Founding Sociology? Talcott Parsons and the Idea of General Theory.


Book Description

The theories of Talcott Parsons' are enjoying a revival in the world of sociology. Rather than following closely the complex original prose in an effort to explain the theory in its minutiae, Holmwood presents a highly readable non-technical critique of several of the strongest underlying sociological themes and shows how, although flawed in many respects, these themes have been recurring, in different forms, in the theories of those critical of his work.




The Scholar Denied


Book Description

In this groundbreaking book, Aldon D. Morris’s ambition is truly monumental: to help rewrite the history of sociology and to acknowledge the primacy of W. E. B. Du Bois’s work in the founding of the discipline. Calling into question the prevailing narrative of how sociology developed, Morris, a major scholar of social movements, probes the way in which the history of the discipline has traditionally given credit to Robert E. Park at the University of Chicago, who worked with the conservative black leader Booker T. Washington to render Du Bois invisible. Morris uncovers the seminal theoretical work of Du Bois in developing a “scientific” sociology through a variety of methodologies and examines how the leading scholars of the day disparaged and ignored Du Bois’s work. The Scholar Denied is based on extensive, rigorous primary source research; the book is the result of a decade of research, writing, and revision. In exposing the economic and political factors that marginalized the contributions of Du Bois and enabled Park and his colleagues to be recognized as the “fathers” of the discipline, Morris delivers a wholly new narrative of American intellectual and social history that places one of America’s key intellectuals, W. E. B. Du Bois, at its center. The Scholar Denied is a must-read for anyone interested in American history, racial inequality, and the academy. In challenging our understanding of the past, the book promises to engender debate and discussion.




Founding Theory of American Sociology, 1881-1915 (RLE Social Theory)


Book Description

Based on a comparative study of the theories of such sociologists as Ward, Sumner, Keller, Giddings, Ross, Small and Cooley, this is a systematic and rigorous analysis of the main features of earlier sociological theory in the USA. The author identifies and characterizes the basic assumptions of early American sociological thought in terms of an abstract analytical scheme. He shows that early theory focused on social ontological interests, the pervasive ontological stance being evolutionary naturalism, within which the problems of social origins and social change tended to be paramount. He also points out that some sociologists preferred a social process theory. In his final chapter the author suggests the degree of similarity and dissimilarity, of continuity and discontinuity, between earlier and later theory in American sociology, and provides a basis for explaining and interpreting the character of the prevalent assumptions of one period in American theory in relation to other periods.




The First American School of Sociology


Book Description

This book offers an original and rounded examination of the origin and sociological contributions of one of the most significant, yet continuously ignored, programs of social science research ever established in the United States: the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory. Under the leadership of W.E.B. Du Bois, this unit at Atlanta University made extensive contributions to the discipline which, as the author demonstrates, extend beyond 'race studies' to include founding the first American school of sociology, establishing the first program of urban sociological research, conducting the first sociological study on religion in the United States, and developing methodological advances that remain in use today. However, all of these accomplishments have subsequently been attributed, erroneously, to White sociologists at predominately White institutions, while the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory remains sociologically ignored and marginalized. Placing the achievements of the Du Bois led Atlanta Sociological Laboratory in context, the author contends that American Jim Crow racism and segregation caused the school to become marginalized and ignored instead of becoming recognized as one the most significant early departments of sociology in the United States. Illuminating the sociological activities - and marginalization - of a group of African American scholars from a small African American institution of higher learning in the Deep South - whose works deserve to be canonized alongside those of their late nineteenth and early twentieth century peers - this book will appeal to all scholars with interests in the history of sociology and its development as a discipline, race and ethnicity, research methodology, the sociology of the south, and urban sociology.




Introduction to Sociology 2e


Book Description

"This text is intended for a one-semester introductory course."--Page 1.




Founders, Classics, Canons


Book Description

Founders, classics, and canons have been vitally important in helping to frame sociology's identity. Within the academy today, a number of positionsfeminist, postmodernist, postcolonialquestion the status of "tradition."In Founders, Classics, Canons, Peter Baehr defends the continuing importance of sociology's classics and traditions in a university education. Baehr offers arguments against interpreting, defending, and attacking sociology's great texts and authors in terms of founders and canons. He demonstrates why, in logical and historical terms, discourses and traditions cannot actually be "founded" and why the term "founder" has little explanatory content. Equally, he takes issue with the notion of "canon" and argues that the analogy between the theological canon and sociological classic texts, though seductive, is mistaken.Although he questions the uses to which the concepts of founder, classic, and canon have been put, Baehr is not dismissive. On the contrary, he seeks to understand the value and meaning these concepts have for the people who employ them in the cultural battle to affirm or attack the liberal university tradition.




An Introduction to Sociology


Book Description




The Women Founders


Book Description

An essential volume for anyone interested in the history of sociology, the development of sociological theory, or the history of women in the profession, this well-researched, compellingly argued book makes the case for the active and significant presence of women in the creation of sociology and social theory in its founding and classic periods. Further, Lengermann and Niebrugge explain how the women came to be erased from the history of sociology and identify the political and intellectual currents that now make their recovery both possible and important. The volume focuses on 15 women in eight chapters. Each chapter begins with a biographical sketch situating each thinkers ideas in a historical, social, and cultural context. Next, the authors analyze the womans theory, summarizing its underlying assumptions, explicating its major themes, and introducing key vocabulary. The chapter concludes with excerpts from the original texts of the women founders. All the theories discussed in this text share a moral commitment to the idea that sociology should and could work for the alleviation of socially produced human pain. The ethical duty of the sociologist is to seek sound scientific knowledge, to refuse to make the knowledge an end in itself, to speak for the disempowered, to advocate social reform, and to never forget that the appropriate relationship between researcher and subject is one of mutuality.




Sociology in America


Book Description

Though the word “sociology” was coined in Europe, the field of sociology grew most dramatically in America. Despite that disproportionate influence, American sociology has never been the subject of an extended historical examination. To remedy that situation—and to celebrate the centennial of the American Sociological Association—Craig Calhoun assembled a team of leading sociologists to produce Sociology in America. Rather than a story of great sociologists or departments, Sociology in America is a true history of an often disparate field—and a deeply considered look at the ways sociology developed intellectually and institutionally. It explores the growth of American sociology as it addressed changes and challenges throughout the twentieth century, covering topics ranging from the discipline’s intellectual roots to understandings (and misunderstandings) of race and gender to the impact of the Depression and the 1960s. Sociology in America will stand as the definitive treatment of the contribution of twentieth-century American sociology and will be required reading for all sociologists. Contributors: Andrew Abbott, Daniel Breslau, Craig Calhoun, Charles Camic, Miguel A. Centeno, Patricia Hill Collins, Marjorie L. DeVault, Myra Marx Ferree, Neil Gross, Lorine A. Hughes, Michael D. Kennedy, Shamus Khan, Barbara Laslett, Patricia Lengermann, Doug McAdam, Shauna A. Morimoto, Aldon Morris, Gillian Niebrugge, Alton Phillips, James F. Short Jr., Alan Sica, James T. Sparrow, George Steinmetz, Stephen Turner, Jonathan VanAntwerpen, Immanuel Wallerstein, Pamela Barnhouse Walters, Howard Winant




The Sociology of W. E. B. Du Bois


Book Description

The first comprehensive understanding of Du Bois for social scientists The Sociology of W. E. B. Du Bois provides a comprehensive introduction to the founding father of American sociological thought. Du Bois is now recognized as a pioneer of American scientific sociology and as someone who made foundational contributions to the sociology of race and to urban and community sociology. However, in this authoritative volume, noted scholars José Itzigsohn and Karida L. Brown provide a groundbreaking account of Du Bois’s theoretical contribution to sociology, or what they call the analysis of “racialized modernity.” Further, they examine the implications of developing a Du Boisian sociology for the practice of the discipline today. The full canon of Du Bois’s sociological works spans a lifetime of over ninety years in which his ideas evolved over much of the twentieth century. This broader and more systematic account of Du Bois’s contribution to sociology explores how his theories changed, evolved, and even developed to contradict earlier ideas. Careful parsing of seminal works provides a much needed overview for students and scholars looking to gain a better grasp of the ideas of Du Bois, in particular his understanding of racialized subjectivity, racialized social systems, and his scientific sociology. Further, the authors show that a Du Boisian sociology provides a robust analytical framework for the multilevel examination of individual-level processes—such as the formation of the self—and macro processes—such as group formation and mobilization or the structures of modernity—key concepts for a basic understanding of sociology.