Hauke Brunkhorst is Professor of Sociology and Head of the Institute of Sociology at the University of Flensburg, Germany. Previously, he was the Theodor Heuss Professor at the New School for Social Research in New York, USA. A political sociologist, he has authored many books, including Adorno and Critical Theory (1999) and Solidarity: From Civic Friendship to a Global Legal Community (2005).

• General introduction 1 The evolutionary significance of revolution Introduction I The power of the negative: The take-off of social evolution II Normative constraints III Constitutions as evolutionary universals IV The evolution of modern society Conclusion 2 Class conflict and the co-evolution of cosmopolitan and national statehood Introduction I Cosmopolis as an evolutionary universal II Co-evolution of cosmopolitan and national statehood III Functional Differentiation and social conflict Conclusion 3 Legal revolutions IntroductionI Papal RevolutionII Protestant Revolution III Atlantic World RevolutionIV Egalitarian World Revolution Conclusion EpilogueIndex

This is an impressive book. It is only once or twice in every decade that a book appears which has the potential to fundamentally change our perspective on society: this book belongs to that category.