The course will introduce historical approaches to sociology around a single problem area: the formation of the modern state. We will consider the concept of the state as well as some of the main approaches dealing with its origins. While the first part of the course will deal with the development of European states, and the corresponding state system, as well as alternative polity formations in early modernity, the second half will focus on the different paths of state formation under collapsing empires, and post colonial settings. Time permitting we will have a topic on the European federation, as an alternative to the nation state.