Anthem Companions to Sociology Series

Amidst the global financial and political crises of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, scholars have turned for insight to the work of the radical American thinker, Thorstein Veblen. Inspired by an abundance of new research, social scientists from multiple disciplines have displayed a heightened appreciation for Veblen’s importance and value for contemporary social, economic and political studies. The Anthem Companion to Thorstein Veblen is a stimulating addition to this new body of scholarship, offering fresh material for ongoing reconsiderations of Veblen as a major theoretical resource for present-day debates on epistemology, social evolution, values, higher education, capitalist development and politics.

'The Anthem Companion to Georg Simmel' brings together new interpretations of the work of this sociologist and philosopher. The companion highlights issues, themes and concepts that most concern readers in social and cultural theory today, with an emphasis on critical perspectives that show how Simmel's work is relevant, interesting and significant for contemporary discussions and debates. Also included in this volume is Austin Harrington’s translation of selections from Simmel’s book on Goethe and a comprehensive list of Simmel’s work in English.

The Anthem Companion to Hannah Arendt offers a unique collection of essays on one of the twentieth century’s greatest thinkers. The companion encompasses Arendt’s most salient arguments and major works – The Origins of Totalitarianism, The Human Condition, Eichmann in Jerusalem, On Revolution and The Life of the Mind. The volume also examines Arendt’s intellectual relationships with Max Weber, Karl Mannheim and other key social scientists. Although written principally for students new to Arendt’s work, The Anthem Companion to Hannah Arendt also engages the most avid Arendt scholar.

Philip Rieff (1922–2006) was a preeminent American social and cultural theorist. The original essays in The Anthem Companion to Philip Rieff offer an important new assessment of the major works of Philip Rieff by leading writers in the fields of social and cultural theory. These essays are the first to assess Rieff’s influence and significance as a master theorist and teacher, drawing on the contributors’ long interest in the broad scope of his work, from Freud: The Mind of the Moralist to The Triumph The Mind of the Moralist to The Triumph of the Therapeutic to his posthumous work, Sacred Order/Social Order. Anthem Companions to Sociology offer authoritative and comprehensive assessments of major figures in the development of sociology from the last two centuries. Covering the major advancements in sociological thought, these companions offer critical evaluations of key figures in the American and European sociological tradition, and will provide students and scholars with an in-depth assessment of the makers of sociology and chart their relevance to modern society.

The Anthem Companion to Robert Park comes to terms with Robert Park’s legacy. This companion focuses largely on the work rather than the man, a major figure in American sociology during the first half of the past century, and encourages readers to consider the virtue of rethinking—and rereading—the much maligned and frequently misunderstood Park. Despite the fact that he wrote with exemplary clarity, Park’s work has often been ignored by contemporary sociologists. The contributions in this companion embrace no singular response to Park, but rather present a broad range of responses, generally appreciative but also critical.

The Anthem Companion to Max Weber is a study of the ideas and career of the German sociologist and founder of classical social theory. Including contributions by accomplished Weber scholars, this companion provides the latest scholarly interpretations of the sociologist’s vast body of socioeconomic and political writings which continue to inspire new scholarship and debate on global politics, comparative religion, social class relationships, social science methods and law and society. This book serves as a handy introduction for beginners and a tidy commentary for advanced scholars.

The Companion is a collection of articles covering noted German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies' full range of thinking. Topics include Tönnies and the development of sociology, Tönnies on community, on globalization, on gender and the family, and on crime and law. They also include Tönnies’ views on politics, on public opinion as well as on Tönnies as Hobbes scholar and his relation to Georg Simmel. Each of the essays is written in a clear manner and will be understandable to the non-specialist. Each essay is comprehensive and will be useful to the specialist. The Companion is a welcome and significant contribution to our understanding of this noted sociologist and political thinker.  

The Hungarian-born Karl Mannheim became recognized as a pathbreaking sociologist in Germany when he published 'Ideologie und Utopie' (1929) and in the English-speaking world upon publication of 'Ideology and Utopia' (1936), a book in which he explored the possibilities of an approach to political thought by way of sociology of knowledge. Eighty years later, and viewed from varied substance-rich perspectives worldwide, the many facets of Mannheim’s original work are examined in their bearing on numerous other questions in political theory, cultural studies and social analysis. 'The Anthem Companion to Karl Mannheim' is an international collection of original articles on the classical sociologist and documents the current revitalization of the reception of this social thinker. Using “learning from Mannheim” as their motif, the chapters in this volume favor fresh negotiations with his works, including the writings published posthumously in recent decades.

For most of the twentieth century, Auguste Comte, a controversial but highly influential nineteenth-century figure, and his vast treatises on positive philosophy, politics and religion were disregarded and largely ignored. More recently, however, Comte’s life and writings have been reexamined together with the project of social reform to which his intellectual labors were devoted, producing a much more complicated picture of his thought and its significance. The Anthem Companion to Auguste Comte—with ten new critical essays by leading Comte scholars, sociologists, intellectual historians, social theorists and philosophers—aims to further this reexamination while also providing a multifaceted introduction to Comte’s thought and to current discussion about him. The essays also examine Comte’s relation to a multiplicity of other thinkers, and his place more generally in the formation and legacy of modern Western thought.

‘The Anthem Companion to Gabriel Tarde’ offers the best contemporary work on Gabriel Tarde, written by the best scholars currently working in this field. Original, authoritative and wide-ranging, the critical assessments of this volume will make it ideal for Tarde students and scholars alike. ‘Anthem Companions to Sociology’ offer authoritative and comprehensive assessments of major figures in the development of sociology from the last two centuries. Covering the major advancements in sociological thought, these companions offer critical evaluations of key figures in the American and European sociological tradition, and will provide students and scholars with both an in-depth assessment of the makers of sociology and chart their relevance to modern society.

‘The Anthem Companion to Ernst Troeltsch’ is the first collection of essays in English devoted to the thinking of Ernst Troeltsch. The eight essays are written by scholars who have been recognized as major contributors to works on Troeltsch; many of them have published books on his theology. These essays are devoted to exploring Troeltsch’s ethical, sociological and political ideas in addition to his theological concepts. The collection aims to depict Troeltsch as a major sociologist and important philosopher in addition to being one of the most significant German theologians of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The Anthem Companion to Harold Garfinkel brings together leading scholars and upcoming researchers in contemporary ethnomethodology to bring out the experimental character of Garfinkel’s legacy in the social sciences and beyond. Therefore, the Companion takes its cue from Garfinkel’s noted “breaching experiments,” enabling the reflexive investigation of “trust conditions” in situ, and asks how this research interest has been productively pursued and distinctively rearticulated, both within and beyond Garfinkel’s oeuvre. Whilst Garfinkel’s experimental legacy is often acknowledged, no systematic introduction to its distinctive outlook, tension-riddled diversification, and heuristic interest(s) is available to date. The Anthem Companion to Harold Garfinkel both fills and reflects upon that “gap in the literature,” thereby articulating ethnomethodology’s experimental outlook, if not recasting its current research directions.

‘The Anthem Companion to C. Wright Mills’ offers the best contemporary work on C. Wright Mills, written by the best scholars currently working in this field. Original, authoritative and wide-ranging, the critical assessments of this volume will make it ideal for Wright Mills students and scholars alike. ‘Anthem Companions to Sociology’ offer authoritative and comprehensive assessments of major figures in the development of sociology from the last two centuries. Covering the major advancements in sociological thought, these companions offer critical evaluations of key figures in the American and European sociological tradition, and will provide students and scholars with both an in-depth assessment of the makers of sociology and chart their relevance to modern society.

The Anthem Companion to Everett Hughes is a comprehensive and updated critical discussion of Hughes’s contribution to sociology and his current legacy in the social sciences. A global team of scholars discusses issues such as the international circulation of Hughes’s work, his intellectual biography, his impact on current ethnographic research practices and the use in current research of such Hughesian concepts as master status, dirty work and bastard institutions. This companion is a useful reference for students of classical sociology, practitioners of ethnographic research and scholars of sociology in the Chicagoan tradition.

With contributions from authorities on four continents, this edited volume provides a comprehensive survey of the life and work of David Ricardo (1772–1823), a major contributor to the British classical school of political economy. After an editorial introduction that sets Ricardo’s work in the economic, political and social climate of his time, individual chapters are devoted to his business activities; his political work and its influence; his relationship with Robert Malthus; his thinking on the theories of value, distribution, trade and money; some important misunderstandings of his analytical work; his relationship to Karl Marx; and his reception in Australia.

'The Anthem Companion to Pierre Bourdieu' provides an introduction to the French sociologist’s thought and an evaluation of the international significance of his work from a range of national perspectives. The contributions in the companion investigate the applicability of Bourdieu’s theories and concepts in diverse sociopolitical contexts and consider the ways they can be said to possess universal validity. In examining Bourdieu on his own philosophical terms, this companion contributes to the general debate about the effects of the transnational and transcultural transfer of concepts generated in the West.

‘The Anthem Companion to Talcott Parsons’ offers the best contemporary work on Talcott Parsons, written by the best scholars currently working in this field. Original, authoritative and wide-ranging, the critical assessments of this volume will make it ideal for Parsons students and scholars alike. ‘Anthem Companions to Sociology’ offer authoritative and comprehensive assessments of major figures in the development of sociology from the last two centuries. Covering the major advancements in sociological thought, these companions offer critical evaluations of key figures in the American and European sociological tradition, and will provide students and scholars with both an in-depth assessment of the makers of sociology and chart their relevance to modern society.

The Anthem Companion to Émile Durkheim intends to offer different practical attempts to build on Durkheim’s legacy and investigate the issues and controversies that characterise contemporary societies and thus contribute to develop further this path of critical enquiry into ‘classical sociology’. The contributions to this volume provide new insights into Durkheim’s classical texts and juxtapose them with the reconstruction of his lectures and lesser known writings to offer a wider understanding of his oeuvre. 

The Anthem Companion to Alexis de Tocqueville contains original interpretations of Tocqueville’s major writings on democracy and revolution as well as his lesser-known ideas on colonies, prisons, and minorities. The Introduction by Daniel Gordon discusses the process by which Tocqueville was canonized during the Cold War and the need to reassess the place of Tocqueville’s voice in the conversation of post-Marxist social theory. Each of the contributors compares Tocqueville’s ideas on a given subject to those of other major social theorists, including Bourdieu, Dahl, Du Bois, Foucault, Lévi-Strauss and Marx. This comprehensive volume is based on the idea that Tocqueville was not merely a “founder” or “precursor” whose ideas have been absorbed into modern social science. The broad questions that Tocqueville raised, his comparative vision, and his unique vocabulary and style can inspire deeper thinking in the social sciences today.

"The Anthem Companion to Robert N. Bellah" is the first major collection of essays on the life and work of Robert N. Bellah (1927–2013), one of the foremost sociologists of religion of the twentieth century. Bellah’s work was central to many fields: the sociology of Japanese religion; the relationship between sociology and the humanities; the relationship between American religion and politics; the cultures of modern individualism; evolution and society. Bellah’s seminal work on “civil religion” in the early 1970s created a huge debate across the disciplines that continues into the present times; his coauthored book "Habits of the Heart" (1985) was a best seller and the object of sustained discussion in the general public sphere; his last magnum opus, Religion in Human Evolution, published at 84, was a monument to an extraordinary scholarly and intellectual career. The object of this collection of essays by top American and European scholars from the social sciences and humanities is to highlight the richness of Bellah’s work. Each essay has a double character: it introduces a single topic in an accessible and complete way and then presents a reflection on the viability and import of Bellah’s ideas for interpreting contemporary phenomena.

Peter L. Berger (1929–2017) was among the most prominent sociologists of the past half-century. He co-authored with Thomas Luckmann, The Social Construction of Reality, considered to be a modern classic of social science. His work on social theory, the sociology of religion, third-world development, and the role of capitalism in modern life define his enduring importance as a leading figure in social science. Berger established an international reputation for his various studies of economic development in different parts of the world, including Central America and South Africa.

The purpose of the volume—as with the other volumes published in the Anthem Press “Companion to Sociology” series—is to provide a comprehensive overview of Erving Goffman’s continued appeal and relevance within the field of sociology and related social science disciplines. The book engages with some of the major themes and continuing concerns of Goffman’s sociology. The chapters included in the volume deal with some important aspects of Goffman’s life and work that made him into the enigma that he was.

The Companion contains twelve chapters written by proven experts on Luhmann’s social systems theory. Among the contributions are overviews of the development of Luhmann’s thinking, introductions to key areas of Luhmann’s theory of society and critical assessments of core concepts of his social systems theory approach. The chapters cover the main societal function systems of law, politics, the economy, science, religion and art. Among the chapters are assessments of Luhmann’s impact on debates on constitutionalism, cultural studies and critical systems theory. There are finally reflections of scholars on the way and importance of Luhmann’s thoughts for their thinking and how Luhmann’s theory has shaped their work.

Given that Schutz was a philosopher and a social scientist, this book will examine topics in Schutz’s philosophical-phenomenological theory of the social world, such as the second person, the face-to-face relationship, the meaning of human action, signs, symbols, relevance (or interests). Schutz’s explanation of the social world, however, was meant to provide a philosophical foundation for the social sciences, and so this book will also consider epistemological questions, such as traditional knowledge and the opacity of knowledge and theory, that is, the neglected or unseen questions that accompany knowing or theorizing. Also, authors from within the Schutzian framework will address issues within the social sciences, such as the Durkheimian aspects of Schutz’s thought, the sociology of knowledge, and the theory of sociology. It will also explore how Schutzian theory, which is often viewed as a micro-sociology, can be extended to give an account of a macro-sociological reality like modern society (Gesellschaft)

Robert K. Merton’s sociological work spans several decades: 1920s (childhood), 1930s (anomie, science, unanticipated), 1940s (housing studies, mass communications, structural-functional analysis, professions, focus groups), 1950s (reference groups), 1960s (ambivalence) and later decades (structural analysis, sociological semantics, cultural sociology). He particularly contributed to sociology during a period when several specialties were being set up and yet his work spans both general and specialist sociologies. He is recognized as the father of anomie/strain theory, focus groups, sociology of science, role set theory, analytical sociology, structural-functional analysis, ambivalence studies and sociological semantics, but always endeavoured to keep the multifarious threads of sociology together. Merton stood at the junction of many other crossroads: classical and modern sociology; American and European sociology; theory and research; philosophy of social science and applied sociology; pure academic sociology and applied sociology; cognitive and social; social sciences and humanities; social sciences and science. Yet the different components of RKM’s work relate to each other. RKM had a major effect on the baby boomer generation of sociology who joined the ranks of sociology at a time of great expansion of university positions across many developed countries. Other generations of sociologists so far less exposed to his work should gain much from consideration of the essays in this volume.

Immanuel Wallerstein, one of the most influential yet controversial sociologists of the past half-century, is a touchstone in innumerable debates about globalization and the power of capitalism, the nature of development in the modern era, and how to come to grips with widespread inequalities while recovering the potential for social change. The Anthem Companion to Immanuel Wallerstein offers a compelling guide to his writings and ideas, his influences and reception, and the reasons for his enduring significance, with 10 original interpretive essays written by a distinguished group of international scholars. Importantly, the contributors also advance Wallerstein’s work into neglected areas such as climate change, global pandemics, racism, and gender and demonstrate his importance, not just to debates in his intellectual context, but to those of our times as well. This companion provides a multifaceted tool for thinking with Wallerstein, while showing where those engaging with Wallerstein’s thought can take his work in the contemporary world.

The book presents an authoritative assessment of Norbert Elias (1897–1990). It recognizes Elias as one of the major contributors to the development of sociological tradition in the past century and charts the continuing relevance of his conception of sociology for contemporary society. Only toward the end of his career as an academic did Elias’s work begin to attract the attention of English-speaking sociologists, historians, and scholars of cultural studies. The book provides an authoritative and broad representation of Elias’s oeuvre and work inspired by it. While Elias is best known for his major study of The Civilizing Process, the reach and subtle depths of Elias’s conception of process sociology has been cemented more recently by the English-language publication of Elias’s collected work of 18 volumes. The baton of process sociology is being passed on to further generations of sociologists. Chapters from leading contributors outline the nature of the sociological practice of Elias and address fundamental questions of historical sociology, democratization, gender, racialization processes, and embodiment. Later chapters highlight the contribution of process sociology for understanding developments in nation, state and global sociology, criminology, art, and education.