Four Sociological Traditions

The updated version of Collins's critically-acclaimed Three SociologicalTraditions, this text presents a concise intellectual history of sociologyorganized around the development of four classic schools of thought: theconflict tradition of Marx and Weber, the ritual solidarity of Durkheim, themicrointeractionist tradition of Mead, Blumer, and Garfinkel, and--new to thisedition--the utilitarian/rational choice tradition. Collins, one of theliveliest and most exciting writers in sociology today, traces the intellectualhighlights of these four main schools from classical theories to currentdevelopments, introducing the roots of sociology and indicating the areas whereprogress has been made in our understanding, the areas where controversy stillexists, and the direction in which sociology is headed.