Emile Durkheim: Selected Writings

'Durkheim\'s writings have exerted a profound influence in modern sociology. Many of his ideas have been incorporated into the conventional wisdom of the subject; others have remained controversial, and are a matter of continuing debate. The reception of Durkheim\'s views in the English-speaking world, however, has suffered from the inadequacy of certain of the existing translations and, while most of his major studies are now available in English, a considerable number of his writings - particularly his shorter articles and reviews - have still not appeared in translation. This is the first collection of Durkheim\'s writings to draw upon the total corpus of his work. All the texts included in the book have been newly translated, about a quarter of them for the first time. This selection thus offers a comprehensive survey of Durkheim\'s contributions to sociology and social philosophy. The book is organised in terms of the substantive themes in Durkheim\'s writings, rather than following the chronology of his intellectual development; but since it contains selections from every phase of his intellectual career, giving the date of their first publication, the interested reader can easily trace the evolution of his thought. Anthony Giddens\' Introduction identifies the leading themes in Durkheim\'s work, and offers a critique of previous interpretations of his theoretical standpoint.'

This is the first collection of Durkheim's writings to draw upon the total corpus of his work. All the texts included in this book have been newly translated, about a quarter of them for the first time. This selection thus offers a comprejensive survey of Durkheim's contributions to sociology and social philosophy. Anthony Giddens' Introduction identifies the leading themes in Durkheim's work, and offers a critique of previous interpretations of his theoretical standpoint.

This is the only collection of Durkheim’s writings to draw upon the whole body of his work. Many of the texts in the book are here translated for the first time. Dr Giddens takes his selections from a wide variety of sources and includes a number of items from untranslated writings in the Revue Philosophique, Annee Sociologique and from L’evolution p'edagogue en France. Selections from previously translated writings have been checked against the originals and amended or re-translated where necessary. Dr Giddens arranges his selections thematically rather than chronologically. However, extracts from all phases of Durkheim’s intellectual career are represented, giving the date of their first publication, which makes the evolution of his thought easily traceable. In his introduction Dr Giddens discusses phases in the interpretation of Durkheim’s thought, as well as the main themes in his work, with an analysis of the effects of his thinking on modern sociology. The book is for students at any level taking courses in sociology, social anthropology and social theory, for whom Durkheim is one of the major writers studied.

This is the first collection of Durkheim's writings to draw upon the total corpus of his work. All the texts included in this book have been newly translated, about a quarter of them for the first time. This selection thus offers a comprejensive survey of Durkheim's contributions to sociology and social philosophy. Anthony Giddens' Introduction identifies the leading themes in Durkheim's work, and offers a critique of previous interpretations of his theoretical standpoint.

This is a collection of Durkheim's writings drawing upon the whole body of his work.

Preface; Abbreviations; Introduction; Selected texts; Index.