The Discovery of Society

Randall Collins, Michael Makowsky0070118418, 9780070118416

This classic paperback text explores the lives and ideas of the theorists who have shaped and continue to forge traditions in sociology. It focuses on the great names of the filed, ranging from the “Prophets of Paris” (Saint-Simon and Comte) to those of the late twentieth century. Significant biographical detail provides a unique context–historical, societal, political, and economic–for understanding their ideas. Complex theories are presented with engaging clarity, in a style that is fluid rather than highly structured. While the main thrust of the revision continues to be the development of the great classical tradition, the authors do an excellent job in their discussion of contemporary developments and their ties to classical concerns. The major changes in the fifth edition are: 1. A new chapter on the women

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Table of contents :
Contents……Page 5
Preface……Page 7
Introduction: Society and Illusion……Page 11
Part One: The Vicissitudes of Nineteenth-Century Rationalism……Page 27
1. The Prophets of Paris: Saint-Simon and Comte……Page 29
2. Sociology in the Underground: Karl Marx……Page 40
3. The Last Gentleman: Alexis de Tocqueville……Page 63
4. Nietzsche’s Madness……Page 76
5. Do-Gooders, Evolutionists, and Racists……Page 91
Part Two: The Great Breakthrough……Page 109
6. Dreyfus’ Empire: Emile Durkheim and Georges Sorel……Page 111
7. Max Weber: The Disenchantment of the World……Page 127
8. Sigmund Freud: Conquistador of the Irrational……Page 150
9. The Discovery of the Invisible World: Simmel, Cooley, and Mead……Page 176
Part Three: The Vicissitudes of Twentieth-Century Sophistication……Page 195
10. The Discovery of the Ordinary World: Thomas, Park, and the Chicago School; W.E.B. Du Bois and African-American Sociology……Page 197
11. The Construction of the Social System: Pareto and Parsons……Page 215
12. Hitler’s Shadow: Michels, Mannheim, and Mills……Page 230
13. Erving Goffman and the Theater of Social Encounters……Page 247
14. Contemporary Sociological Theory in France, Germany, and the United States……Page 261
15. The Impact of Women in Sociology of the Late Twentieth Century……Page 295
Bibliographical Suggestions……Page 316
Index……Page 331