John Holmwood

The book outlines the sociological arguments and political activities of the US pragmatist sociologist, Herbert Adolphus Miller (1875-1951). Miller was part of the milieu of Chicago sociology and involved in its studies of race and immigration. He took a distinctly more radical approach and developed a novel political sociology of domination in which he set out a critique of empires, the plight of subject minorities and the risks associated with the inevitable nationalist responses. Where others have identified with the ‘internationalisation’ of nationalism, Miller sought to make the nation ‘international’. He was actively involved in movements for racial justice, Czechoslovakian independence, the formation of the Mid-European Union of subject peoples, as well as support for Korean and Indian independence. He was dismissed by Ohio State University for his activism in 1932.

Modern society emerged in the context of European colonialism and empire. So, too, did a distinctively modern social theory, laying the basis for most social theorising ever since. Yet colonialism and empire are absent from the conceptual understandings of modern society, which are organised instead around ideas of nation state and capitalist economy. Gurminder K. Bhambra and John Holmwood address this absence by examining the role of colonialism in the development of modern society and the legacies it has bequeathed. Beginning with a consideration of the role of colonialism and empire in the formation of social theory from Hobbes to Hegel, the authors go on to focus on the work of Tocqueville, Marx, Weber, Durkheim and Du Bois. As well as unpicking critical omissions and misrepresentations, the chapters discuss the places where colonialism is acknowledged and discussed – albeit inadequately – by these founding figures; and we come to see what this fresh rereading has to offer and why it matters. This inspiring and insightful book argues for a reconstruction of social theory that should lead to a better understanding of contemporary social thought, its limitations, and its wider possibilities.

Modern society emerged in the context of European colonialism and empire. So, too, did a distinctively modern social theory, laying the basis for most social theorising ever since. Yet colonialism and empire are absent from the conceptual understandings of modern society, which are organised instead around ideas of nation state and capitalist economy. Gurminder K. Bhambra and John Holmwood address this absence by examining the role of colonialism in the development of modern society and the legacies it has bequeathed. Beginning with a consideration of the role of colonialism and empire in the formation of social theory from Hobbes to Hegel, the authors go on to focus on the work of Tocqueville, Marx, Weber, Durkheim and Du Bois. As well as unpicking critical omissions and misrepresentations, the chapters discuss the places where colonialism is acknowledged and discussed – albeit inadequately – by these founding figures; and we come to see what this fresh rereading has to offer and why it matters. This inspiring and insightful book argues for a reconstruction of social theory that should lead to a better understanding of contemporary social thought, its limitations, and its wider possibilities.

In 2014 `Trojan Horse’ affair, an alleged plot to `Islamify’ several state schools in Birmingham, caused a previously highly successful school to be vilified. Holmwood and O’Toole challenge the accepted narrative and draw on the potential parallel with the Hillsborough disaster to suggest a similar false narrative has taken hold of public debate. This important book highlights the major injustice inflicted on the teachers and shows how this affair was used to criticise multiculturalism, and justify the expansion of a broad and intrusive counter extremism agenda.

The theories of Talcott Parsons' are enjoying a revival in the world of sociology. Rather than following closely the complex original prose in an effort to explain the theory in its minutiae, Holmwood presents a highly readable non-technical critique of several of the strongest underlying sociological themes and shows how, although flawed in many respects, these themes have been recurring, in different forms, in the theories of those critical of his work.

The theories of Talcott Parsons' are enjoying a revival in the world of sociology. Rather than following closely the complex original prose in an effort to explain the theory in its minutiae, Holmwood presents a highly readable non-technical critique of several of the strongest underlying sociological themes and shows how, although flawed in many respects, these themes have been recurring, in different forms, in the theories of those critical of his work.

The book ranges widely over modern social theory, giving detailed treatments of major sources to identify common themes and deficiencies in apparently disparate schools of thought. The object is to lay bare negative assumptions forming methodologies in modern social theory in order to redirect the social sciences towards real problems and the progressive consequences of their solution. Examples are given and, throughout, the continuity of particular and general concerns is demonstrated.