For many years now, Professor Aron's course of lectures at the Sorbonne on "Les Grandes doctrines de l'histoire sociologique" has been a mecca for students from the United States, Europe, and the rest of the world. These lectures now serve as the basis for this major work--to be completed in succeeding volumes--on the history of man's understanding of his social order"--Book jacket.

This is the second of Raymond Aron's classic two-volume survey of the sociological tradition – arguably the definitive work of its kind. Aron explores the work of three figures who profoundly shaped sociology as it entered the twentieth century: Émile Durkheim, who continued Auguste Comte's quest for a science of society and a scientific validation of morality; Vilfredo Pareto, the Italian "neo-Machiavellian" who emphasized the oligarchic or elitist character of all societies; and the German sociologist Max Weber, who reflected critically on the prospects for human freedom in an age marked by bureaucratization and rationalization. Aron presents rich portraits of these three thinkers, drawing out the enduring insights that remain in their work. At the same time he reflects critically on Durkheim's project for a science of society, Pareto's critique of humanitarianism, and Weber's tragic pessimism. Above all the book is remarkable for demonstrating Aron’s lifelong indebtedness to and divergence from the thought of Max Weber, the sociologist par excellence, in Aron's view. This Routledge Classics edition includes an introduction by Daniel J. Mahoney and Brian C. Anderson.

In this second volume of Main Currents of Sociological Thought, Raymond Aron continues the analysis, begun in the first volume, of the "great doctrines of historical sociol-ogy." Aron explores the work of three figures who profoundly shaped sociology as it entered the twentieth century: Emile Durkheim, the great French theorist of consensus, who continued Auguste Comte's quest for a science of society and a scientific validation of morality; Vilfredo Pareto, the Italian "neo-Machiavellian" who mocked traditional mo-rality and humanitarian pretensions and emphasized the oligarchic or elitist character of all societies; and the German sociologist Max Weber, who reflected continuously on the relationship between science and action, filled with deep foreboding about the pros-pects for human freedom in an age marked by bureaucratization and rationalization. Aron presents rich portraits of these three thinkers, drawing from them what remains of enduring worth, even as he distances himself from Durkheim's project for a science of society, Pareto's exaggerated critique of humanitarianism, and Weber's tragic pessimism. Aron's book is essential for clarifying his profound indebtedness to and crucial divergences from the thought of Max Weber, the sociologist par excellence, in Aron's view. Together with volume 1, which treats the work of Montesquieu, Comte, Marx, and Tocqueville, it forms the definitive survey of the great social thinkers to date. Yet, as Daniel J. Mahoney and Brian C. Anderson explain in their introduction, Main Currents is more than a survey; it is above all a challenge to contemporary social science to retain the ambition of an older, philosophically informed sociology to present an interpretation of modern society and to reflect on the meaning of universal history.

Topics covered include the roots of environmental philosophy; the development of ecophilosophy, deep ecology, and ecofeminism; how religion relates to environmental values; environmentalists' writings on science and epistemology; animal liberation; the role of place; the economic dimensions of environmental thought; environmental writing in various political traditions; and "green" writers' critiques of political movements. The work draws from the disciplines of philosophy, political science, psychology, sociology, and cultural studies.

This is the first of Raymond Aron's magisterial two-volume treatment of the sociological tradition—perhaps the definitive work of its kind. The second volume treating Durkheim, Pareto, and Weber is scheduled to appear in spring 1998. More than a work of reconstruction, Aron's study is, at its deepest level, an engagement with the question of modernity: What constitutes the essence of the new modern order that, having emerged in the eighteenth century, still forms the categories of our experience, sweeping us along toward an unknown destination? With his usual scrupulous fairness, Aron looks to the major social thinkers to discern how they answered this pressing question. Volume 1 explores three traditions: the French liberal school of political sociology, represented by Montesquieu and Tocqueville; the Comtean tradition, anticipating Durkheim in its deemphasis of the political and its elevation of social unity and consensus; and the Marxists, who posited the struggle between classes and placed their faith in historical necessity. A foreword by the eminent French philosopher Pierre Manent highlights Main Currents as a unique contribution to political philosophy as well as the history of sociological thought, while Daniel J. Mahoney and Brian C. Anderson provide an introduction situating Main Currents within the corpus of Aron's work as a whole. This work is essential reading for philosophers, historians, sociologists, and political scientists.

Currents of Thought in African Sociology and the Global Community focuses on research findings further enriched in the realm of the emergent, indigenous African sociology within a global context. An authentic guide, it has potential to expose readers to the intricacy of research in its various ramifications. Its uniqueness consists in casting, in an explanatory framework, what each of the subdisciplines of sociology is all about, while simultaneously discussing the theoretical and methodological orientations in which the accompanying research findings are situated. The transition of sociology in Africa, inextricably tied in with global dimension, is its major theme. And discussion questions/exercises and essays at the end of each chapter constitute a stimulating teaching tool. Its theoretical coverage straddles a wide variety of paradigms - from structural-functional theory and conflict theory to symbolic interactionism, ethnomethodology, dramaturgy, exchange theory, etc. The book will be of use in courses in sociology, anthropology, research methods, global human issues, African and African-American studies, Third World societies, and criminal justice. Besides, it constitutes an experiential celebration of deivory-towerism, emphasizing the involvement of the academic citadel with the community.

This is the first part of Raymond Aron's landmark two-volume study of the sociological tradition—arguably the definitive work of its kind. More than a work of reconstruction, Aron's study is, at its deepest level, an engagement with the very question of modernity: how did the intellectual currents which emerged in the eighteenth century shape the modern political and philosophical order? With scrupulous fairness, Aron examines the thoughts and arguments of the major social thinkers to discern how they answered this question. Volume One explores three traditions: the French liberal school of political sociology, represented by Montesquieu and Tocqueville; the Comtean tradition, anticipating Durkheim in its elevation of social unity and consensus; and the Marxists, who posited the struggle between classes and placed their faith in historical necessity. In his customary clear and penetrating prose, Aron argues that each of these schools offers its own theory of the diversity of societies and that "each is inspired both by moral convictions and by scientific hypotheses." This Routledge Classics edition includes an introduction by Daniel J. Mahoney and Brian C. Anderson.

Main Currents in Caribbean Thought probes deeply into the multicultural origins of Caribbean society, defining and tracing the evolution of the distinctive ideology that has arisen from the region’s unique historical mixture of peoples and beliefs. Among the topics that noted scholar Gordon K. Lewis covers are the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century beginnings of Caribbean thought, pro- and antislavery ideologies, the growth of Antillean nationalist and anticolonialist thought during the nineteenth century, and the development of the region’s characteristic secret religious cults from imported religions and European thought. Since its original publication in 1983, Main Currents in Caribbean Thought has remained one of the most ambitious works to date by a leader in modern Caribbean scholarship. By looking into the “Caribbean mind,” Lewis shows how European, African, and Asian ideas became creolized and Americanized, creating an entirely new ideology that continues to shape Caribbean thought and society today.

A consistent best-seller, the wide-ranging and authoritative Dictionary of Sociology was first published in 1994 and contains more than 2,500 entries on the terminology, methods, concepts, and thinkers in the field, as well as from the related fields of psychology, economics, anthropology, philosophy, and political science. For this fourth edition, Professor John Scott has conducted a thorough review of all entries to ensure that they are concise, focused, and up to date. Revisions reflect current intellectual debates and social conditions, particularly in relation to global and multi-cultural issues. New entries cover relevant contemporary concepts, such as climate change, social media, terrorism, and intersectionality, as well as key living sociologists. This Dictionary is both an invaluable introduction to sociology for beginners, and an essential source of reference for more advanced students and teachers.

Sociology and social theory has always been a major source of new perspectives for organization studies. Access to a series of authoritative accounts of theorists and research themes in sociology and social theory which have influenced developments in organization studies is essential for those wishing to deepen and extend their knowledge of the intersection of sociology and organization studies. This goal is achieved by drawing on a group of internationally renowned scholars committed in their own work to strengthening these links and asking them to provide critical accounts of particular theorists and research themes which have straddled this divide. This volume aims to strengthen ties between organization studies and contemporary sociological work at a time when there are increasing institutional barriers to such cooperation, potentially generating a myopia that constricts new developments. Used in conjunction with its companion volume, The Oxford Handbook of Sociology and Organization Studies: Classical Foundations, the reader is provided with a comprehensive account of the productive and critical interaction between sociology and organization studies over many decades. Highly international in scope, theorists and themes are drawn from both the USA and Europe in equal measure. Similarly the authors of the chapters are drawn from both sides of the Atlantic. The result is a series of chapters on individuals and key research themes and debates which will provide faculty and post graduate researchers with appreciative, authoritative and critical accounts that can be drawn on to design courses or provided guided reading to the field.