Routledge Weber and Toennies: Comparative Sociology in Historical Perspective

This collection of selected essays by Werner J. Cahnman brings together out of scattered dispersion his writings about Max Weber, Ferdinand Toennies, and historical sociology. The great theoretical range and depth of his intellect and mastery of sociological thinking is apparent as he discusses the impact of romanticism on modern thought, and how Weber and Toennies both analysed and reacted to modernity. Cahnman places Weber (1864-1920), the dominant figure in twentieth-century sociology, in the midst of the methodological controversies so characteristic of contemporary social science, and he fully discusses the overarching importance of Weberian ideal-type theory. Although less well-known than Weber, Toennies (1855-1936) was also a sociologist of the first rank. He is best remembered for his enormously influential twin concepts, Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, which contributed to our understanding of the historical and sociological basis for the change from premodern to modern societies. The essays in this volume establish Toennies' intellectual connections to Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, and Herbert Spencer, and clarify his influence upon American sociology. Cahnman stood against strict separations between history and sociology, and his essays are all informed by a wonderful admixture of the theoretical and the concrete. They demonstrate how a genuine historical sociology, not unlike that of Weber and Toennies, can find and explain linkages between seemingly disparate events spanning time and place. This volume will be of interest to sociologists, political scientists, and intellectual historians. Review -Wandering in the 'great maze' of Werner J. Cahnman's writings in German and English, one comes away with the understanding that his historical bent, his respect for the multitude of data, his sociological sensitivity, and personal experience were all at work in order to enhance our understanding and knowledge of the past and more recent times.- --Judith Marcus and ZoltAn Tarr, Logos "Wandering in the 'great maze' of Werner J. Cahnman's writings in German and English, one comes away with the understanding that his historical bent, his respect for the multitude of data, his sociological sensitivity, and personal experience were all at work in order to enhance our understanding and knowledge of the past and more recent times." --Judith Marcus and ZoltAn Tarr, Logos "Wandering in the 'great maze' of Werner J. Cahnman's writings in German and English, one comes away with the understanding that his historical bent, his respect for the multitude of data, his sociological sensitivity, and personal experience were all at work in order to enhance our understanding and knowledge of the past and more recent times." --Judith Marcus and ZoltAn Tarr, Logos About the Author Werner J. Cahnman (1902–1980) was a German and American sociologist. Joseph B. Maier (1911–2003) was professor emeritus of sociology, Rutgers University, USA. Judith Marcus was professor emeritus of sociology at the State University of New York–Potsdam, USA. Zoltán Tarr has taught at the City University of New York, the New School for Social Research, and Rutgers University.