This book explores the many different strands in the language of civil society from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Through a series of case-studies it investigates the applicability of the term to a wide range of historical settings. The contributors show how past understandings of the term were often very different from (even in some respects the exact opposite of) those held today.

This book explores the many different strands in the language of civil society from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Through a series of case-studies it investigates the applicability of the term to a wide range of historical settings. The contributors show how past understandings of the term were often very different from (even in some respects the exact opposite of) those held today.

Tönnies' Community and Civil Society (first published in 1887 as Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft) is a classic of social and political theory, exploring the tension between close-knit "communities" and an emerging global market "society". It is a response to modernity, an exercise in social, political and moral science, and an unusual commentary on the inner character of "democratic socialism". This new translation and introduction make this important work much more readily accessible to student readers, and those interested in social and political theory and the history of European ideas.

This new edition of Jose Harris's biography of William Beveridge draws upon extensive new archive material about his private and public career. It expands the account given in the first edition of the origins and reception of the Beveridge Plan, and shows how the tortuous character of Beveridge's personal and emotional history helped to shape his contribution to twentieth century social reform.

Ferdinand Toennies' Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (first published in 1887) is a classic of social and political theory, which explores the clash between small-scale neighbourhood-based 'communities' and large-scale competitive market 'societies'. Toennies considers all aspects of life - political, economic, legal and family; art, religion and culture; the construction of 'selfhood' and 'personhood'; and modes of cognition, language and understanding. Often recognised as one of the founding texts of sociology, Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft is also a highly significant contribution to European political thought and philosophy, with particular relevance to the legacies of Hobbes and Kant. It is at once a response to modernity, a theoretical exercise in social, political and moral science, and an unusual commentary on the inner character of 'democratic socialism'. This new English rendition will introduce Toennies' work to a fresh generation of English-speaking readers with interests in social and political theory and the history of European ideas.