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There are a number of websites on social theory and specific sociologists.
Some are excellent, and some are pretty poor. The sites listed below
are worth consulting. (Note that sometimes the indicated titles of these
sites are mine.) Visitors to this website are encouraged to let me know about any other worthwhile theory sites, or to inform me about any links which do not work. Just send me an email at bfleming@mta.ca. |
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| A. General Sources on Social Theory |
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McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought. This excellent site was begun, developed, and maintained by Rod Hay, later founder of Batoche Books, and unfortunately recently deceased. The Official ASA Theory Home Page. This is the web site of the Theory section of the American Sociological Association. Of particular interest is their "Classical Sociological Theory Links". Sociological Theory and Theorists. Part of the WWW Virtual Library on Sociology, this site contains a well organized set of links to pages on specific social thinkers and schools of thought. Dead Sociologists' Society is an introduction to early sociologists, organized around photographs of the (all) dead, (mostly) white, (mostly) European, (mostly) men who have provided us with the sociological "canon" concerning which there has been so much debate in recent years. The discussion of each individual thinker's life and work is taken from Lewis A. Coser, Masters of Sociological Thought (1977). Socio Site, edited by Albert Benschop, Sociology Institute, University of Amsterdam, provides summaries of particular conceptual arguments, primary sources, and secondary works. These summaries have been written by a large number of sociologists, and are derived largely from on-line course syllabi. Summary Notes prepared by graduate students gearing up for 1994 preliminary examinations at the University of Chicago, including 97K on Max Weber, can be found at this site of the Society for Social Research. This site is "currently under construction". A bibliographic page of proto-feminist foremothers. |
| B. First Generation Sociologists |
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The Positive Philosophy, all three volumes of Harriet Martineau's English translation and abridgement of Comte's The Positive Philosophy. Please note that the link will get you to Volume I only. Volumes II and III are also accessible, by changing the 1 to 2 or 3 in the URL. Harriet Martineau. Abolitionist, feminist, journalist, and keen observer of social life, Harriet Martineau also translated and abridged August Comte's The Positive Philosophy. The Martineau Society site, devoted to a collection of material relating to the Martineau family, includes a brief biography of Harriet Martineau and a description of recent Society events relating to her bicentenary in 2002. Spencer. Although there are a number of small websites on Herbert Spencer, the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy includes a particularly useful, succinct introduction to his life and work. The Karl Marx and Frederick Engels Internet Archive contains biographical information, letters, interviews, and images relating to Marx and Engels. It also provides online versions of many of Marx and Engels' writings. Official ASA Marx, the site of the ASA section on Marxist sociology. Marxism Page was constructed and is maintained by Rick Kuhn at the Australian National University. His understanding of Marxism is summarized as "the theory and practice of working class self-emancipation." The writings included in this site are searchable by keyword. The site includes a sound clip of Alistair Hulett singing the Internationale. MarX-files An annotated web guide to Marx and Marxism, prepared by Derek Stanovsky. Marx Biography A fairly detailed biography of Karl Marx. The Marx/Engels Biographical Archive contains good, if somewhat sanitized, biographical material on Marx, his family, and his associates. |
| C. Second Generation Sociologists |
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Zip files of most of Weber's writings in German. The Protestant Ethnic and the Spirit of Capitalism, online. The Durkheim Pages, maintained by Robert Alun Jones, Professor of Religious Studies, History and Sociology at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, was outstanding but seems no longer available. I shall maintain a vigil. British Centre for Durkheimian Studies at Oxford University. Maintained at the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford. This site now concerns the Centre only, no longer providing information on Durkheim himself. Georg Simmel online. Includes original writings by and commentaries on this important sociological essayist. Mead Project 2.0. This is a comprehensive website including most of George Herbert Mead's published works. It is based at Brock University, and includes information on other American pragmatists and certain of Mead's colleagues. It has recently been updated to include considerable information on W.I. Thomas and Floyd Henry Allport in particular. Beatrice Potter Webb - Biographical information and links concerning the Fabian socialist and social researcher. The Collected Works of Florence Nightingale. This website outlines the massive Nightingale project headed by Dr. Lynn McDonald, a sociologist at Guelph. Jane Addams. Nobel Peace Prize recipient, feminist, founder of Hull House and arguably of social work as a profession, Jane Addams was also an important if neglected figure in the first "Chicago School" of sociology. |
| D. Relatively Recent Sociologists |
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Robert K. Merton, one of the most significant sociologists of the twentieth century, made important and lasting contributions to sociological theory and methodology. C. Wright Mills inspired the New Left and the Radical Sociology of the 1960s and 1970s. He is still well worth reading, both for the substance of his arguments and for their style. His "On Intellectual Craftsmanship" in The Sociological Imagination should be read by every sociology student. The Jürgen Habermas Web Resource. An introduction to the most interesting and relevant of the Frankfurters. Anthony Giddens. Perhaps the only sociologist to have been granted a life peerage, and one of the most influential of contemporary sociologists. This Wikipedia entry provides some basic information and useful links concerning Giddens's major ideas. |
| E. Other Social Thinkers |
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The Sigmund Freud Archives. Established in 1951 and housed in the Library of Congress in Washington. Antonio Gramsci. This is the official web site of the International Gramsci Society, and includes articles on Gramsci's life and work as well as an online version of the IGS Newsletter. The Jean Piaget Society website is a resource for members of the Society, but includes useful links to the student page, a Piaget biography, and other sites. The International Erich Fromm Society website includes a biography of Fromm, discussion of his developing ideas, information on the Fromm Archives, a list of Society events, and links to other sites. The Karl Polanyi Institute of Political Economy at Concordia University includes the Polanyi Archive; organizes biennial conferences, public lectures, and other events; and has published a series of edited volumes containing articles about or in the spirit of Karl Polanyi. This is its web site. The Institut Karl Polanyi is developing publications by Polanyi-influenced European members of Le Centre de recherche et d'information sur la démocratie et l'autonomie and Le Centre Walras, both situated in France. The Karl Polanyi Research Network has been established at the London School of Economics, so as to disseminate Polanyi-inspired research and provide a forum for debate concerning Polanyi's arguments and their relevance for understanding the contemporary world. |