Moving beyond the limits of parochialism, this book develops a truly global perspective on social change. It brings together renowned scholars from across disciplines and provides a range of promising theoretical approaches, analytical takes and substantive research areas that offer new vistas for understanding change on a global scale.

Introduction: World Society and Its Histories: The Sociology and Global History of Global Social Change ~ Mathias Albert and Tobias Werron Every Epoch, Time Frame or Date that Is Solid Melts into Air. Does It? The Entanglements of Global History and World Society ~ Mathias Albert Periodization in Global History: The Productive Power of Comparing ~ Angelika Epple Communication, Diff erentiation and the Evolution of World Society ~ Boris Holzer Field Theory and Global Transformations in the Long Twentieth Century ~ Julian Go Organization(s) of the World ~ Martin Koch Particularly Universal Encounters: Ethnographic Explorations into a Laboratory of World Society ~ Teresa Koloma Beck From the First Sino-Roman War (That Never Happened) to Modern International-cum-Imperial Relations: Observing International Politics from an Evolution Theory Perspective ~ Stephan Stetter Nationalism as a Global Institution. A Historical-Sociological View ~ Tobias Werron States and Markets: A Global Historical Sociology of Capitalist Governance ~ George Lawson The Impact of Communications in Global History ~ Heidi Tworek The ‘Long Twentieth Century’ and the Making of World Trade Law ~ James Stafford Third-Party Actors, Transparency and Global Military Affairs ~ Thomas Müller Technical Internationalism and Global Social Change: A Critical Look at the Historiography of the United Nations ~ Daniel Speich Chassé