Structures of Power and Constraint: Papers in Honor of Peter M. Blau. by Craig Calhoun;Marshall W. Meyer; W. Richard ScottReview by: Kazimierz M. Slomczyński and Omar A. BarriganSocial Forces, Vol. 71, No. 2 (Dec., 1992), pp. 524-526Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2580029 .

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524 / Social Forces 71:2, December 1992

most creative areas within all of sociology. Those who have done successful work in [this area] have ... often made dramatic contributions to the discipline." What?

This book, however, aspires to be more than an explication of "metatheorizing in sociology." Six chapters trace a history of sociological theory since the 1950s; one chapter discusses a concept Ritzer calls "hyperrationality" (I must report Ritzer's stooping to jingoism in this chapter: "Japan," he tells us, "has produced unparalleled growth, [but] it has done so by enslaving people in a system that can be seen as unprecedented in its ability to exploit workers"); one chapter applies "metatheoriz- ing" to the sociology of work and socioeconomics; one chapter examines the contributions that intellectual history and the sociologies of science, knowledge, and the professions can make to "metatheorizing"; and a final chapter pleads for "greater understanding of, and sympathy for, [metatheorizing] in the larger community of sociologists."

What are the chances that this book will contribute to such understanding and sympathy? In my judgment they are not high. However, the book does make two points that all but a very few sociologists would heartily endorse: "It would be dangerous [I would say "fatal"] for sociological theory to develop total, or near-total dependency on metatheorizing"; and "it is one of the responsibilities of meta- theorists to keep nudging empirically and theoretically inclined sociologists toward one another."

As noted above, Ritzer focuses mainly on goals and minimizes the importance of procedures in "metatheorizing." But agreed-upon procedures - for making observations, generalizations, inferences, deductions, comparisons, etc. - are of the absolute essence in any academic discipline. Therefore, almost unavoidably, Ritzer does discuss procedures ("tools") of metatheorizing. While their treatment leaves much to be desired in clarity, systematicity, and detail it is to Ritzer's credit that he at least proposes a list of them: "architectonic, philosophical anthropology, paradigm, levels of social analysis, integrated sociological paradigm, image of the subject matter, exemplar, micro-macro, and theoretical syntheses." One hopes Ritzer's next effort will spell out these procedures in such a way that they can be reliably followed, and their benefits demonstrated, by any sociologist wishing to do so. This, more than anything else I can think of, would "make the case for meta- theorizing" in sociology.

Structures of Power and Constraint. Papers in Honor of Peter M. Blau. Edited by Craig Calhoun, Marshall W. Meyer, and W. Richard Scott. Cambridge University Press, 1990. 496 pp. $69.95.

Reviewers: KMERZ M SLOMCZYMia and OMAR A. BARRIGAN, The Ohio State University

The preface to this edited volume opens with "Peter Blau is not only one of today's most influential sociologists, he is one of sociology's finest people." What follows is a collection of essays designed to support that statement. The book begins with an introduction to Blau's sociological structuralism by Craig Calhoun and W. Richard Scott and a personal essay by Robert K. Merton on Blau's early career. These two essays provide an intellectual biography of Peter Blau that reveals him to be one of the major figures of modem sociology. While the introduction does an admirable job of detailing Blau's contributions, it is Merton's piece that really stands out. Using his memory and files as sources, Merton draws a vivid picture of Blau as a human

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Book Reviews / 525

being and student, facets often overlooked in volumes honoring the greats. To complete the picture of an exceptional career, the editors include in an appendix an exhaustive bibliography of Blau's works, some of which have achieved the status of "citation classic" and some that have been translated into many languages.

How, then, has this world-renowned giant of sociology been honored by his students and colleagues who contributed to the main body of this volume? The book is divided into three parts, each including a concise and competent introduction by one of the editors. Part 1, "Exchange, Power, and Inequality," contains five essays (by George C. Homans, James S. Coleman, Karen Cook, Tom R. Burns, and Otis Dudley Duncan) exploring the connection between individual actors and social structures. This section deals almost exclusively with the use of rational choice theory as the bridge between macro- and microphenomena. Of the five essays, four are conceptual and theoretical pieces, and the fifth, by Duncan, is a report from empirical research with a strong methodological emphasis. Part 2, "Formal Organization," comprises mostly empirical studies on the nature of bureaucratic structures by Marshall W. Meyer, Stanley H. Udy, Jr., Richard Schoenherr and Lawrence A. Young, Wolf Heydebrand, and Terry C. Blum. The organizations examined range from business establishments to academic institutions and from modem industry to the Roman Catholic church. The approach taken is strictly structural, deeply rooted in the Weberian bureaucratic tradition. Part 3, "Inequality and Heterogeneity," includes empirical papers by Joseph E. Schwartz, John Skvoretz, Peter V. Marsden, Ronald S. Burt, and Ronald L. Breiger on the effects of networks on structural differentiation.

Each of these essays is a valuable contribution to its respective area. However, it is not our task to consider their merits as if they were unrelated pieces of work. Our review of this collection, as a whole, is guided by two objectives. The first is to examine the link between the 15 essays and the contributions that the honoree has made to the discipline. Since Blau advanced specific hypotheses in various fields of sociology, we ask whether his contributions have been adequately recognized and incorporated. The second objective is to assess these essays within the context of the discipline as it stands today. Specifically, we ask what issues in current sociological research on power, organizations, and inequality have been omitted from this collection.

In terms of Blau's work, the topics of the three substantive parts of the book point out a major flaw. With the exception of Duncan's piece on educational attainment, Blau's contribution to modern scholarship on status attainment is neglected. While the editors are quick to point out that their original intent was to include such a section (but factors beyond their control forced them to eliminate it), the fact remains that a volume in honor of Blau is incomplete without it. For the topics that are addressed, the relevance of Blau's work to current scholarship is unevenly demonstrated. The first part of the book reads more like a series of reviews of rational choice theory than an attempt to extend Blau's structuralism to the individual level. While the value of rational choice theory in bridging the micro/macro gap is not in question, its primary connection to Blau's work seems to be that he was also interested in that gap, sometimes from quite a different perspective. The papers on formal organizations suffer from a similar problem. Though interesting, the hypotheses suggested and tested in them are often not directly linked to Blau's earlier work. Beyond the obligatory citation of Blau's relevant pieces, the focus of these essays is on topics in organizational research, with minimal emphasis on Blau's specific contributions to our understanding of the

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526 / Social Forces 71:2, December 1992

dynamics of bureaucracies. The papers on inequality and heterogeneity are different in this respect. There is no question of where these authors are drawing their theoretical and empirical inspiration. It is in this section that Blau's theoretical contributions are most clearly linked to current research on friendship, marital choice, and networks.

In terms of fitting these essays within the context of current research, this collection leaves many issues untouched. In the section on rational choice, the social (collective) actor is never fully addressed. While some of the authors do imply that an actor can range from an individual to an institution, all of the discussions proceed on the assumption that the unit of analysis is the single individual. In a section entitled "Exchange, Power, and Inequality," it is difficult to overlook the absence of a careful treatment of institutional actors such as the state and its agencies - a theme of some importance in current research.

The focus of the section on formal organizations is also narrow in terms of current work. Although much of this research is premised on Blau's structuralism, the absence of any considerations of process is clear. The authors of these essays do not treat bureaucracies as dynamic social constructions but as constant structures. Even the essay that examines changes in a bureaucracy begins its analysis with an established bureaucracy and does not address the issue of its formation. In this context it is very difficult to evaluate the relative importance of structuralist versus culturalist approaches to organizations.

Lastly, the section on inequality and heterogeneity ignores the role of social class in structural differentiation. It is interesting to note that in a book dealing with topics such as power and inequality, the words class and Marx do not appear in the index. Even if one argued that class was not an important concept in Blau's original formulations, the fact remains that most American sociology in the 1990s does indeed recognize the importance of class as a determining variable in studies of social inequality and interpersonal networks.

While the essays in this book are all important for what they do say, what they do not say is also important. The editors of this volume should be commended for the task they have undertaken, to honor a man who has had an enormous impact on present-day sociology. However, the omission of certain topics detracts from a clear understanding of just how influential he has been. Peter Blau's role in the discipline is even greater than that implied in this volume produced in his honor.

The Social Process Revisited: Achieving Human Iterests through Alliance and Opposition. By Harold Fallding. Peter Lang, 1990. 336 pp. $59.95.

Reviewer: KErm Douer, Northeast Missouri State University

Harold Fallding's book carefully addresses the following set of related questions: To what degree can social order be understood as a collective commitment to goodwill? Is goodwill the determining motivation behind the common interest in order? Does the concept of goodwill provide a viable explanation for "the fountainhead for all social norms and normative order"? When the sociological explanation of "the phenomenon of order-seeking processes" is strictly Hobbesian, can sociologists adequately account for governmental change, national progress, and community development? What inspires cooperation? What nurtures trust? What are the higher

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