Flora, "Rokkan, Stein (1921–79)", pp. 744-47, International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences 2nd edition, Volume 20 (2001), p 744-45; Berntzen, Einar, Marcus Buck and Leiv Marsteintredet, "Rokkan in the Andes. Cleavages, Party Systems and the Emergence of New Leftist Parties", in Benedicte Bull (ed.), Norwegian Social Thought on Latin America. Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires: CLACSO, 2016, p. 185-66. On Rokkan's work with this the Committee on Political Sociology (CPS) of the International Sociological Association (ISA), see Richard Rose, Learning About Politics in Time and Space: A Memoir. Colchester: ECPR Press, 2013), pp. 61-63.
  10. Web site: Stein Rokkan . 2022-07-14 . American Academy of Arts & Sciences . en.
  11. Web site: Stein Rokkan . 2022-07-14 . www.nasonline.org.
  12. Web site: APS Member History . 2022-07-14 . search.amphilsoc.org.
  13. Dahl, R., & Lorwin, V. (1980). "Stein Rokkan." PS: Political Science & Politics 13(1), 110-111, pp. 110-11.
  14. Stein Rokkan, "Norway: Numerical democracy and corporate pluralism." In R. A. Dahl (ed.), Political Oppositions in Western Democracies, pp. 70-115. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1966.
  15. Flora, Peter, "Introduction and Interpretation", pp. 1–91, in Peter Flora (ed.), State Formation, Nation-Building, and Mass Politics in Europe: The Theory of Stein Rokkan. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 4.
  16. Lipset, Seymour Martin; Rokkan, Stein (1967). "Cleavage structures, party systems, and voter alignments: an introduction". In Lipset, Seymour Martin; Rokkan, Stein (eds.). Party Systems and Voter Alignments: Cross-National Perspectives. The Free Press. pp. 1–64.
  17. Flora, Peter, "Introduction and Interpretation", pp. 1–91, in Peter Flora (ed.), State Formation, Nation-Building, and Mass Politics in Europe: The Theory of Stein Rokkan. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 18.
  18. Seymour M. Lipset and Stein Rokkan, "Cleavage Structures, Party Systems, and Voter Alignments: An Introduction", pp. 1–64, in Seymour M. Lipset and Stein Rokkan (eds.), Party Systems and Voter Alignments: Cross-National Perspectives. New York, NY: Free Press, 1967, pp. 47, 50; Stein Rokkan, "Nation-Building, Cleavage Formation and the Structuring of Mass Politics", pp. 72–144, in Stein Rokkan, with Angus Campbell, Per Torsvik, and Henry Valen, Citizens, Elections, and Parties: Approaches to the Comparative Study of the Processes of Development. New York, NY: David McKay, 1970.
  19. Peter Flora, "Rokkan, Stein (1921–79)", pp. 744-47, International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences 2nd edition, Volume 20 (2001), p 745-46.
  20. Stein Rokkan, "Nation-Building, Cleavage Formation and the Structuring of Mass Politics", pp. 72–144, in Stein Rokkan, with Angus Campbell, Per Torsvik, and Henry Valen, Citizens, Elections, and Parties: Approaches to the Comparative Study of the Processes of Development. New York, NY: David McKay, 1970, pp. 112-13.
  21. Rokkan, Stein, "The Structuring of Mass Politics in the Smaller European Democracies. A Developmental Typology." Comparative Studies in Society and History 10 (1968): 173-210, p. 180.
  22. Rokkan, Stein, "The Structuring of Mass Politics in the Smaller European Democracies. A Developmental Typology." Comparative Studies in Society and History 10 (1968): 173-210, p. 180-81.
  23. Rokkan, Stein, "The Structuring of Mass Politics in the Smaller European Democracies. A Developmental Typology." Comparative Studies in Society and History 10 (1968): 173-210, p. 1881.
  24. Rokkan, Stein, "The Structuring of Mass Politics in the Smaller European Democracies. A Developmental Typology." Comparative Studies in Society and History 10 (1968): 173-210, p. 1881.
  25. Rokkan, Stein, "Cities, States, and Nations: A Dimensional Model for the Study of Contrasts in Development", pp. 73-97, in S.N. Eisenstadt and S. Rokkan (eds), Building States and Nations. Models and Data Resources Vol. 1 (London: Sage, 1973); Rokkan, Stein, "Entries, Voices, Exits: Towards a Possible Generalization of the Hirschman model". Social Science Information 13 (1)(1974): 39-53; Rokkan, Stein, "Dimensions of State Formation and Nation-Building: A Possible Paradigm for Research on Variation within Europe", pp. 562-600, in Charles Tilly (ed.), The Formation of National States in Western Europe (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975); Rokkan, Stein, "Territories, Nations, Parties: Toward a Geoeconomic-Geopolitical Model for the Explanation of Variation Within Europe", pp. 70-95, in Richard Merritt and Bruce Russett (eds.), From National Development to Global Community (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1981).
  26. Charles Tilly, Big Structures, Large Processes, Huge Comparisons. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1984, p. 140.
  27. Flora, Peter, "Introduction and Interpretation", pp. 1–91, in Peter Flora (ed.), State Formation, Nation-Building, and Mass Politics in Europe: The Theory of Stein Rokkan. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1999, p. vii.
  28. Berntzen, Einar, Marcus Buck and Leiv Marsteintredet, "Rokkan in the Andes. Cleavages, Party Systems and the Emergence of New Leftist Parties", in Benedicte Bull (ed.), Norwegian Social Thought on Latin America. Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires: CLACSO, 2016, p. 185.
  29. Allardt, Erik, "Stein Rokkan and the Twentieth Century Social Science", STEIN ROKKAN CENTRE FOR SOCIAL STUDIES, BERGEN UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION SEPTEMBER 2003, Working Paper 14 - 2003, p. 9.
  30. Web site: Stein Rokkan var en av verdens fremste valgforskere. Selv stemte han aldri. . Khrono . 18 July 2021.
  31. Lipset, Seymour M., and Stein Rokkan, "Cleavage Structures, Party Systems, and Voter Alignments: An Introduction", pp. 1–64, in Seymour M. Lipset and Stein Rokkan (eds.), Party Systems and Voter Alignments: Cross-National Perspectives. New York, NY: Free Press, 1967; Stein Rokkan, with Angus Campbell, Per Torsvik, and Henry Valen, Citizens, Elections, and Parties: Approaches to the Comparative Study of the Processes of Development. New York, NY: David McKay, 1970; Stein Rokkan, State Formation, Nation-Building, and Mass Politics in Europe. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
  32. Richard Bellamy. 2015. "Citizenship, Historical Development of". International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, Second Edition, Volume 3: 643–649, p. 647.
  33. Web site: Stein Rokkan Prize. ECPR Prizes and Awards. 2016-05-15.
  34. Web site: Stein Rokkan Centre For Social Studies. Uni Research. 2016-05-15.
  35. Web site: Stein Rokkans Hus. University of Bergen. 2016-05-15.
  36. Web site: Fire at Stein Rokkans hus. 2016-04-19. University of Bergen. 2016-05-15.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Stein Rokkan".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.