This book presents an account of Emile Durkheim's work, focusing on a reassessment of his central ideas and arguments. Durkheim can undoubtedly be considered one of the most significant social thinkers of the last hundred years and his writings continue to attract both applause and controversy throughout the world, not just from sociologists and scholars from related disciplines but also from all those interested in the way modern society operates. This introduction to Durkheim's thought examines closely all of Durkheim's ‘canonical’ works and assesses their significance today. The book also c ... More

This book presents an account of Emile Durkheim's work, focusing on a reassessment of his central ideas and arguments. Durkheim can undoubtedly be considered one of the most significant social thinkers of the last hundred years and his writings continue to attract both applause and controversy throughout the world, not just from sociologists and scholars from related disciplines but also from all those interested in the way modern society operates. This introduction to Durkheim's thought examines closely all of Durkheim's ‘canonical’ works and assesses their significance today. The book also considers closely the question what did Durkheim mean by ‘society’? It also assesses Durkheim's contribution to both political sociology and the sociology of law, placing his writings in the context of the generation of European scholars to which he belonged.