Slippery Paths of (Mis)Understanding? Historically Based Explanations in Social Science

In the past two decades path-dependency theories not only became a prominent mode of explanation in the social sciences, but also re-awakened the interest in historical-based theories in the study of social and organizational change and continuity. Nonetheless, because of their popularity and success the term path-dependency has been broadened to encompass many different explanations which embody significantly divergent ontologies. This chapter aims to take account of this situation, clarify it, and offer some partial solution by differentiating and defining these explanations. In order to illuminate how each explanation is rooted in a different ontology, for each of the defined explanatory concepts, the chapter elucidates the mechanisms of its operation, conditions for social change, view of social history