"Few have failed to recognize the return of the religious as a
factor in social theory. None, so far, has more cogently explained
the contributions of French social thought to the challenge of the
Sacred in our day than Riley." . Charles Lemert, author of
Durkheim's Ghosts
"Alexander Riley's radically revisionist account throws down the
gauntlet to the conventional wisdom of intellectual history. Riley
offers a cultural sociology of intellectuals that explores the
sacred narratives that motivate their life and work...original and
compelling." . Jeffrey C. Alexander, Lillian Chavenson Saden
Professor of Sociology at Yale University
The Durkheimians have traditionally been understood as
positivist, secular thinkers, fully within the Enlightenment
project of limitless reason and progress. In a radical revision of
this view, this book persuasively argues that the core members of
the Durkheimian circle (Durkheim himself, Marcel Mauss, Henri
Hubert and Robert Hertz) are significantly more complicated than
this. Through his extensive analysis of large volumes of
correspondence as well as historical and macro-sociological
mappings of the intellectual and social worlds in which the
Durkheimian project emerged, the author shows the Durkheimian
project to have constituted a quasi-religious quest in ways much
deeper than most interpreters have thought. Their fascination, both
personal and intellectual, with the sacred is the basis on which
the author reconstructs some important components of modern French
intellectual history, connecting Durkheimian thought to key
representatives of French poststructuralism and postmodernism:
Bataille, Foucault, Derrida, Baudrillard, and Deleuze.
Alexander Tristan Riley received his PhD from the University of
California, San Diego in 2000. Currently he is Associate Professor
of Sociology at Bucknell University. He writes and teaches in the
areas of cultural and social theory and cultural sociology."
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
