Founders, Classics, Canons: Modern Disputes Over the Origins and Appraisal of Sociology's Heritage

by Peter Baehr

Overview

Three categories-founders, classics, canons-have been vitally important in helping to frame sociology's precarious identity, defining the discipline's sense of its past and the implications for its current activity. Today that identity is being challenged as never before. Within the academy, a number of positions-feminist, postmodernist, poststructuralist, postcolonial-converge in questioning the status of "the tradition." These currents, in turn, reflect wider social questioning about the meaning and uses of knowledge in technologically advanced societies.

In Founders, Classics, Canons, Peter Baehr scrutinizes the nature of this challenge. He provides a model of the processes through which texts are elevated to classic status, and defends the continuing importance of sociology's traditions for a university education in the social sciences. The concept of "classic" is, as Baehr notes, a complex one. Essentially it assumes a scale of judgment that deems certain texts as exemplary in eminence. But what is the nature of this eminence? Baehr analyzes various responses to this question. Most notable are those that focus on the functions classics perform for the scholarly community that employs them; the rhetorical force classics are said to possess; and the processes of reception that result in classic status. The concept of classic is often equated with two other notions: "founders" and "canon." The former has a well-established pedigree within the discipline, but widespread usage of the latter in sociology is much more recent and polemical in tone. Baehr offers arguments against these two ways of interpreting, defending and attacking sociology's great texts and authors. He demonstrates why, in logical and historical terms, discourses and traditions cannot actually be "founded" and why the term "founder" has little explanatory content. Equally, he takes issue with the notion of "canon" and argues that the analogy between the theological canon and sociological classic texts, though seductive, is mistaken.

While questioning the uses to which the concepts of founder, classic, and canon have been put, Baehr's purpose is not dismissive. On the contrary, he seeks to understand the value and meaning they have for the people who employ them in the cultural battle to affirm or excoriate the liberal university tradition. In examining the tactics of this battle, this volume offers a model of how social theory can be critical rather than radical.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765801296
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	05/31/2002
Pages:	254
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Peter Baehr is professor and head of the department of sociology and social policy at Lingnan University in Hong Kong as well as a fellow of the Center for Asian Pacific Studies.

Table of Contents

1: Introduction; 2: Founders of Discourse; 3: Founders of Institutions; 4: The Utility, Rhetoric, and Interpretation of Classic Texts; 5: Classicality: Criteria and Reception; 6: Canons; 7: A Concluding Look at the Three Concepts

Editorial Reviews

"Drawing on an impressive number of sociological, social-theoretical and philosophical sources and written in a clear and sophisticated manner, Peter Baehr's book of 'synthesis and argument' (p. 1) is a work of exemplary scholarship, considerable scientific and educational experience and creative imagination. " —European Journal of Social Theory “Professor Baehr raises to a new level of theoretical self-awareness the ‘traffic with the classics’ which many sociological theorists routinely engage in, whether in teaching or in research. . . . He also contributes to our understanding of the conditions under which many significant sociological masterpieces were produced and recognized (or failed to be). . . . The work displays a rare combination of erudition, sophistication, and originality. It will establish its author as a front-rank member of his generation of practitioners of social theory.” —Gianfranco Poggi, professor of sociology, European University Institute, Florence “[Peter Baehr] lifts to a new level our understanding of the complex processes whereby sociological classics emerge, often productively reshaped, after facing many cultural hurdles and surviving heavy barrages from rivals and critics. There is much more in this brilliant text than deconstructive pyrotechnics. Peter Baehr throws new light on a highly contentious field, ranging over the key and highly contested ideas of ‘founder,’ ‘canon,’ and ‘classic.’ His style is uniformly fresh, cool and penetrating. This book is likely to become a minor classic in its own right.” —Dennis Smith, professor of sociology, University of Loughborough, UK “This is the most honest inquiry available on the deep conceptual and institutional issues that are often concealed by the ‘canon wars’ that have engulfed academia for the past generation. . . . Although Baehr is mainly focused on sociology, his discussion bears on all the human sciences. Throughout, Baehr displays an exquisite historical sensitivity, especially around the vexed issue of how and why women have been excluded from the sociological canon.” —Steve Fuller, Professor of Sociology, University of Warwick “In this stunning work of disambiguation, Peter Baehr attains some remarkable clarities on the nature of classics (founders, canons) in social theory. It stands to reduce a good deal of pointless noise about these foundational questions.” —Donald N. Levine, Peter B. Ritzma Professor of Sociology, University of Chicago “In his intelligent and critical guide to the professional debate about the classics of sociology, Peter Baehr skillfully investigates the controversies surrounding founders, founding texts, and foundational institutions. The result is an essential work on the notion of classicality in the discipline of sociology. . . . Baehr’s lively text will itself serve to reinvigorate sociology’s reading audience.” —Bryan S. Turner, University of Cambridge “With depressingly few exceptions, the literature on ‘classic sociology’ or the ‘sociological heritage’ is dismal terrain, littered with the detritus of bad prose, weak scholarship, and flabby reasoning. Perhaps Peter Baehr’s skeptical reconsideration of debates on the origins of academic sociology will change the landscape of this genre. His study of founders, classics, and canons in the historiography of sociology offers the reader fresh perspectives, lucid analyses, and carefully framed arguments, all underpinned by a formidable but unobtrusive command of sources in several disciplines.” —Guy Oakes, professor of philosophy and corporate values and Kvernland Endowed Chair in Philosophy and Corporate Social Policy, Monmouth University

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