shinnersdad702

Callinicos' late-nineties introduction to social theory covers a range of thinkers, from the "holy troika" of Marx, Durkheim and Weber, to proponents of classical liberalism (Tocqueville, Mill), conservatism (Maistre, Spencer,) Western Marxism (e.g., Lukacs), Post-Structuralism and beyond. Callinicos' approach contains two elements that distinguish this volume from most accounts of the subject: 1. Social theory as a theorization of modernity. Callinicos situates each of the thinkers surveyed in relation to their conception of modernity. Roughly, the major thinkers either developed a critical acceptance (e.g., Durkheim), outright rejection (e.g., Nietzsche) or proposed a revolutionary transformation (e.g., Marx) of modernity. 2. The role of biological thought and evolution in social theory. Thus Callinicos spends an unusual amount of time on Darwin and the various attempts to integrate an evolutionary perspective into social theory. The approach works quite well-- he develops Nietzsche's thought from an evolutionary perspective and then references many of the major 20th century thinkers in relation to the "Will to Power." The result is one of the clearest and most compelling accounts of Nietzsche as a political thinker that I've come across. Callinicos also soars in his dissection of Lukacs, Durkheim and the Frankfurt School. He misses, however, in describing Heidegger, Weber and some of the post-structuralists; however, this might be because of the elliptical nature in which these writers expressed themselves. Overall, it is a worthy introduction to the subject, but gets only four stars because he doesn't do enough to connect some writers more directly and clearly to the central questions of the field. This means that at times one is left feeling that they've been led quite far afield from the subject at hand. But he returns often enough that it all makes for a compelling read and a useful introduction.

2022-09-23 00:50