For a New Classic Sociology
This book examines the future of the social sciences and the reconstruction of society in contemporary times. Drawing on the lead piece For a New Classic Sociology, it calls for a new theoretical synthesis that overcomes the fragmentation, specialization and professionalization within the social sciences. The position paper and the responses by a team of world-class social theorists provide an alternative to utilitarianism and the colonization of the social sciences by rational choice models, propose a new articulation of social theory, the Studies, and moral, social and political philosophy. It recommends a return to classical social theory and explores articulations between theories of reciprocity, care and recognition.
A radical intervention in the study of the social sciences, the volume will be indispensable to scholars and researchers across the social sciences, especially social theory and sociology and social anthropology.
Contributions by Frank Adloff, Jeffrey C. Alexander, Francis Chateauraynaud, Raewyn Connell, Franois Dubet, Philip Gorski, Nathalie Heinich, Qu Jingdong, Mike Savage, Michael Singleton and Philippe Steiner.
Alain Caill is Professor Emeritus of Nanterre University in Paris, France. One of Frances most prominent intellectuals, he is the founder of the Mouvement Anti-Utilitariste dans les Sciences Sociales (MAUSS, Anti-utilitarian Movement in the Social Sciences), the chief editor of the Revue du MAUSS and the driving force behind the international convivialist movement. He has published about 30 books and over 500 articles on social theory, Marcel Mauss and the sociology of the gift. His most recent book is Extensions du domaine du don: Demander-donner-recevoir-rendre (2019).
Frdric Vandenberghe is Professor of Sociology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he also directs the Sociofilo, the Social Theory Lab. He has published widely on the history of ideas and various aspects of social theory in English, French and Portuguese. With Routledge, he has earlier published A Philosophical History of German Sociology (2009) and Whats Critical about Critical Realism? (2014).
First published 2021
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2021 selection and editorial matter, Alain Caill and Frdric Vandenberghe; individual chapters, the contributors
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ISBN: 978-1-138-09635-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-47073-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-09785-3 (ebk)
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There are no social sciences. There is only one science of societies
Marcel Mauss, Divisions et proportions des divisions de la sociologie
Frank Adloff is Professor of Sociology at the University of Hamburg where he directs the research project on the future of sustainability. His work focuses on the theory of the gift, civil society, philanthropy, sustainability and convivialism. With Routledge, he has published Gifts of Cooperation, Mauss and Pragmatism (2016).
Jeffrey C. Alexander is Professor of sociology at Yale University and Director of the Center for Cultural Sociology. He is one of the worlds leading social theorists and is the founding figure in the contemporary school of cultural sociology. His latest books are What Makes a Social Crisis? The Societalization of Social Problems (2019) and (co-edited with Stack, T., & Khosrokhavar, F.): Breaching the Civil Order: Radicalism and the Civil Sphere (2020).
Francis Chateauraynaud is Director of studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris where he also directs the Groupe de sociologie pragmatique et rflexive (GSPR). Hes one of the main representatives of the second generation of pragmatic sociology in France and works on large technological systems, scientific controversies, catastrophes and whistle-blowers. His latest book is Les lanceurs dalerte (2020).
Raewyn Connell is Professor Emerita at the University of Sydney. She is a leading Australian social theorist who works on theories from the Global South, the geopolitics of knowledge, intellectuals, class, neoliberalism, gender studies and masculinities. In 2019, she published The Good University. What universities actually do and why its time for radical change.
Franois Dubet is Professor Emeritus at the University of Bordeaux and director of studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. Hes one of Frances leading sociologists and has published widely on social movements, the suburbs, education, inequality and justice. His latest publications are Le temps des passions tristes. Ingalits et populisme (2019) and Une vie de sociologue. Entretiens avec Jullien Rousset (2019).
Philip Gorski is Professor of Sociology at Yale University and the founder of the Critical Realism Network. He is a comparative-historical sociologist with strong interests in social theory, religion and the development of the state in modern and early modern Europe. He is the author of American Covenant: A History of Civil Religion from the Puritans to the Present (2019).
Nathalie Heinich is a researcher at the CNRS and works at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. She is a leading author in the sociology of art and has published numerous books and articles on the sociology of art, the sociology of identity and the epistemology of the social sciences. She has been working on the sociology of values and valuation from a pragmatic perspective and researching on the fire of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. She recently published Ce que nest pas lidentit (2019) and La cadre-analyse dErving Goffman-Une aventure structuraliste (2020).
Qu Jingdong is Professor of Sociology and director of the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at Peking University. He works in the fields of social theory, the sociology of organization and social development. He has translated and edited the collected works of Emile Durkheim (10 vols.) in Chinese. Hes also the co-editor (with Li Peilin) of An Introduction to Chinese Sociological Classics (2017).
Mike Savage is Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics where he co-directs the International Inequalities Institute. He works on the historical sociology of twentieth-century Britain with a special interest in social class, space and culture. Hes the author of