Durkheim : a critical introduction /
Kieran Allen and Brian O'Boyle.
- vii, 202 pages ; 22 cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Durkheim declassified -- Durkheim's French republican -- The division of labour -- Durkheim's Method of scientific inquiry -- Suicide -- The elementary forms of religious life -- Educating republican citizens -- Socialism and Saint-Simon -- The limits to Durkheim's republican sociology.
"Emile Durkheim, along with Karl Marx and Max Weber, is one of the three 'founding fathers of sociology'. This is the first book to situate his sociology in the context of his republican politics, freeing his ideas from more conventional studies and allowing the reader to see his ideas afresh. This critical introduction argues that Durkheim's defence of Republican France in the 1890s had a considerable influence on his sociology, which cannot be fully understood when removed from its historical and political context. His dismissal of economic factors in suicide rates, the influence of his anti-feminist position on his findings on marriage rates, and the idealism behind his claim that religion is the key determinant in shaping society are all discussed."--Publisher's website.