Social Thinkers Series – serie

An accessible introduction to the social and political thought of one of the leading critics of mid-twentieth century American society

This inaugural volume of the Pine Forge Press Social Thinkers series provides a concise introduction to the work, life, and influences of C. Wright Mills. Accessible and provocative, this book closely examines the writings and ideas of C. Wright Mills that now, over half a century later, remain crucial in better understanding today's world. The book's primary focus is on two of his lifelong intellectual concerns: the interrelationship between social structure and personality and the bureaucratization of modern society and the power relations it produces. The book is ideal for use as a self-contained volume or in conjunction with sociological theory textbooks.

An accessible introduction to ideas and concerns of one of sociology’s early founders.

This new volume of the SAGE Social Thinkers series provides a concise introduction to the work, life, and influences of Georg Simmel. It closely examines the writings and ideas of Simmel that introduced a new way of looking at culture and society and helped establish sociology’s place among the academic fields. The book focuses on the key intellectual concerns of Simmel, including the process of individualization, religion, private and family life, cities, and modernization. It is ideal for use as a self-contained volume or in conjunction with other sociological theory textbooks.

Part of the SAGE Social Thinkers series, this brief and clearly-written book provides a concise introduction to the work, life, and influences of Karl Marx, one of the most revered, reviled, and misunderstood figures in modern history. The book serves as an excellent introduction to the full range of Marx’s major themes—alienation, economics, social class, capitalism, communism, materialism, environmental sustainability—and considers the extent to which they are relevant today. It is ideal for use as a self-contained volume or in conjunction with other sociological theory textbooks.

Part of the SAGE Social Thinker series, this book serves as a concise and inviting introduction to the life and works of Erving Goffman, one of the most prominent social theorists in postwar sociology. Goffman’s ideas continue to influence scholars in various fields and have also attracted many readers outside conventional academia. Goffman’s overall research agenda was the exploration of what he termed the interaction order—that is, the micro social order that regulates the co-mingling of people in each other’s immediate presence. He coined several new concepts (face-work, impression management, role distance, civil inattention, etc.) with which to grasp and understand the complexities and basic social restructuring of everyday life, many of which are now part of sociology’s standard vocabulary.

This new volume of the SAGE Social Thinkers series provides a concise introduction to the work, life, and influences of Émile Durkheim, one of the informal “holy trinity” of sociology’s founding thinkers, along with Weber and Marx. The author shows that Durkheim’s perspective is arguably the most properly sociological of the three. He thought through the nature of society, culture, and the complex relationship of the individual to the collective in a manner more concentrated and thorough than any of his contemporaries during the period when sociology was emerging as a discipline.