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All of the essays included in the present volume were written between 1995 and 2001. This attests to the timeliness and relevance of Dennis H. Wrong's writings. He notes that the mid-twentieth-century disposition to believe that politics fundamentally consisted of clashes between totalistic worldviews, such as communism, socialism, capitalism, fascism, nationalism, internationalism, and a cluster of "isms," may have been historically transitional. But politics now appears more nuanced, if no less troubled, following the collapse of the Soviet bloc between 1989 and 1991. Multiculturalism and identity politics, as well as communitarianism flourished in the 1990s. The volume is divided into five parts: "Capitalism--Inequalities and Alternatives," "Multiculturalism and Identity Politics," "Communitarianism," "Theory and Theorists," and "Autobiographical Reminiscences." This concluding part indicates how Wrong's work includes self-reflections as well as reflections--an examination of how figures such as C. Wright Mills and Raymond Aron, Amitai Etzioni, and Digby Baltzell, played a role in shaping his own thought, and how these changed over the course of the past century. This is the third collection of the essays and articles of Dennis H. Wrong published by Transaction. As was the case with his earlier volumes, Reflections on a Politically Skeptical Era is characterized by a deep attention to the actual social history of our times, and how this plays out in academic pursuits--especially within sociology. Whether the works were published in academic journals or more popular media, they reflect a quality of literary manners that is rare among social science writings, but a reflection that never sacrifices a sense of principle and probity in the process.
In one grand effort, this is an anatomy of power, a history of the ways in which it has been defined, and a study of its forms (force, manipulation, authority, and persuasion), its bases (individual and collective resources, political mobilization), and its uses. The issues that Dennis Wrong addresses range from the philosophical and ethical to the psychological and political. Much of the work is punctuated with careful examples from history. While the author illuminates his discussion with references to Weber, Marx, Freud, Plato, Dostoevsky, Orwell, Hobbes, Arendt, and Machiavelli, he keeps his arguments grounded in contemporary practical issues, such as class conflicts, multi-party politics, and parent-child relationships. In his new introduction, prepared for the 1995 edition of Power, the author reconsiders the concept of power, now locating it in the broader traditions of the social sciences rather than as a series of actions and actors within the sociological tradition. As a result. Wrong emphasizes such major distinctions as "power over" and "power to," and various conflations of power as commonly used. The new opening provides the reader with a deeper appreciation of the non-reductionist character of the book as a whole.
Definitions of human beings as "symbolic animals" emphasize our
capacity to form theories and general laws that can be applied to
common social experience. This is balanced by an equally strong
will to define events and conditions that are particular to
specific times, places, and individuals. In this volume, Dennis H.
Wrong argues that the scientific standard of universal laws and
propositions has only limited relevance to human historical
phenomena.
..". a welcome and scholarly contribution to Political Science
reference collections and reading lists."--"The Bookwatch"
In one grand effort, this is an anatomy of power, a history of the ways in which it has been defined, and a study of its forms (force, manipulation, authority, and persuasion), its bases (individual and collective resources, political mobilization), and its uses. The issues that Dennis Wrong addresses range from the philosophical and ethical to the psychological and political. Much of the work is punctuated with careful examples from history. While the author illuminates his discussion with references to Weber, Marx, Freud, Plato, Dostoevsky, Orwell, Hobbes, Arendt, and Machiavelli, he keeps his arguments grounded in contemporary practical issues, such as class conflicts, multi-party politics, and parent-child relationships. In his new introduction, prepared for the 1995 edition of Power, the author reconsiders the concept of power, now locating it in the broader traditions of the social sciences rather than as a series of actions and actors within the sociological tradition. As a result. Wrong emphasizes such major distinctions as "power over" and "power to," and various conflations of power as commonly used. The new opening provides the reader with a deeper appreciation of the non-reductionist character of the book as a whole.
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