International Library of Essays in Classical Sociology – serie

Max Weber is a magisterial figure in the social sciences. His fundamental contributions to the methodological and conceptual apparatus of sociology remain of continuing relevance to contemporary debates. His astonishing range and quality of work on topics ranging from the comparative sociology of religion to political sociology, and the sociology of law to the sociology of music, have established Weber as a permanent point of reference for modern scholarship. Scholarly debates on the nature, significance and purpose of Weber's work demonstrate a significance for sociology's self-image that extends beyond their immediate interpretive importance. This volume, edited by one of the world's leading Weber scholars, offers an unparalleled selection of key Weber scholarship organized thematically and spanning the range of his sociological influence.

A new appreciation of Durkheim, now into its fourth decade, has extended our grasp of his intellectual ambitions beyond standard academic boundaries. Contributions to this revival of interest in Durkheim, many secreted away in obscure periodicals, are well worth being recognized for their unqualified excellence in helping us to uncover the original Durkheimian intellectual project in all its interdisciplinary complexity. Besides classic Durkheimian subjects such as religion, social solidarity and suicide, these studies bring to light Durkheim's intellectual inquiry into political theory, comparative ethnology, social reconstruction, questions of civil society, and his articulation of an updated individualism in conversation with Marx, Hegel, Spencer and others. Authors who have helped us attain this more rounded conception of the Durkheimian project include such well-known figures as Robert N. Bellah, Robert Alun Jones, Anthony Giddens, W. S. F. Pickering and Edward Tiryakian. More than matching these contributions are the surprising writings by authors from across the disciplines, including such contemporaries of Durkheim as historian Henri Berr and theologian Alfred Loisy, as well as modern-day writers who deserve to be much better known, such as philosopher, John Brooks III or historian John Bossy. Although this collection is overwhelmingly drawn from sources in English, two classic critical pieces by French contemporaries of Durkheim enhance the value of this anthology.

Marx's approach to analyzing society and especially his critique of capitalist society, continues to influence the work of a large number of scholars world-wide. Unfortunately, there are relatively few clear accounts of what this approach is and how to put it to use. And, despite the many attempts to use Marx's method to study a variety of subjects, there are relatively few that can serve as useful models. In the present volume, the internationally renowned Marxist scholar, Bertell Ollman, and the social theorist Kevin B. Anderson, have brought together a sampling of the best writings of the past hundred years that illustrate and critique Marx's method as well as explain what it is and how to put it to work. Anyone wishing to understand better Marx's dialectical method (along, of course, with the theories created with its help), or to revise this method or to criticize it, or to use it in their own work will find this collection invaluable.

Housed in one handy volume for the first time are several of the seminal essays on W.E.B. Du Bois's contributions to sociology and critical social theory: from Du Bois as inventor of sociology of race, to Du Bois as the first sociologist of American religion; from Du Bois as a pioneer of urban and rural sociology, to Du Bois as innovator of sociology of gender and culture; and, finally, from Du Bois as groundbreaking sociologist of education and critical criminologist, to Du Bois as dialectical critic of the disciplinary decadence of sociology and the American academy. What this volume offers that is wholly innovative and distinctive is that it brings together the watershed work of classical and contemporary, male and female, black and white, national and international sociologists and social theorists with the express intent of creating critical inventories and thoroughly interrogating what has been included, and what has been excluded, when we come to W.E.B. Du Bois's contributions to the discipline of sociology. Unlike any other anthologies on Du Bois, this volume offers an excellent overview of the critical commentary on arguably one of the most imaginative and innovative, perceptive and prolific founders of the discipline of sociology. It will therefore be of interest to scholars and students not just in sociology, but also Africana studies, American studies, cultural studies, ethnic studies, gender studies and postcolonial studies, as well as "traditional" disciplines, such as, history, philosophy, political science, economics, education, and religion.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) is one of the most important women contributors to classical sociology, primarily because of the originality and significance of her theoretical work. Although well known to her contemporaries in both the United States and Europe, Gilman’s legacy was not fully acknowledged by sociologists until her work was recently rediscovered under the impetus of second wave feminist scholarship. Gilman's overarching accomplishment as a sociologist was to formulate a still unparalleled conception of gender. She was both the first theorist to separate gender, as socially constructed behavior, from biological sex and to treat it as a significant variable in social analysis, and the first to create a general theory of society in which gender stratification serves as the foundational principle. She also offered important ideas for the sociological subfields of economy, work, culture and family, presenting her arguments in a variety of forms: formal theory, verse, essays, public lectures, novels and short stories. The essays selected for this volume feature essays of interest to sociologists from across a spectrum of disciplines: economics, literature, women's studies, philosophy and history as well as sociology. The essays are arranged thematically with sections on: gender and society; economy and society; methodology; the public role of the sociologist; towards a sociology of women; and race, class and gender.