Showing little respect for intellectual fads and fashions, the authors submit key sociological concepts, theories and figures to a searching examination. In doing so they reaffirm that a non-Marxist critique is still possible. This book should be of interest to students and teachers of sociology.

Unlike most other sociology or social science dictionaries, in this translation of the Critical Dictionary of Sociology, taken from the second French edition of the Dictionary and edited by the English sociologist Peter Hamilton, the critical value of this distinctive work is at last made available for a wider audience. Each entry grapples directly with an issue, whether theoretical, epistemological, philosophical, political or empirical, and provides a strong statement of what the authors think about it. The discussions are considered but argumentative. By reaffirming that a non-marxist style of critique is still possible, Boudon and Bourricaud have presented a distinctive approach to the key issues which confront the societies of the Twentieth and Twenty-First centuries. For some this work will be a textbook, for others an indispensable sourcebook of sociological concepts, and for most a way of opening our eyes to new dimensions in our understanding of the great ideas and theories of sociology.

Die Autoren dieses sozialwissenschaftlichen Standardwerkes behandeln in mehr als siebzig Grundsatzartikeln zu Schlusselbegriffen, Theorien und historisch wesentlichen Autoren die zentralen Probleme der Soziologie. Insgesamt bietet der Band eine ebenso umfassende wie kritische Einfuhrung in Entwicklung und Stand der Soziologie und ihrer einzelnen Bereiche."