Tönnies: Community and Civil Society

by Ferdinand Tönnies , Edited by Jose Harris , Translated by Margaret Hollis

• ISBN13: 9780521567824
• ISBN10: 0521567823
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-07-02
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

T_nnies' Community and Civil Society (first published in 1887 as Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft) is a classic of social and political theory, exploring the tension between close-knit "communities" and an emerging global market "society". It is a response to modernity, an exercise in social, political and moral science, and an unusual commentary on the inner character of "democratic socialism". This new translation and introduction make this important work much more readily accessible to student readers, and those interested in social and political theory and the history of European ideas.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	viii
General introduction	ix
Chronology of Tonnies's life and career	xxxi
A note on the texts and further reading	xxxiv
A note on translation	xxxviii
Glossary	xli
COMMUNITY AND CIVIL SOCIETY
Tonnies's preface to the first edition, 1887	3	(12)
A general classification of key ideas	15	(78)
The argument	17	(5)
The theory of Gemeinschaft	22	(30)
The theory of Gesellschaft	52	(41)
Natural will and rational will	93	(84)
The forms of human will	95	(37)
Explanation of the dichotomy	132	(20)
Practical implications	152	(25)
The sociological basis of natural law	177	(68)
Definitions and propositions	179	(32)
The natural element in law	211	(11)
Inter-related forms of will - commonwealth and state	222	(23)
Appendix: Conclusions and future prospects	245	(17)
Index	262