‘The Anthem Companion to Alexis de Tocqueville’ contains original interpretations of Tocqueville’s major writings on democracy and revolution as well as his lesser-known writings on colonies, prisons and minorities. The Introduction by Daniel Gordon discusses how Tocqueville was canonized during the Cold War and the need to reassess the place of Tocqueville’s voice in the conversation of post-Marxist social theory. Each chapter that follows compares Tocqueville’s ideas on a given subject with those of other major social theorists, including Bourdieu, Dahl, Du Bois, Foucault, Lévi-Strauss and Marx.
This comprehensive volume is based on the idea that Tocqueville was not merely a founder or precursor whose ideas have been absorbed into modern social science. The broad questions that Tocqueville raised, his comparative vision, and his unique vocabulary and style can inspire deeper thinking in the social sciences today.
The Anthem Companions to Sociology offers wide ranging and masterly overviews of the works of major sociologists. The volumes in the series provide authoritative and critical appraisals of key figures in modern social thought. These books, written and edited by leading figures, are essential additional reading on the history of sociology. — Gerard Delanty, Professor of Sociology, University of Sussex, Brighton
This ambitious series provides an intellectually thoughtful introduction to the featured social theorists and offers a comprehensive assessment of their legacy. Each edited collection synthesizes the many dimensions of the respective theorist’s contributions and sympathetically ponders the various nuances in and the broader societal context for their body of work. The series will be appreciated by seasoned scholars and students alike. — Michele Dillon, Professor of Sociology and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, University of New Hampshire
The orchestration and emergence of the Anthem Companions to Sociology represent a formidable and invaluable achievement. Each companion explores the scope, ingenuity, and conceptual subtleties of the works of a theorist indispensable to the sociological project. The editors and contributors for each volume are the very best in their fields, and they guide us towards the richest, most creative seams in the writings of their thinker. The results, strikingly consistent from one volume to the next, brush away the years, reanimate what might have been lost, and bring numerous rays of illumination to the most pressing challenges of the present. — Rob Stones, Professor of Sociology, Western Sydney University, Australia
The Anthem Companions, those that have appeared already and those that are to come, will give every sociologist a handy and authoritative guide to all the giants of their discipline. — Stephen Mennell, Professor Emeritus, University College Dublin
Each volume of the Anthem Companions to Sociology examines comprehensively not only a theorist’s distinct approach and unique contributions, but also situates each in reference to the major parameters of mainstream theoretical schools and traditions. This remarkable Series in addition throws into high relief the singular features of modern societies. It promises to set the standard for discussions of Sociology’s long-term development and belongs on the shelves of every social scientist.— Stephen Kalberg, Professor of Sociology Emeritus, Boston University
This valuable series covers both familiar figures in the history of sociology (such as Max Weber and, prospectively, Marx and Durkheim) and less often treated ones such as Arendt and Troeltsch who are also highly relevant to sociology, broadly conceived. In these books, leading scholars explore important but often neglected aspects of their subjects’ work. — William Outhwaite, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Newcastle University, UK
"The idea of bringing Tocqueville in conversation with other thinkers is a good one, and the contributors to this Anthem Companion should be applauded for their attempt to engage with Tocqueville’s ideas in a critical and polite way that avoids hagiography or condemnation. Reviewed by Aurelian Craiutu, 26 February 2021, https://tocqueville21.com/books/the-anthem-companion-to-alexis-de-tocqueville/"
Daniel Gordon is professor of history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA. He has published extensively on the history of legal and political ideas in Europe and the United States. The author of Citizens without Sovereignty (1994) and the editor of Postmodernism and the Enlightenment (2001), Gordon was the coeditor of the journal, Historical Reflections (2002–2015).
Anthem Companions to Sociology
Editor’s Introduction: Tocqueville and the Sociological Conversation, Daniel Gordon; A Note on References to Democracy in America; Part 1. Religion and Immaterial Interests; 1. Tocqueville on Religion, Raymond Hain; 2. Unmasking Religion: Marx’s Stance, Tocqueville’s Alternative, Peter Baehr; Part 2. Language, Literature and Social Theory; 3. Tocqueville Mortal and Immortal: Power and Style, Judith Adler; 4. Tocqueville and Linguistic Innovation, Daniel Gordon; Part 3. Globalism and Empire; 5. Noble Comparisons, Andreas Hess; 6. Tocqueville and Lévi-Strauss: Democratic Revolution at Bookends of Empire, Andrew Dausch; Part 4. Inequalities Inside Democracy; 7. ‘The Tenacious Color-Line’: Tocqueville’s Thought in a Post-Du Boisian World, Patrick H. Breen; 8. ‘The Whole Moral and Intellectual State of a People’: Tocqueville on Men, Women and Mores in the United States and Europe, Jean Elisabeth Pedersen; Part 5. Citizenship, Participation and Punishment; 9. The Dynamics of Political Equality in Rousseau, Tocqueville and Beyond, Peter Breiner; 10. Tocqueville and Beaumont on the US Penitentiary System, Chris Barker; Part 6. An Unfinished Project; 11. Tocqueville and the French Revolution, Patrice Higonnet and Daniel Gordon; Index.
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