Encompassing four volumes, this is a comprehensive guide and reassessment of the American tradition from the 18th century to today: from Franklin to Etzioni. It seeks to demonstrate how Americans have left a mark on sociological theory and method: from the American Enlightenment, through to the contributions of the Chicago School, Parsons, Goffman, Functionalism, Garfinkel and radical-critical theory. Volume one considers the emergence of American sociology and includes the key writings of the American enlightenment: from Franklin to Paine, de Tocqueville's seminal critical contribution and the work of Gidding, Small, Dewey, and the American pragmatists. One finds here an survey of the roots of American sociology. Volume two examines what is commonly known as the Classical Tradition (1890-1930). It covers the work of the Chicago School and the contributions of Cooley, Park, Mead and Veblen. The self-sustaining confidence and early maturity of the American tradition, which led to methodological developments and forms of analysis which were different to their European counterparts.
Volume 3 considers American sociology from the 1930s to the 1960s: the period from Grand Theory to Symbolic Interactionism. It includes contributions from Parsons, Sorokin, Merton, Lazersfeld, Bales, the Small-Group theorists, the Functionalists, the Systems Theorists and the Symbolic Interactionists. Volume 4 addresses American sociology from 1960 to 1995: the period which stretches from post-industrialism to postmodernism. It includes selections from Garfinkel and the ethnomethodologists, Goffman, Bell and post-industrial theorists, radical-critical theory, Blalock and causal theory, Etzioni and communitarianism and postmodernism. The fertility and inventiveness of recent American sociology is demonstrated and the editor looks forward to the methodological and theoretical innovations of the next century.