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Keywords

intellectual unconventionality, nationalism and modernity, counterintuitive social theory, cross-civilizational analysis

Abstract

As certainly all of her readers recognize and many of the contributions to this special issue will point out, Liah Greenfeld’s writings covered an almost unparalleled breadth of themes and empirical levels ⎯ from the very macro to the very micro. Hence, she produced seminal contributions to the study of empires, globalization, states in history, nationalism, economic systems, the arts, religions, groups and organizations, terrorism, animals and humans, the social sciences, science in general, mental illnesses, and the mind. Most recently, she had turned her attention to civilizations (Greenfeld, 2016, 2025). The rigor of her writing was equally impressive: it was clear, well-structured, and forceful. It was also audacious ⎯ because, as I will explain below, it was very often counterintuitive and made grand claims about the world. Greenfeld was not a small thinker, in other words: she was a big, courageous old-school intellectual.

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