The new Durkheim / Ivan Strenski.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Strenski, Ivan.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion and sociology.

Durkheim, Émile, 1858-1917.

Durkheim, Émile.

Physical Description:

vi, 376 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, [2006]

Summary:

The French sociologist Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) is considered to be a founding father of several academic disciplines: sociology, anthropology, and religious studies. His books, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, Suicide, The Rules of Sociological Method, and The Division of Labor in Society are still required reading for any serious student in these fields.

Religion as the objectification of social ties, ritual as a source of "collective effervescence," anomie as a force shaping modern suicide-all these are ideas derived from Durkheim. While commonly recognized for these fundamental concepts, however, Durkheim is becoming increasingly known for far more. In recent years, social theorists have begun looking at his work in new ways, situating him in the social, intellectual, and cultural context of his time.

Ivan Strenski, a leading figure in this reexamination, brings together a collection of his own essays to demonstrate the fruitful ways that Durkheimian perspectives can be applied to contemporary issues. Chapters focus on a wide range of topics, including sacrifice, religion, animal rights, and terrorism. Strenski concludes by linking the revitalization of Durkheimian social theory with an exciting new approach to teaching his texts and ideas. This book will be essential reading for scholars in religious studies, anthropology and sociology.

Contents:

1 So Much More Durkheim 3

Part 2 Turning the Philosophical Ground

2 Durkheim, Hamelin, and the "French Hegel" 33

3 The Ironies of Fin-de-Siecle Rebellions against Historicism and Empiricism in the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Fifth Section 66

Part 3 The Vagaries of Religieus Belonging

4 Durkheim, Judaism, and the Afterlife 87

5 Zionism, Brahminism, and the Embodied Sacred: What Durkheimians Owe to Sylvain Levi 118

6 The Rise of Ritual and the Hegemony of Myth: Sylvain Levi, the Durkheimians, and Max Muller 134

7 Durkheim, Hubert, and the Clerical Modernist Discourse on Symbolism 158

Part 4 Institutions and Other Afflictions

8 Durkheim, Disciplinarity, and the "Sciences Religieuses" 181

9 Liberal Protestant Theology and/or "Science Religieuse" 203

10 The Durkheimians and the Protestants in the Ecole Pratique, Fifth Section: The Dark Side 216

Part 5 Politics and Pedagogy Today

11 Durkheim Sings: Teaching the "New Durkheim" on Religion 229

12 Christians, Durkheimians, and Other Animals 249

13 Sacrifice, Gift, and the Social Logic of Muslim "Human Bombers" 270

14 A Durkheimian Text in Turkey: Ziya Gokalp, Huseyin Nail Kubali, and Muslim Civil Society 303.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 349-365) and index.

ISBN:

0813538939

9780813538938

0813538947

9780813538945

OCLC:

62728464