This volume focuses on Georg Simmel the 'sociologist', but it deals with more than his 'sociology' narrowly conceived. Against many previous English and American presentations of Simmel as an unsystematic theorist, this volume demonstrates that he operated with a systematic dialectical method in the analysis of social and cultural forms. Examples of social forms - including fashion, the secret and money - are presented as exemplifications of this method. Simmel's 'relational epistemology', his use of 'fictions' ('the philosophy of as if') and his largely neglected evolutionary thinking are also examined as aspects of his method. The volume locates Simmel's work historically, including the implications of his 'marginality' to the academy. The continuities seen in Simmel's work include his continuous concern with the dialectical tension between 'subjective culture' and 'objective culture'. The volume concludes with a reassessment of Simmel's relevance today.

This book shows that a dialectical conceptual model underpins Georg Simmel's writings. The book provides key examples of social forms - including fashion, the secret and money - as exemplifications of this method. The volume concludes with a reassessment of Simmel's relevance today.

Anthony Giddens is one of the world's best known sociologists. Since becoming director of the London School of Economics in 1997, he has also played a leading public role, not least as 'Blair's guru' and author of The Third Way . This book opens up for academic and general readers who Giddens is, what he has done in academic life over more than forty years, and how his work over the last decade on modernity, globalisation and transformation of personal life underpins his current public and political activities.