"An Army of Civil Servants": Max Weber and Émile Durkheim on socialism

This paper is a comparison of the views of Max Weber and Émile Durkheim on socialism; these two have yet to be compared on this topic. They offered shared critiques of socialism, but differed in assessment of its overall worth, with Durkheim being more welcoming. After considering possible explanations for this divergence I argue it reflects the contrasting methodologies adopted by both. Whilst Weber places questions of the ‘value’ of socialism solely in the conscious of the individual, and therefore beyond sociology, Durkheim sees this as a social question and therefore part of the practical concerns of sociologists

"What is Bread?" The Anthropology of Belief

This is a postprint (accepted manuscript) version of the article published in Ethos 40(3):341-357 in September 2012. The final version of the article can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.bu.edu/doi/10.1111/j.1548-1352.2012.01261.x/abstract (login required to access content). The version made available in Digital Common was supplied by the author.Accepted Manuscripttru

'An Apotheosis of Well-Being': Durkheim on austerity and double-dip recessions

This article is an attempt to contribute a view on the economic crisis from classical sociology, a voice often missing from the sociological response to the crisis. The work of Émile Durkheim provides a unique perspective here centred on morality and inequality produced in a historical context akin to our neoliberal times. It is argued there are four key points to take from Durkheim’s work. Firstly, that the initial credit crunch can be more fully understood with reference to the economic anomie which Durkheim sees as ‘chronic’ in a time of marketization. Secondly, that this creates an antagonistic relationship between a supposedly self-dependent rich and lazy poor. Thirdly, this conception of self-dependency and individual initiative makes any attempt to regulate the economy akin to sacrilege. Finally, the state is unwilling to intervene due to the emergence of ‘pseudo-democracies’. Therefore, Durkheim’s theory accounts for the initial crisis, austerity and double-dip recessions in a sociological framework. The article concludes by returning to the centrality of morality to the crisis for Durkheim and highlighting the omission of this in contemporary debates

Lettres à Marcel Mauss, París, PUF, 1998

Depto. de Sociología AplicadaFac. de Ciencias Políticas y SociologíaTRUEpu

LA PEDAGOGIA DE ROUSSEAU: plan de lecciones

PRIMERA LECCIONA) CARACTER IDEAL Y ABSTRACTO DEL METODO1. El método de El contrato. Se trataba de elaborar un plan de la sociedad que conviniera al hombre en general; en consecuencia, un plan fundado en la naturaleza del hombre. Además, el problema fundamental consistía en reencontrar los elementos esenciales del hombre.II. El problema de la educación es expuesto por Rousseau en los mismos términos. No se pregunta cuál es la educación conveniente para tal país y en tal tiempo. Estas son modalidades accidentales que no van al fondo de las cosas y de la cuales es necesario hacer abstracción

Što bi trebala biti opća sociologija

Preveo Rade Kalan