The active society revisited / edited by Wilson Carey McWilliams.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

McWilliams, Wilson C.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Etzioni, Amitai. Active society.

Etzioni, Amitai--Criticism and interpretation.

Etzioni, Amitai.

Social action.

Sociology.

Political sociology.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

viii, 352 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield, [2006]

Summary:

The Active Society, published in 1968, is the most ambitious book in Amitai Etzioni's remarkable career. It is sociology in the grand tradition, with at least one foot outside its own time. In it, Etzioni confronts the great modern irony-that, in setting out to become the masters of nature, humans become mastered by their own instruments-championing the sense of agency and aiming to demonstrate that humanity can direct its own creations, or at least that societies can aspire to a greater measure of authentic self-government.

In this new collection of essays, Wilson Carey McWilliams has brought together scholars from a range of disciplines to analyze the significance and shortcomings of this groundbreaking work. They comment on the importance of Etzioni's contributions, the magnitude of his achievement, and the extent to which The Active Society speaks to contemporary social and political life.

Contents:

Introduction / Wilson Carey McWilliams

Macroscopic action : on Amitai Etzioni's contribution to social theory / Hans Joas

The cultural dimensions of The active society / Edward W. Lehman

The cybernetic institutionalist / Fabio Rojas

The constitution of activity : Etzioni's foundation of social theory in collective action and collective actors / Frank Adloff

The actively drifting society / Joseph H. Spear

Communitarianism : the highest state of progressivism The active society revisited / Dennis Hale

The teamwork of Sisyphus : post-Fordist capitalism, corporate culture, and Etzioni's "active society" / Eugene McCarraher

Membership and belonging : Etzioni's "authenticity" and the existential challenges of liberalism / Richard Boyd

Swing low sweet chariot : transformation and religious tradition / William C. Green

The eagle and the worm : The active society from a community organizer's perspective / Mike Miller

Searching for active citizenship / David S. Gutterman and Melissa Buis Michaux

Courting megalogues : judicial power in The active society / Paul A. Sracic

Community formation, gender issues, and the evolution of international law : a perspective on Amitai Etzioni's The active society / Frances T. Pilch

"Lighting damp logs" : social movements, liberal democracy, and the politics of transformation / Daniel J. Tichenor

From The active society to the good society : the second sailing of Amitai Etzioni / Patrick J. Deneen

The active society revisited : a response / Amitai Etzioni.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

0742549143

0742549151

OCLC:

61123001