Edward Shils was one of the giants of sociological theory in the period after World War II. In this autobiography, written three years before his death in 1995, Shils reflects on the remarkable range of his life's work and activities, including founding and editing the journal "Minerva", being a central figure in the Congress of Cultural Freedom, serving as a founding member of the editorial board of "The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists", and being a member of the International Council on the Future of the University. Shils recognizes that a unity of concern runs through his many theoretical writings and activities. Early in his life, the concern was expressed as understanding the character of consensus. During the last fifteen years of his life, he refined his understanding of consensus through investigation of the nature of "collective self-consciousness." That concern was the structure and character of the moral order of a society, and, in particular, liberal, democratic society. Accompanying the autobiography are two unpublished essays, "Society, Collective Self-Consciousness and Collective Self-Consciousnesses" and "Collective Self-Consciousness and Rational Choice," two areas of intellectual concern discussed in the autobiography. The book contains fascinating discussion of many of the people Shils knew throughout his illustrious career: Robert Park, Louis Wirth, Talcott Parsons, Karl Mannheim, Michael Polanyi, Audrey Richards, Karl Popper, Robert Merton, and many others. They represent Shils' final formulations on the character of society and its moral order. As such, it is a most important contribution both to the history of the social sciences in the twentieth century and to sociological theory.

Sociological Lives gives the reader a glimpse into the sociology of sociology by presenting autobiographical accounts dealing with varied aspects of the interplay between social structures and human lives. The contributors reveal something of how their own sociological lives have been influenced by changing social structures and how, in turn, their lives are variously located in the structure and history of sociology and marked by societal and intellectual trends spanning nearly a century. The introspection and retrospection give the reader rare access to the inner experiences of some of the field's leading scholars as well as their appraisal of sociological trends and their ideas of the shape of future trends. The c

An introduction to the field of women and gender in Victorian and Edwardian England. This set describes sources that offer a broad spectrum of opinions, debates, ideas and ideologies about "woman" as revealed in writings a bout sex roles, gender and womanhood; marriage, family and domestic life; health and medical treatment; law and amendments to legal definitions of women's place; religion; and education.

Based on 250 life-story interviews in seven European Union countries, Biography and social exclusion in Europe:analyses personal struggles against social exclusion to illuminate local milieus and changing welfare regimes and contexts;points to challenging new agendas for European politics and welfare, beyond the rhetoric of communitarianism and the New Deal;vividly illustrates the lived experience and environmental complexity working for and against structural processes of social exclusion;refashions the interpretive tradition as a teaching and research tool linking macro and micro realities.·[vbTab]·[vbTab]·[vbTab]Students, academic teachers and professional trainers, practitioners, politicians, policy makers and researchers in applied and comparative welfare fields will all benefit from reading this book.

Both an intimate personal memoir and a richly detailed chronicle of one of the most tumultuous periods in American history, Reunion encompasses the tragic and terrifying events of the '60s.