The Roots of Sociology

Scottish Enlightenment and the Civilising Process
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-0-367-49181-9
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 220 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 453 g

Reihe: Classical and Contemporary Social Theory

This book argues that of today’s ‘core’ social scientific disciplines, it is sociology that has inherited the capacious ambitions of the Scottish Enlightenment.

Departing from the practice of classifying thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment using modern disciplinary categories that they themselves would not have recognised - categories that obscure the fact that these figures were engaged in what they considered to be a wide-ranging, historical science of society - it argues that sociology continues to explore many of the central themes in their work: historical processes, relations of power, societal differentiation and integration, morality, jurisprudence, violence, civil society and the state, as well as social divisions of class, gender, race and nation that are often overlooked in characterisations of ‘Enlightenment reason’.  A critical, qualified introduction to the precocious effort of the Scottish Enlightenment to create a theory of ‘the civilising process’, The Roots of Sociology assesses the contribution and continuing relevance of the enlightened intellectuals to sociology as an intergenerational process. As such, it will appeal to scholars and students of sociology, social theory and intellectual history.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Law, Alex

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction: Sociology and Enlightenment  Part I: Sociology and the Scottish Enlightenment  1. Sociogenesis of Sociology 2. Sociologists and the Scottish Enlightenment 3. Eighteenth-century Marxist Sociology 4. Political economy before Sociology 5. Adam Smith’s sociological ambivalence  Part II: Sociology of the Scottish Enlightenment  6. Scottish Enlightenment and the civilising process 7. State formation as a civilising offensive 8. An enlightened figuration 9. Intellectuals and the field of power 10. Position-taking in the academic field 11. Symbolic exchange Conclusion: In the end, a beginning

Über Autor(innen)

Alex Law is Professor of Sociology at Abertay University, UK. He is co-editor of The Anthem Companion to Norbert Elias and Sociological Amnesia.