Franco Ferrarotti is widely regarded as the founder of postwar Italian sociology. Along with such figures as Leo Strauss, Edward Shils, David Riesman, Robert Merton, and Ralf Dahrendorf, he established the terms and texts of contemporary sociology after the Second World War.Social Theory for Old and New Modernities is a collection of Ferrarotti's essays that brings his work back into the forefront of sociology. His writings, on theory and ethnographic research, on immigration and multiculturalism, on religion and secularization, speak directly to today's social and political dilemmas and crises and offer sociologists a critical and enlivened vision of their discipline. Maria Macioti's Introduction locates Franco Ferrarotti's work within his remarkable life, that of a politician, intellectual, and social scientist living amidst the social and political changes of the last half of the twentieth century, anticipating the changes and challenges of the twenty-first. E. Doyle McCarthy is the editor of this collection.

We live in a time of high Church membership, but low Church attendance. Franco Ferrarotti, arguably the most important sociologist of religion alive, captures the source of this paradox In the title of his new book, Faith without Dogma. For it is belief that propels membership, while the absence of dogma results in a reticence to accept hierarchical direction from above or beyond.

Basing much of his analysis on the postwar struggles within Roman Catholicism, Ferrarotti views the demand for religious renewal and revival as part and parcel of the emergence of broad social agendas--agendas to which not even the Roman curia could remain impervious. The former easy relationships between Church and State, especially authoritarian states in Europe and Latin America, gave way to a critical defense of individual rights within a context of a broadened vision of Christian doctrine.

In addition to issues Involved in internal affairs of religion, Ferrarotti explores a series of developments that have changed for all time the nature of Church survival. The critical element, one that goes beyond specific doctrinal accommodations, is the new primary connection of Church to people rather than Church to State. This came about through the widespread acceptance of science and technology as frames of intellectual reference, the emergence of secularization as mediating religious claims and the creation from the Enlightenment to the Postmodern eras of "civil religions."

The volume concludes with a set of chapters on the nature of sacred events and objects, the emergence of new varieties of prayer, and concludes with a chapter on the relationship of ideology to theology prepared especially for the English language edition of Faith without Dogma. This is a book likely to attract a broad audience among religionists and culturologists, as well as social scientists.

Over the last hundred years the history of capitalism hardly supports the idea of a dynamic equilibrium between democracy and capitalism. The unprecedented triumph of global capitalism and its stronger power of transformation are changing the nature of political community and its institutions, transforming the conditions of democratic politics and governance. The writings collected in this volume present leading statements of theories of democracy and capitalism in Italy starting from Vilfredo Pareto who firstly focused on the transformation of democracy into a plutocracy in which vested interests use the government as a tool for their own profit, until Norberto Bobbio who expressed a strong defence of democracy and a deep critique of capitalism. As Marx, Weber, and Schumpeter-from different perspectives-have pointed out capitalism rather then just an economic mode of organization, is a "mentality," a "social logic," a "form of living," that influences and reshapes political structures, and culture. The globalized economic order is challenging the foundations and political principles upon which liberal democracy is based. Global markets have unleashed economic forces that are becoming too powerful for democratic institutions to control. Even if the formal elements of democracy still survive, the "government by the people, for the people" is declining; elections, debates, parties, are evacuated, and bypassed by new, less accountable processes.

Over the last hundred years the history of capitalism hardly supports the idea of a dynamic equilibrium between democracy and capitalism. The unprecedented triumph of global capitalism and its stronger power of transformation are changing the nature of political community and its institutions, transforming the conditions of democratic politics and governance. The writings collected in this volume present leading statements of theories of democracy and capitalism in Italy starting from Vilfredo Pareto who firstly focused on the transformation of democracy into a plutocracy in which vested interests use the government as a tool for their own profit, until Norberto Bobbio who expressed a strong defence of democracy and a deep critique of capitalism. As Marx, Weber, and Schumpeter-from different perspectives-have pointed out capitalism rather then just an economic mode of organization, is a 'mentality', a 'social logic', a 'form of living', that influences and reshapes political structures, and culture. The globalized economic order is challenging the foundations and political principles upon which liberal democracy is based. Global markets have unleashed economic forces that are becoming too powerful for democratic institutions to control. Even if the formal elements of democracy still survive, the 'government by the people, for the people' is declining; elections, debates, parties, are evacuated, and bypassed by new, less accountable processes.

Franco Ferrarotti is widely regarded as the founder of postwar Italian sociology. Along with such figures as Leo Strauss, Edward Shils, David Riesman, Robert Merton, and Ralf Dahrendorf, he established the terms and texts of contemporary sociology after the Second World War.Social Theory for Old and New Modernities is a collection of Ferrarotti's essays that brings his work back into the forefront of sociology. His writings, on theory and ethnographic research, on immigration and multiculturalism, on religion and secularization, speak directly to today's social and political dilemmas and crises and offer sociologists a critical and enlivened vision of their discipline. Maria Macioti's Introduction locates Franco Ferrarotti's work within his remarkable life, that of a politician, intellectual, and social scientist living amidst the social and political changes of the last half of the twentieth century, anticipating the changes and challenges of the twenty-first. E. Doyle McCarthy is the editor of this collection.

Franco Ferrarotti turns his considerable erudition and insight to issues of theory and method in the human sciences, arguing that sociological investigations have been limited by their preoccupation with quantitative methods of investigation. Crucial social problems, from drug addiction to terrorism, can best be addressed by rediscovering autobiographical materials and the value of the individual. Ferrarotti hopes to lead sociologists away from overly reductionistic, technical measurement of their subjects_an approach that has increasingly been problematized by the natural sciences_toward an examination of the domain of lived experience using methods that are both interpretive and historical.

We live in a time of high Church membership, but low Church attendance. Franco Ferrarotti, arguably the most important sociologist of religion alive, captures the source of this paradox In the title of his new book, Faith without Dogma. For it is belief that propels membership, while the absence of dogma results in a reticence to accept hierarchical direction from above or beyond. Basing much of his analysis on the postwar struggles within Roman Catholicism, Ferrarotti views the demand for religious renewal and revival as part and parcel of the emergence of broad social agendas agendas to which not even the Roman curia could remain impervious. The former easy relationships between Church and State, especially authoritarian states in Europe and Latin America, gave way to a critical defense of individual rights within a context of a broadened vision of Christian doctrine. In addition to issues Involved in internal affairs of religion, Ferrarotti explores a series of developments that have changed for all time the nature of Church survival. The critical element, one that goes beyond specific doctrinal accommodations, is the new primary connection of Church to people rather than Church to State. This came about through the widespread acceptance of science and technology as frames of intellectual reference, the emergence of secularization as mediating religious claims and the creation from the Enlightenment to the Postmodern eras of "civil religions." The volume concludes with a set of chapters on the nature of sacred events and objects, the emergence of new varieties of prayer, and concludes with a chapter on the relationship of ideology to theology prepared especially for the English language edition of Faith without Dogma. This is a book likely to attract a broad audience among religionists and culturologists, as well as social scientists.

We are nothing in an absolute sense. We are only what we have been-more exactly, what we remember we were. So begins the latest book by one of Europe's most influential modern sociologists, Franco Ferrarotti. In The Temptation to Forget, Ferrarotti examines how many in the waning years of the 20th century are attempting to forget or reinvent history to serve the purposes of ethnic, racial, or religious separation. Ferrarotti focuses on anti-Semitism and its re-emergence among the Skinheads of the 1980s to draw parallels to how the Holocaust has been reinterpreted/forgotten, and to analyze the implications of this for relations with other ethnic, racial, and religious minorities. Ethnic cleansing may be a new term, but, as Ferrarotti illustrates, it has a long heritage in thought and action. This book will make for provocative reading among professional sociologists and students of contemporary social issues.

Why should the sociologist concern himself with time? asks Franco Ferrarotti in his latest work. Temporality is, he argues, the essential fluid dimension in the study of the social. Including time as a factor in sociological analysis is the only way to reintroduce the dynamic moment of social reality as a mental construct into an analytical process otherwise reified by the limits of quantitative methods. Ultimately, Ferrarotti contends, the usual way of laying out and proceeding with sociological analysis must be decisively inverted. This book is challenging reading for the sociologist and philosopher alike. Why should the sociologist concern himself with time? asks Franco Ferrarotti in his latest work. Temporality is, he argues, the essential fluid dimension in the study of the social. Including time as a factor in sociological analysis is the only way to reintroduce the dynamic moment of social reality as a mental construct into an analytical process otherwise reified by the limits of quantitative methods. The biographical and autobiographical approaches are also rooted in time. They elicit a problematic human situation and distinguish radically between the technical problem, resolvable through the exact practical application of a given, ideally indifferent, and interchangable formula, and the human dimension. Ultimately, Ferrarotti contends, the usual way of laying out and proceeding with sociological analysis must be decisively inverted. The order of priorities in the research process now followed in the human sciences tends to encourage the loss of the sense of the problem through the crude postulation of technical and human problems as equivalent. Time, Memory, and Society will be challenging, thought provoking reading for the sociologist, social theorist, and philosopher.

Franco Ferrarotti here offers a provocative look at the future of a world dominated by mass media--particularly television. He argues eloquently that the art of story-telling, the traditions of oral history, the simple pleasures of individual conversation are being lost, precisely because they embody qualities antithetical to the technological imperatives of mass society--qualities such as time to develop a thought, a thirst for details, patience, and a delight in the unexpected. He asserts that the mental habits prevailing in an age that places undue value on instantaneous images are incompatible with extended face-to-face dialogue.

With the advent of a new millenium little more than a decade away, Professor Ferrarotti has written a unique collection of futurological scenarios that stresses the importance of both the historical and a muti-disciplinary approach. The author draws attention to the political tension underlying technological innovation, while heralding the anticipated appearance of a new ethos shaped by the exigencies of the new technological age. Old-fashioned individualism appears to be doomed, acknowledges the author; yet a new kind of socially-oriented individualism could develop, preserving that which is still vital in traditional values and influencing new, socio-psychological attitudes which are required by a technically advancing society.

Franco Ferrarotti examines the ways in which we have come to cope with the problems unforeseen by the early idealists of the industrial age. Beginning with a detailed critique of the Enlightenment concept of the individual and how it compares to present day values, beliefs, and attitudes, he proceeds to demonstrate how current technology influences the lives of individuals in the work place and in the community at large. The influence of science and industrial progress on our development as human beings is critically analyzed. Finally, Ferrarotti gives some suggestions as to how we may find a way out of the dilemmas facing modern society and speculates on the fates of those societies currently in transition. While many writers have dealt with specific aspects of the modern industrial age, Ferrarotti faces squarely the general problem of the social and political impact of technologically based life.