Society, History, and the Global Human Condition: Essays in Honor of Irving M. Zeitlin

by Zaheer Baber (Editor), Joseph M. Bryant (Editor), Professor Lord Anthony Giddens (Contribution by), Robert J. Brym (Contribution by), Zaheer Baber (Contribution by)

Overview

This Festschrift for Irving M. Zeitlin honors a scholar whose work has influenced and continues to influence sociology, particularly classical sociological theory, sociology of religion, and historical sociology. Irving M. Zeitlin's scholarship and mentoring has also influenced and inspired a new generation of sociologists. The essays presented here address a wide range of topics that include classical sociological theory, globalization, bureaucracy, genocide, resistance, ethnic diversity, the intifada, anti-Semitism, democracy, geopolitical theory, war literature, science, and national culture. The contributions span a wide range of geographical areas that include Korea, China, India, Poland, Spain, Germany, the ex-Soviet Union, Canada, and the United States. These essays by eminent scholars located in many parts of the world affirm the incredibly broad range of expertise and learning that Irving M. Zeitlin's work has engaged with. The contributions to this volume also serve to highlight the contemporary relevance of the classical sociological tradition in making sense of the global human condition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739140369
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	12/18/2010
Pages:	362
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Zaheer Baber is professor of sociology at the University of Toronto.
Joseph M. Bryant is professor of sociology and religion at the University of Toronto.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction: Passing the Torch, Kindling the Fires: Irving M. Zeitlin on the Classical Tradition and its Contemporary Possibilities Chapter 2 Chapter 1: Mentoring Matters: Reflections on Paidagogy and the Dilemmas of Disciplinarity Chapter 3 Chapter 2: The Code of the Street Chapter 4 Chapter 3: The Last Stands of Jews in the Small Town Ghettos of German-Occupied Poland, 1941-1943 Chapter 5 Chapter 4: State Breakdown Theory and Geopolitical Theory: Lessons from the Fall of the Soviet Bloc Chapter 6 Chapter 5: Breaking the Iron Triangle of Sociological Causation: Structural, Cultural and Agentic Influences on Fatah and Hamas during the Second Intifada Chapter 7 Chapter 6: Deference versus Democracy in Traditional and Modern Bureaucracy: Grounded Theoretical Refinements of Weber's Ideal Type Model Chapter 8 Chapter 7: Democracy: 21st-Century Horizons Chapter 9 Chapter 8: Globalization, Migration, and Globalizing Cities: Implications for Democratic Urban Governance Chapter 10 Chapter 9: Defining National Culture: The Case of Contemporary China Chapter 11 Chapter 10: Assimilation and Anti-Semitism: Comparing 15th Century Catholic Spain and Second Reich Germany Chapter 12 Chapter 11: Christianity in Korea and Japan: A Historical-Sociological Study of Differential Cultural Reception and Social Impact from the 1880's to the 1940's Chapter 13 Chapter 12: Mannheim, Mills and Merton: The Sociology of Knowledge and Its Ambivalent Reception in America Chapter 14 Chapter 13: Borders and Hybridity in Contemporary Literature and Social Theory Chapter 15 Chapter 14: Combat Medicine and War Literature Chapter 16 Chapter 15: Planting Empires, Producing Science: Botanical Gardens, Plants and the Roots of Globalization Chapter 17 Appendix A: Complete List of Publications by Irving M. Zeitlin Chapter 18 Appendix B: Complete List of Ph.D. Dissertations Supervised by Irving M. Zeitlin at the University of Toronto Chapter 19 Intellectual Biographies of the Contributors

Editorial Reviews

This fine collection of essays in honor of Irving Zeitlin’s many contributions to Sociology—theoretical, empirical, historical—is a fitting tribute. It is a cornucopia of insights and perspectives that will appeal to a broad range of sociological readers.

Toby E. Huff

If significance is measured in terms of the number of interesting and influential students, Irving Zeitlin easily ranks number one among Canadian sociologists. This book is the first to take the full measure of Zeitlin’s academic career, the daring and diversity of which has never been properly appreciated. Zeitlin came of age in the late 1960s when sociologists were trying to reach a theoretical rapprochement between Marx and Weber. Two of Zeitlin’s most distinguished contemporaries in this project, Anthony Giddens and Randall Collins, are among those who pay tribute to Zeitlin’s efforts in these pages. The other chapters are penned by former students, colleagues, and relatives. In reading these arresting reassessments of, say, democracy’s exportability, Islamic extremism, Chinese nationalism, Anti-Semitism, the American street ethic, and the economic preconditions of imperialist and revolutionary politics — all bearing the mark of Zeitlin’s influence — it becomes clear that his has been a truly cosmopolitan vision of sociology that is rarely found in today’s practitioners.

Steve Fuller

A stellar cast of authors, writing on central domestic and international topics of our time, oriented to the work of one of sociology's truly great authors: what more could one ask for? Read this book and get your students to read it. Sociology comes alive in its pagessss

Peter Baehr

This fine collection of essays in honor of Irving Zeitlin's many contributions to Sociology--theoretical, empirical, historical--is a fitting tribute. It is a cornucopia of insights and perspectives that will appeal to a broad range of sociological readers.--Toby E. Huff, Chancellor Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth and research associate in the Department of Astronomy

If significance is measured in terms of the number of interesting and influential students, Irving Zeitlin easily ranks number one among Canadian sociologists. This book is the first to take the full measure of Zeitlin's academic career, the daring and diversity of which has never been properly appreciated. Zeitlin came of age in the late 1960s when sociologists were trying to reach a theoretical rapprochement between Marx and Weber. Two of Zeitlin's most distinguished contemporaries in this project, Anthony Giddens and Randall Collins, are among those who pay tribute to Zeitlin's efforts in these pages. The other chapters are penned by former students, colleagues, and relatives. In reading these arresting reassessments of, say, democracy's exportability, Islamic extremism, Chinese nationalism, Anti-Semitism, the American street ethic, and the economic preconditions of imperialist and revolutionary politics -- all bearing the mark of Zeitlin's influence -- it becomes clear that his has been a truly cosmopolitan vision of sociology that is rarely found in today's practitioners.--Steve Fuller, Auguste Comte Chair in Social Epistemology, University of Warwick, author of The Intellectual

A stellar cast of authors, writing on central domestic and international topics of our time, oriented to the work of one of sociology's truly great authors: what more could one ask for? Read this book and get your students to read it. Sociology comes alive in its pages--Peter Baehr, Lingnan University

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