asatheory.org - Links: Sociological Theory Online

Website for the Theory Section of the American Sociological Association

LINKS: SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY ONLINE

This page provides online information on specific sociological theories and theorists, including theoretical excursions about as well as by selected theorists, with the hope of providing a balanced overview of various theoretical traditions, both classical and contemporary.

"The word 'sociology' is used in many different senses. In our context, it shall mean that science which aims at the interpretive understanding of social conduct and thus at the explanation of its causes, its course, and its effects."

-Max Weber.

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Theory Links

CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY LINKS

Auguste Comte and Positivism - This is a French site. It is for the time being unique, since, most regretably, we have lost our American mirror site.

Herbert Spencer, 1820-1903 - The Victorian biologist and early social philosopher Herbert Spencer was a great rival of Charles Darwin's.

The Marx & Engels Internet Archive - All of Marx's writings freely available online! See also: Marx and Engels' Writings: Includes The Young Marx Marx, and much more.

The Durkheim Pages - These pages are devoted to the French sociologist, Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), maintained by Robert Alun Jones. See also the fully online available version of De la division du travail social (samples in English) and An Exchange Between Durkheim and Tonnies on the Nature of Social Relations, includes a review of Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft by Durkheim (American Journal of Sociology, 1972, via JSTOR). See also: The Emile Durkheim Archive: An in-depth informative source of information for undergraduates. Over 70 Durkheim quotes on various subjects. The Durkheim Page: Another collection of insights on Durkheim. The Emile Durkheim Archive: Emile Durkheim is by far one of the most important sociologists ever.

Max Weber, Ausgewählte Schriften - Major works by Max Weber fully online, in German, of course. Hier finden Sie ausgewählte Werke Max Webers. Die Potsdamer Internet-Ausgabe "PIA" folgt den alten Ausgaben der 20-er Jahre (den "Marianne-Ausgaben"). See also: Max Weber's Texts: Includes fully online versions of the The Protestant Ethic, Basic Concepts of Sociology, and much more! See also: Verstehen: Max Weber's HomePage: A site for undergraduates, by Frank Elwell. Marianne Weber: A biographical page.

Georg Simmel Homepage - Online versions of Simmel's Books and Essays as well as Texts on Simmel. This amazing site includes online versions of many Simmel classics, such as Philosophie der Mode, Der Henkel, and Das Problem der Soziologie, and many more. Thanks to the editorial efforts of Albion Small you can access the following JSTOR articles by Simmel: Superiority and Subordination as Subject-Matter of Sociology. AJS, 2, 2 (1896), pp. 167-189; & part II. AJS, 2, 3 (1896), pp. 392-415; The Persistence of Social Groups. AJS, 3, 5 (1898), pp. 662-698; & part II. AJS, 3, 6 (1898), pp. 829-836, & part III. AJS, 4, 1 (1898), pp. 35-50; A Chapter in the Philosophy of Value. AJS, 5, 5 (1900), pp. 577-603; The Number of Members as Determining the Sociological Form of the Group. I. AJS, 8, 1 (1902), pp. 1-46; & part II. AJS, 8, 2 (1902), pp. 158-196; The Sociology of Conflict. I. AJS, 9, 4 (1904), pp. 490-525, & part II. AJS, 9, 5 (1904), pp. 672-689; 11. & part III. AJS, 9, 6 (1904), pp. 798-811; 12. A Contribution to the Sociology of Religion. AJS, 11, 3 (1905), pp. 359-376; 13. The Sociology of Secrecy and of Secret Societies. AJS, 11, 4 (1906), pp. 441-498; 14. The Problem of Sociology. AJS, 15, 3 (1909), pp. 289-320; How is Society Possible?. AJS, 16, 3 (1910), pp. 372-391; A Contribution to the Sociology of Religion. AJS, 60, 6 (1955), pp. 1-18; 18. Fashion. The AJS, 62, 6 (1957), pp. 541-558. See also: The Stranger.

Die Ferdinand Tönnies Gesellschaft - Die Ferdinand Tönnies Gesellschaft pflegt das geistige Erbe von Ferdinand Tönnies. Online papers by Tönnies include: On Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, reprinted from Community and Society, translated by Charles P. Loomis, pp. 223-231, Michigan State University Press, 1957. See also these JSTOR articles by Tönnies: An Exchange Between Durkheim and Tonnies on the Nature of Social Relations, with a review of Durkheim by Tönnies. AJS, Vol. 77, No. 6. (1972), pp. 1191-1200; The Present Problems of Social Structure. AJS, Vol. 10, No. 5. (1905), pp. 569-588. See also: Die Ferdinand Tönnies Schule.

George's Pages, The Mead Project Website - George's Page is a repository for documents by, about and related to the work of American pragmatist philosopher and social psychologist. Includes online versions of Mead's writings, such as , and many many more!

Thorstein Veblen - Includes many online writings, such as Why is Economics Not an Evolutionary Science, The Limitations of Marginal Utility, The Socialist Economics of Karl Marx, and more.

Pitirim Aleksandrovich Sorokin (January 21, 1889-February 10, 1968) - Served as the 55th President of the American Sociological Association. Read some of his JSTOR articles: Impoverishment and the Expansion of Governmental Control. AJS Vol. 32, No. 2. (1926), pp. 206-216. An Experimental Study of Efficiency of Work Under Various Specified Conditions. with others. AJS Vol. 35, No. 5. (1930), pp. 765-782; An Experimental Study of the Influence of Suggestion on the Discrimination and the Valuation of People. with J. W. Boldyreff. AJS Vol. 37, No. 5. (1932), pp. 720-737. Is Accurate Social Planning Possible?. ASR Vol. 1, No. 1. (1936), pp. 12-25. Social Time: A Methodological and Functional Analysis. with R.K. Merton. AJS Vol. 42, No. 5. (Mar., 1937), pp. 615-629. A Neglected Factor of War. ASR Vol. 3, No. 4. (1938), pp. 475-486. The Conditions and Prospects for a World Without War. AJS Vol. 49, No. 5. (1944), pp. 441-449. Concept, Tests, and Energy of Spontaneity-Creativity. Sociometry, Vol. 12, No. 1/3. (1949), pp. 215-224. Sociology of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. ASR Vol. 30, No. 6. (1965), pp. 833-843.

The Talcott Parsons Page - Short introductory page on the (un)disputed classic. Papers of Talcott Parsons, 1921-1979: an inventory: At Harvard University Archives. Online texts include: Introduction to The Structure of Social Action, McGraw Hill, 1937; The Role of Theory in Social Research. ASR 3(1):13-20, 1938; The Role of Ideas in Social Action. ASR 3(5):652-664, 1938; The Position of Sociological Theory. ASR 13(2):156-171, 1948; The Prospects of Sociological Theory. ASR 15(1):3-16, 1950; Some Comments on the State of the General Theory of Action. ASR, Vol. 18, No. 6., pp. 618-631, 1953; Age and Sex in the Social Structure of the United States. ASR 7(5):604-616, 1942; Prolegomena to a Theory of Social Institutions. ASR, Vol. 55, No. 3. (1990), pp. 319-333, 1990; with Gerald M. Platt. Age, Social Structure, and Socialization in Higher Education. Sociology of Education, Vol. 43, No. 1., pp. 1-37, 1970; Max Weber 1864-1964. ASR, Vol. 30, No. 2. (1965), pp. 171-175, 1965; Evolutionary Universals in Society. ASR, Vol. 29, No. 3., pp. 339-357, 1964; On the Concept of Influence. Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 37-62, 1963.

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Theory Links

MODERN & CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY LINKS

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Asatheory.org apologizes for the exceedingly selective representation of contemporary and modern sociological theory on these pages at the present time, but we had to (and so did) start somewhere. If there are interesting theories and theorists sites of which you aware, please pass them on to the Website Editor. See links for: Robert K. Merton - Lewis Coser - Peter Blau - Erving Goffman - James S. Coleman - Norbert Elias - Critical Theory - Michel Foucault - Niklas Luhmann - Pierre Bourdieu - Feminist Theory - Jeffrey C. Alexander -

Robert K. Merton's Functional Analysis - Resource Page. A site for undergraduates, by Frank W. Elwell. See also this short vitae [PDF] of Professor Merton, a list of his writings, and an obituary. The following are JSTOR articles by Merton: Durkheim's Division of Labor in Society. AJS, Vol. 40, No. 3. (1934), pp. 319-328; The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action. ASR, Vol. 1, No. 6. (1936), pp. 894-904; Social Structure and Anomie. ASR, Vol. 3, No. 5. (1938), pp. 672-682; Sociological Theory. AJS, Vol. 50, No. 6. (1945), pp. 462-473; The Focused Interview. with Patricia L. Kendall. AJS, Vol. 51, No. 6. (1946), pp. 541-557; The Bearing of Empirical Research upon the Development of Social Theory. ASR, Vol. 13, No. 5. (1948), pp. 505-515; Priorities in Scientific Discovery. ASR, Vol. 22, No. 6. (1957), pp. 635-659; Insiders and Outsiders. AJS, Vol. 78, No. 1 (1972), pp. 9-47; The Fallacy of the Latest Word: The Case of "Pietism and Science". AJS, Vol. 89, No. 5. (1984), pp. 1091-1121; Three Fragments from a Sociologist's Notebooks. Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 13. (1987), pp. 1-28; The Focussed Interview and Focus Groups. Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 51, No. 4. (1987), pp. 550-566. See: Manifest and Latent Functions and Bureaucratic Structure and Personality. From Social Theory and Social Structure. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press, 1967; The Role-Set: Problems in Sociological Theory. British Journal of Sociology, 8: 106-20, 1957; The Matthew Effect in Science [PDF]. Science 159(3810): 56-63, 1968; The Matthew Effect in Science, II [PDF]. ISIS 79: 606-623, 1968; The Thomas Theorem and the Matthew Effect [PDF]. Social Forces 74(2): 379-424, 1995.

Lewis Coser Remembered - By Andrew Perrin, also: Sociologists Remember Lewis Coser, Footnotes, 2003. See also these online articles from JSTOR: A Sociologist's Atypical Life. Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 19. pp. 1-15, 1993; Presidential Address: Two Methods in Search of a Substance. American Sociological Review, Vol. 40, No. 6., pp. 691-700, 1975; The Alien as a Servant of Power: Court Jews and Christian Renegades. American Sociological Review, Vol. 37, No. 5., pp. 574-581, 1972; The Political Functions of Eunuchism. American Sociological Review, Vol. 29, No. 6. pp. 880-885, 1964; Some Functions of Deviant Behavior and Normative Flexibility. American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 68, No. 2., pp. 172-181, 1962; Georg Simmel's Style of Work: A Contribution to the Sociology of the Sociologist. American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 63, No. 6, 1958; "Marxist Thought in the First Quarter of the 20th Century." American Journal of Sociology 78(1):173-201, 1972.

Colleagues Remember Peter Blau - Peter Michael Blau (1918-2002), Footnotes, April 2002. See the following articles by Blau: A Circuitous Path to Macrostructural Theory. Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 21. (1995), pp. 1-19; Patterns of Choice in Interpersonal Relations. ASR Vol. 27, No. 1. (1962), pp. 41-55; A Theory of Social Integration. AJS Vol. 65, No. 6. (1960), pp. 545-55; Structural Effects. ASR Vol. 25, No. 2. (1960), pp. 178-193; Occupational Bias and Mobility. ASR Vol. 22, No. 4. (1957), pp. 392-399; A Formal Theory of Differentiation in Organizations. ASR Vol. 35, No. 2. (1970), pp. 201-218; A Macrosociological Theory of Social Structure. AJS Vol. 83, No. 1. (1977), pp. 26-54; Presidential Address: Parameters of Social Structure. ASR Vol. 39, No. 5. (1974), pp. 615-635; The Cost of Inequality: Metropolitan Structure and Violent Crime. with Judith Blau. ASR Vol. 47, No. 1. (1982), pp. 114-129; Dissecting Types of Professional Schools. with others. Sociology of Education, Vol. 52, No. 1. (1979), pp. 7-19; Social Exchange. From Exchange and Power in Social Life. New York: Wiley, 1964, pp. 88-97.

Erving Goffman - A biography. See: Celebrating Erving Goffman, by Eliot Freidson, in Contemporary Sociology, 12 (4) July, 1983: 359-362. Role Models And Role Distance: A Remembrance of Erving Goffman, by Gary T. Marx. Theory and Society 13 (1984) 649-662. See these Goffman JSTOR papers: Felicity's Condition. American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 89, No. 1. (1983), pp. 1-53. The Interaction Order: American Sociological Association, 1982 Presidential Address. American Sociological Review, Vol. 48, No. 1. (1983), pp. 1-17. Embarrassment and Social Organization. American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 62, No. 3. (1956), pp. 264-271.

James S. Coleman - Short biography. See these JSTOR papers by Coleman: The Equilibrium Size Distribution of Freely-Forming Groups. with John James. Sociometry, Vol. 24, No. 1. (1961), pp. 36-45. Multidimensional Scale Analysis. AJS Vol. 63, No. 3. (1957), pp. 253-263. The Adolescent Subculture and Academic Achievement. AJS, Vol. 65, No. 4. (1960), pp. 337-347. Electronic Processing of Sociometric Data for Groups up to 1,000 in Size. with Duncan MacRae, Jr. ASR Vol. 25, No. 5. (1960), pp. 722-727. Foundations for a Theory of Collective Decisions. AJS Vol. 71, No. 6. (1966), pp. 615-627. Loss of Power. ASR Vol. 38, No. 1. (1973), pp. 1-17. Policy Decisions, Social Science Information, and Education. Sociology of Education, Vol. 49, No. 4. (1976), pp. 304-312. Social Theory, Social Research, and a Theory of Action. AJS Vol. 91, No. 6. (1986), pp. 1309-1335. Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital. AJS Vol. 94, (1988), pp. S95-S120. Commentary: Social Institutions and Social Theory. ASR Vol. 55, No. 3. (1990), pp. 333-339. The Rational Reconstruction of Society: 1992 Presidential Address. ASR Vol. 58, No. 1. (1993), pp. 1-15.

Norbert Elias and Process Sociology - This site identifies and provides internet resources for all social scientists working with the ideas of Norbert Elias and process sociology. Includes selected online writings.

Illuminations, The Critical Theory Website - A research resource for those interested in Critical Theory. Firmly based in Frankfurt School thought, this site maintains a collection of articles, excerpts, and chapters from many contemporary writers.

Welcome to the World of Michel Foucault - This site is dedicated to exploring the work of French philosopher and social critic Michel Foucault. See also some of the many other Foucault sites: The Foucauldian: Since 1999 thefoucauldian.co.uk has been a growing resource for those studying the work of the french "writer of fictions", Michel Foucault. Michel Foucault Resources: This site contains information on Michel Foucault.

Soziale Systeme - Willkommen! Es erwarten Sie Texte, Termine, Listen, links und Adressen rund um die Systemtheorie Niklas Luhmanns. Online articles by Luhmann include: Kausalität im Süden, Soziale Systeme 1(1):7-28, 1995; Das Medium der Religion. Eine soziologische Betrachtung über Gott und die Seelen [PDF], Soziale Systeme 6(1): 39-53, 2000.

HyperBourdieu - A comprehensive, contextual, and referential bibliography and mediagraphy of Bourdieu's works and public statements.

Feminist Theory Website - Hosted by the Center for Digital Discourse and Culture at Virginia Tech University.

Jeffrey C. Alexander - Faculty homepage. Includes very many of Alexander's writings in PDF versions. See also: Symposium on Jeffrey Alexander and the Project of Cultural Sociology, Thesis Eleven, November 2004. See also these JSTOR articles by Alexander: Formal and Substantive Voluntarism in the Work of Talcott Parsons. ASR, Vol. 43, No. 2. (1978), pp. 177-198; Once Again: The Case For Parsons's Voluntarism. ASR, Vol. 44, No. 1. (1979), pp. 175-177; Commentary: Structure, Value, Action. ASR, Vol. 55, No. 3. (1990), pp. 339-345. Book reviews by Alexander: Sociology as Social Criticism. T. B. Bottomore. AJS, Vol. 81, No. 5. (1976); The Form of Sociology: Paradigms and Crises. Contemporary Sociology (CS), Vol. 6, No. 6. (1977); Sociology in the Balance: A Critical Essay. AJS, Vol. 85, No. 5. (1980); The French Correction: Revisionism and Followership in the Interpretation of Parsons. CS, Vol. 10, No. 4. (1981); Habermas's New Critical Theory. AJS, Vol. 91, No. 2. (1985); The Return to Civil Society. CS, Vol. 22, No. 6. (Nov., 1993). Reviews about Alexander: A Half Step in the Right Direction. CS, Vol. 12, No. 2. (1983); Reductionism and "Restoration". CS, Vol. 12, No. 2. (1983); The Alexander Quartet: Early Impressions. AJS, Vol. 89, No. 1. (1983); Parsons, Jr. AJS, Vol. 89, No. 1. (1983); Alexander and the Transcendence of Sociology & Originality by Misrepresentation? CS Vol. 13, No. 3. (1984); Alexandrian Sociology. AJS, Vol. 90, No. 3. (1984); The Logic of Presuppositions. CS, Vol. 14, No. 3. (1985); Theoretical Logic in Sociology. Vol. 3. AJS, Vol. 91, No. 5. (1986); The Return of the Functionalists. CS, Vol. 15, No. 5. (1986); Twenty Lectures. CS, Vol. 17, No. 1. (1988); Twenty Lectures. AJS, Vol. 94, No. 2. (1988); Sociological Theory as Public Philosophy. AJS, Vol. 94, No. 3. (1988); Durkheimian Sociology: Cultural Studies. AJS, Vol. 95, No. 5. (1990); Durkheimian Sociology. CS, Vol. 19, No. 4. (1990); Action and Its Environments. CS, Vol. 19, No. 3. (1990); Fin de Siecle Social Theory. AJS, Vol. 103, No. 4. (1998).

Craig Calhoun - Website of the social theorist, including online articles. See also some JSTOR articles by Calhoun: Gerhard Lenski, Some False Oppositions, and "The Religious Factor", Sociological Theory Vol. 22, No. 2, Religion, Stratification, and Evolution in Human Societies: Essays in Honor of Gerhard E. Lenski (Jun., 2004), pp. 194-204; Explanation in Historical Sociology: Narrative, General Theory, and Historically Specific Theory, American Journal of Sociology Vol. 104, No. 3 (Nov., 1998), pp. 846-871; "New Social Movements" of the Early Nineteenth Century, Social Science History Vol. 17, No. 3 (Autumn, 1993), pp. 385-427; Nationalism and Ethnicity, Annual Review of Sociology Vol. 19 (1993), pp. 211-239; Morality, Identity, and Historical Explanation: Charles Taylor on the Sources of the Self, Sociological Theory Vol. 9, No. 2 (Autumn, 1991), pp. 232-263; Classical Social Theory and the French Revolution of 1848, Sociological Theory Vol. 7, No. 2 (Autumn, 1989), pp. 210-225; Populist Politics, Communications Media and Large Scale Societal Integration, Sociological Theory Vol. 6, No. 2 (Autumn, 1988), pp. 219-241.

Michele Lamont - Website of the Theory section Chair, 2003-04.

Andrew Abbott - Homepage at the University of Chicago. Includes online papers.

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