In this sociology textbook/mystery novel, students can join Sherlock Holmes and Watson as they discover a new area ripe for acrimony and intrigue: social theory. In 1910, the most prominent social theorists in the world gather in London for a conference on the new science of sociology. Things rapidly fall apart, though, as a fight breaks out, a jewel is stolen, and famous sociologist Emile Durkheim disappears. As Sherlock Holmes and Watson investigate, it appears that social theory may not only explain actions—in this case, it may be the cause of them. So Holmes and Watson investigate social theory itself, learning directly from those creating it: W.E.B. Du Bois, Sigmund Freud, Vladimir Lenin, Beatrice Webb, Georg Simmel, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber. The theories, lives, and passions of each sociologist are revealed as Holmes and Watson learn first-hand just how influential social theory can be.

In this sociology textbook/mystery novel, students can join Sherlock Holmes and Watson as they discover a new area ripe for acrimony and intrigue: social theory. In 1910, the most prominent social theorists in the world gather in London for a conference on the new science of sociology. Things rapidly fall apart, though, as a fight breaks out, a jewel is stolen, and famous sociologist Emile Durkheim disappears. As Sherlock Holmes and Watson investigate, it appears that social theory may not only explain actions--in this case, it may be the cause of them. So Holmes and Watson investigate social theory itself, learning directly from those creating it: W.E.B. Du Bois, Sigmund Freud, Vladimir Lenin, Beatrice Webb, Georg Simmel, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber. The theories, lives, and passions of each sociologist are revealed as Holmes and Watson learn first-hand just how influential social theory can be.

In The Dead Sociologists Society, Mark Stobbe manages to attend a meeting of the Dead Sociologists Society where he learns that the magical struggle between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort really happened. The Harry Potter series was implanted in the mind of J.K. Rowling in order to disguise the turbulent events as fiction. What follows is a brilliant imagining of what the ghosts of famous dead sociologists would make of the elaborate magical world. From the perspective of thinkers, such as Max Weber, Karl Marx, Georg Simmel, Pitirim Sorokin, W.E.B. DuBois, and Emile Durkheim, Stobbe examines questions such as: • Were the secret societies of the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters really that different? • Why was Hermione Granger's attempt to free house-elves from slavery so unsuccessful? • How was stigma handled in the magical world? In addition to chapters written from the perspective of one sociologist, the book contains two panel discussions. In the first, Karl Marx and Max Weber debate the reasons for the technological backwardness of the magical world. In the second, six famous dead criminologists give different explanations for why Tom Riddle became the notorious Lord Voldemort. The Dead Sociologists Society is an entertaining compendium of sociological analyses of the Harry Potter series. Perhaps more importantly, this book offers a serious and insightful journey through classical sociological thought. It is an ideal text for high school and university sociology students.

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mile Durkheim is often referred to as the father of sociology. Along with Karl Marx and Max Weber he was a principal architect of modern social science and whose contribution helped established it as an academic discipline. "The Division of Labor in Society," published in 1893, was his first major contribution to the field and arguably one his most important. In this work Durkheim discusses the construction of social order in modern societies, which he argues arises out of two essential forms of solidarity, mechanical and organic. Durkheim further examines how this social order has changed over time from more primitive societies to advanced industrial ones. Unlike Marx, Durkheim does not argue that class conflict is inherent to the modern Capitalistic society. The division of labor is an essential component to the practice of the modern capitalistic system due to the increased economic efficiency that can arise out of specialization; however Durkheim acknowledges that increased specialization does not serve all interests equally well. This important and foundational work is a must read for all students of sociology and economic philosophy.

Periods of transition are often symbolically associated with death, making the latter the paradigm of liminality. Yet, many volumes on death in the social sciences and humanities do not specifically address liminality. This book investigates these “ultimate ambiguities,” assuming they can pose a threat to social relationships because of the disintegrating forces of death, but they are also crucial periods of creativity, change, and emergent aspects of social and religious life. Contributors explore death and liminality from an interdisciplinary perspective and present a global range of historical and contemporary case studies outlining emotional, cognitive, artistic, social, and political implications.

Durkheim's Ghosts is a fascinating presentation of the tradition of social theory influenced by Emile Durkheim's thinking on the social foundations of knowledge. From Saussure and Levi-Strauss to Foucault, Bourdieu and Derrida, today's criticisms of modern politics and culture owe an important, if unacknowledged, debt to Durkheim. These engaging and innovative essays by leading sociologist Charles Lemert bring together his writings on the contributions of French social theory past and present. Rather than merely interpret the theories, Lemert uses them to explore the futures of sociology, social theory, and culture studies. Durkheim's Ghosts offers the reader original insights into Durkheim's legacy and the wider French traditions for the cultural and social sciences. Of special note is the book's new and exciting theory of culture and semiotics. Provocative, scholarly, imaginative and ambitious this book will be invaluable to anyone interested in social theory, culture, and intellectual history of modern times.

An authoritative and comprehensive collection of essays redefining the relevance of Durkheim to the human sciences in the twenty-first century.

Durkeim's book on suicide, first published in 1897, is widely regarded as a classic text, and is essential reading for any student of Durkheim's thought and sociological method. This book examines the continuing importance of Durkheim's methodology. The wide-ranging chapters cover such issues as the use of statistics, explanation of suicide, anomie and religion and the morality of suicide. It will be of vital interest to any serious scholar of Durkheim's thought and to the sociologist looking for a fresh methodological perspective.

Reappraising Durkheim for the Study and Teaching of Religion Today is an occasion to critically analyze and reassess the work of this intellectual pioneer. It is also an effort to signal the continuing importance of Durkheim for today’s graduate and advanced undergraduate classrooms. Reappraising Durkheim brings together ten new critical essays in which noted sociologists, psychologists, phenomenologists, philosophers, and historians of religion grapple with the questions Durkheim raised and the solutions he proposed. Taken together, the volume is a careful historical and multi-disciplinary study of Durkheim that will lead students to a better understanding of how to study religion. Reappraising Durkheim will be an excellent text for courses focusing on theory and method in the academic study of religion at both the graduate and advanced undergraduate level. It would therefore be appropriate for use in departments of religious studies, philosophy, sociology, and anthropology.