‘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.

Talcott Parsons was the leading theorist in American sociology—and perhaps in world sociology—from the 1940s to the 1970s. He created the dominant school of thought that made "Parsonian" a standard description of a theoretical attempt to unify social science, as reflected in the fact that his contributions to the discipline cover a range of issues, including medicine, the family, religion, law, the economy, race relations, and politics—to name but a few. This volume brings together leading scholars working in the field of "Parsonian Studies" to explore the background of Parsons’s work, the content of his oeuvre, and his subsequent influence. Thematically organized, it covers Parsons’s contributions and impacts in areas including the philosophy and methodology of the social sciences; cultural sociology; personality, mental illness, and psychoanalysis; and economics and political and economic sociology. In addition, it considers his influence in different areas of the world and on particular students, and offers insights into the Parsonian tradition’s practical application to contemporary social issues. An authoritative, comprehensive, and in-depth critical assessment of the Parsonian legacy, The Routledge International Handbook of Talcott Parsons Studies will appeal to scholars across the social sciences and in sociology and social theory in particular, with interests in the history of sociology and the enduring relevance of Talcott Parsons.

This book is an introductory guide to the work of Talcott Parsons, designed specifically for students and those new to his work. It offers a comprehensive guide to reading and understanding the development of Parsons’s sociological ideas, placing them in the context of his life and his position in American sociology.

Peter L. Berger (1929–2017) was among the most prominent sociologists of the past half century. He coauthored 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.

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 Companion contains 12 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)

Raymond Aron is an exceptional figure among twentieth-century sociological and political thinkers. The book focuses on the sociological work of this author of the century, who analyzed his age both in its grand-scale political and socio-economic traits and in the complex social ramifications of its day-to-day life. Aron experts from a total of seven countries examine Aron’s sociology in detail starting with his road from philosophy to sociology not least under the impression of the Great Depression and its aftermath, especially the rise of National Socialism in Germany. His epistemological studies on the limits of objective knowledge in history and the social sciences in which he moves away from Durkheim's approach and instead adopts Max Weber's sociology of understanding are analysed. This acknowledgment of the limits of knowledge laid the foundations for Aron’s liberalism and humanism. His sociology of industrial society as an economy of economic growth in its market economy and planned economy versions, its social stratification, his criticism of the Marxist concept of social class, the structure of the ruling elites and the pluralistic and one-party, totalitarian political regimes are presented, as is Aron's analysis of the dialectic of modern society between the idea of equality and the authority structures in the state and the economic process. This is accompanied by Aron's lifelong criticism of those intellectuals above all in the pluralist and liberal democracies who hope that a messianic ideology will abolish all social contradictions. Aron’s sociology of international relations in the age of industrial society and globalization, which for Aron brought about the dawn of universal history, complete the overview of Raymond Aron's sociological work.

The Anthem Companion to Philip Selznick is a collection of essays by renowned authors on the preeminent sociologist, Philip Selznick (1919–2010). He is widely recognized for his major contributions to a number of fields, including general sociology, sociology of organizations, industrial sociology, sociology of law and moral sociology. The contributions in the book cross disciplinary boundaries, bridge disciplinary divides, and display an awareness of and respect for Selznick’s humanist sensibility. Selznick would have felt very comfortable in this company. In that sense, all the chapters of The Anthem Companion to Philip Selznick are true companions to Selznick’s sociology.

This book seeks to place Halbwachs in his historical and intellectual context, showing that his work was sensitive to the events of his time, and that the development of his analysis could be influenced by happenstance. The book does this, not by summarizing or synthesizing his thinking, by the growing literature embodied by many sociologists and historians of social sciences, published for the most part in scientific journals, that focus on the sociological thought that Halbwachs developed in his writings. Then come many studies that emerge from the history of ideas and epistemology: these are entirely devoted to a particular facet of Halbwachs’ work, either to place it in its scientific context or to discuss it on the basis of fundamental cognitive issues.