William H. Swatos

Max Weber is surpassed only by Karl Marx in the breadth of his influence as a social scientist. This bio-bibliography presents a complete listing of printed translations of Weber's works into English and a comprehensive, annotated bibliography of the secondary literature in English about Weber and his work. The first part contains chapter-length biographies of Weber, an overview of Weber's reception in Anglo-America, and a brief discussion of archival holdings for those interested in primary sources. Kivisto and Swatos offer an assessment of existing studies of Weber's life and thought in lieu of a conventional biography. The bulk of the volume is devoted to providing a bibliographic guide to the secondary literature on Weber in English. Annotated entries are arranged in five topical chapters that focus on biography and intellectual history, social science methodology, religion, politics and social class, and modernity, rationality, and bureaucracy.Additional access to information is provided by two indexes: the author index lists the authors of all entries and the number(s) of their respective citations; the name and subject index identifies names that appear in titles or bibliographic entries and guides the researcher to subjects that may be treated in more than one chapter. This first annotated bibliography of works by and about one of modern sociology's founding fathers is a reference book for both scholars and students of social theory, historical sociology, the sociology of religion, and organizational sociology.

Currently, public religion is in a time of flux and the notion of the common good—once associated with the Protestant voice in America—is openly contested by new religious coalitions seeking to communicate their version of the truth and plant their stake in the public domain. This edited volume reflects on the changing tone and form of the public voice of religion, on its function in American society, and on its relationship to the private world of religion. It proposes that public religion, when exercised in a civil and accountable way, can be a responsible and prophetic voice in public life and enrich the American experiment in liberal democracy. The contributors—first-rate scholars including Martin Marty and Robert Belah—focus on public religion's influence on controversial issues such as multiculturalism, economic inequality, abortion, and homosexuality.

This timely collection of 13 essays addresses a variety of aspects of political-religious interaction in the former Eastern Bloc. The studies reported here draw upon both quantitative and qualitative research methods in examining politics and religion in the former Soviet Union, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and in Poland and Hungary. Contributors from North American and Western, Central, and Eastern Europe bring a fascinating variety of perspectives and styles of analysis to bear permitting a dual comparative overview--not only of the different countries but of different approaches to the topic.

These sociologists and theorists, long concerned with the critical role in society of the middle class, trace its historical, structural, and cultural links with democracy since ancient times. They show how the middle class has been instrumental in spawning industrialization and capitalism. They consider the rise and decline of fascism and communism and the development of multinational capitalism. They reflect upon the decline of the working class, the growth of an underclass, and the need today to counterbalance the power of the rich and big business. They ponder how to break an iron cage of bureaucracy and to revitalize democracy. This socio-historical analysis from a neo-Weberian perspective deals with issues that are central to sociologists, political theorists, and historians.

This book is a collection of essays that explore a variety of topics in religious history, both East and West, using theoretical frameworks derived from the comparative-historical sociology of Max Weber. It breaks new ground, offering substantive new research in the historical sociology of religion. The scope of essays covers both geographical and chronological vistas.The first section of this contributed volume focuses on Oriental religion. A survey chapter by Gert Mueller on the religions of Asia precedes two more specific studies by Deniz Tekiner and Donovan Walling on, respectively, social conflict and change in Indian religion and Tibetan (Buddhist) patrimonialism. The second section considers the heritage of Occidental religion. Peter Munch analyzes the charismatic authority of the judges of Ancient Israel, while Joseph Bryant explores the religion of ancient Greek intellectuals from Homer and Hesiod through the pre-Socratics. A final essay by Donald Nielsen assesses the quality of contemporary efforts to do a sociology of early Christianity and makes some suggestions toward improvement. The third section deals with the breakthrough to the modern world view. An initial essay by Nielsen treats the Inquisition in its earliest stages as presaging later Western religious rationalization. A chapter by Bill Garrett then assesses two modern attempts (by Guy E. Swanson and Robert Wuthnow) to account for Reformation outcomes. Two essays, by Steve Kent and Fred Kniss, deal with two of the little Protestant traditions: the Quakers and various Mennonite strains. A final contribution by the editor examines the role of religion in the creation and maintenance of slavery in the American South. This book should appeal to anyone interested in Buddhism, Hinduism, Ancient Judaism, Ancient Greece, early Christianity, and Protestantism and Catholicism from the 13th to the 19th centuries, and it can ideally be used as a text for teaching Comparative Religions at the undergraduate and nonspecialist graduate levels.

Current social and political theories, which tend to dismiss religious resurgence as a deviant occurrence in the broad sweep of history, do not provide an adequate framework for the study of the dramatic resurgence of religion as a worldwide political force. This book is the first to address the interplay of religion and politics systematically and on a global scale. Offering interpretive essays as well as quantitative comparative analyses, it develops a comprehensive theoretical framework and presents the most complete comparative account available of the realities of religious politics in the contemporary world.The first of the interpretive chapters focuses on the cultural factor as a means of clarifying the role of religion in the modern world system. The next two chapters examine the concept of the self in the context of globalization and the absence of solidarity as a unifying force in societal systems. The role of ultimate values in politics and the reasons for the emergence of militant religious movements in nation-states is also considered. A worldwide study of religious change between 1900 and 1980 gives a clear picture of contemporary global religious movements and formulates a tentative set of explanations of change based on data analysis. The statistical links between religious beliefs and political views, and between religion and democracy, are explored. The editor's concluding chapter looks at the implications of the authors' findings for general theory in the sociology of religion. The editor stresses the need for reconceptualizing basic theoretical constructs, particularly the concept of religion itself. An important contribution to our understanding of the religious and political forces that are shaping the modern world, this work will be of interest to academics, researchers, and students of world religions, sociology, and political science.

This collection of essays represents a comprehensive socio-political analysis of public and private bureaucracy, emphasizing its dangerous ramifications for democracy and individualism. The contributors analyze a variety of bureaucratic systems, providing a combination of theory, case studies, and proposed solutions, in an effort to enable the reader to confront the real problems of bureaucracy. Emphasis is on programs and principles directed to the maintenance of democracy and freedom within the limits and conditions of modernity. Bureaucracy Against Democracy and Socialism offers valuable implications for anyone interested in organizational theory and behavior.

This collection of seventeen essays presents an interactive discussion of critical issues in sociology and religion. Combining reports from empirical research with discussions of theoretical issues, personal reflections, and applied perspectives, the book offers a thorough examination of the sociology-religion interface. The collection brings together experience and analysis in the best sociological tradition, while taking a fundamental, non-reductionist approach toward religious perspectives.