1. Envisioning the History of Sociological Thought.
- Author
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Tiryakian, Edward A.
- Subjects
- *
SOCIOLOGISTS , *SOCIAL sciences , *CIVILIZATION , *SOCIAL scientists - Abstract
The article discusses the book "Visions of the Sociological Tradition," by Donald N. Levine. Sociologist Donald Levine in this volume has brought out his interpretation of sociology's historical patrimony, its development and its mission. The book is a testimony to a scholar whose appreciation and concern for the history of sociological thought are exemplary. As much of an Africanist as a theorist, Levine easily navigates and explores the various theoretical currents. He is, of course, not the first to provide an account of sociology and he himself notes up front that there are many ways of telling such a good story. He provides us in the first two parts with visions of yesterday and tomorrow as frames of today. First, visions of the past as narratives; here he singles out six of these histories in search of a tradition from positivist and pluralist to humanist and contextualist to points in between, namely synthetic narratives. The next journey takes him to visions of the future, in the form of seven national traditions in search of the good society; Hellenic, British, French, German, Marxian, Italian and American.
- Published
- 1996
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