Negotiating Power in Early Modern Society: Order, Hierarchy and Subordination in Britain and Ireland

by Michael J. Braddick (Editor), John Walter (Editor)

Addressing the dynamics of power in early modern societies, this book challenges the existing tendency to see past societies in terms of binary oppositions--such as male/female, rich/poor, rulers/ruled. Drawing on recent social theory, the essays offer a series of micro-sociologies of power in early modern society, ranging from the politics of age, gender and class to the politics of state-building in the post-Reformation confessional state. Its findings also have relevance for thinking about inequality in present-day societies.

Genres: History

328 pages, Hardcover

First published August 20, 2001

About the author

A specialist in early modern British history, Michael Jonathan Braddick, FBA, FRHistS is Senior Research Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. Educated at the University of Cambridge (BA, PhD) he was Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Head of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities from 2009 to 2013 and Professor of History at the University of Sheffield from 2013 until 2024.

Reviews

[Michael Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary collection of essays regarding the potential of negotiation open to all elements of early modern society despite the enormous disparities in wealth and power. Hugely inspiring.