Self, Social Structure, and Beliefs: Explorations in SociologyJeffrey C. Alexander, Gary T. Marx, Christine L. Williams "For nearly fifty years, Neil Smelser has been one of the world's most distinguished sociologists. His intellectual range is remarkable, and so too his influence over the discipline. The essays collected here are a fitting tribute precisely because they are intellectually rich, diverse, thought-provoking and unafraid of controversy. They offer commanding views of a dozen subfields, syntheses of important lines of work, and agendas for the future."—Craig Calhoun, President, Social Science Research Council "If the legacy of scholars is measured by the work of their students, Neil Smelser has done very well indeed. The great range of topics covered in this volume is a testament to his sociological breath. This collection should be read for what it reveals about the many dimensions of an intellectual life well lived, as well as for what it teaches about the past and the present of our discipline."—Michele Lamont, co- author of Rethinking Comparative Cultural Sociology: Repertoires of Evaluation in France and the United States "A brilliant collection of essays giving expression to the diversity and depth of Neil Smelser's scholarly and intellectual achievement. The authors show how Smelser's multidisciplinary synthesis represents a summary of the achievements of economics, psychology and sociology in the second half of the twentieth century."—Bryan S. Turner, author of The Body and Society |
Contents
Introduction | 17 |
The Commodity Frontier | 38 |
Introduction | 77 |
Enlisting Smelsers Theory of Ambivalence to Maintain Progress | 103 |
Circuits of Commerce | 122 |
Trust as an Aspect of Social Structure | 145 |
Introduction | 191 |
Causal Reasoning Historical Logic | 216 |
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS | 269 |
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academic action actors ambivalence American American Sociological Association analysis approach argues arguments Arlie Russell Hochschild become beliefs Berkeley British California Press causal causal claims causal explanation church circuits cognitive Coleman collective behavior commodity frontier complex concept consumption contemporary context critique cultural currencies differentiation disciplines distinctive economic emotions empirical ethnic example exchange fantasy glass cage groups higher education historical human idea immigration policies important individual institutions intellectual internal Ithaca HOURS meaning mechanisms ment methodological models modern myth N. J. Smelser Neil Smelser norms organization paradigm parents Parliamentary Debates patriality perspective Piotr Sztompka political primordial psychoanalysis psychology rational choice theory relations relationships religion religious role Sennett soci social change social movements social sciences social structure Social Theory society sociological imagination sociologists Talcott Parsons theoretical theorists tion trust understanding University of California University Press values World at War York