Keith Kerr - Postmodern Cowboy : C. Wright Mills and a New 21st-Century Sociology read book PDF, EPUB, DJV
9781594515804 English 1594515808 More than 50 years ago, C. Wright Mills heralded a new age for sociology for the 1960s and beyond. Yet his forward-looking vision also foretold some of the social conditions we associate, more recently, with postmodern society. This intellectual biography of Mills emphasizes early life experiences that shaped Mills's expansive vision of the future, just as Kerr develops, from Mills, tools for confronting current and looming problems. Drawing upon little-known documents, Kerr expands our knowledge about this leading 20th-century sociologist, and shows how forward-looking Millsian scholarship can enhance the endeavors of sociology today., More than fifty years ago, C. Wright Mills heralded a new age for sociology for the 1960s and beyond. Yet his forward-looking vision also foretold some of the social conditions we associate, more recently, with postmodern society. This intellectual biography of Mills emphasizes the early life experiences that shaped Mills's expansive vision of the future, just as Kerr develops, from Mills, tools for confronting current and looming problems. Drawing upon little-known documents, Kerr expands our knowledge about this leading twentieth-century sociologist and shows how forward-looking Millsian scholarship can enhance the endeavors of sociology today. Book jacket., This book explores what contemporary sociology can learn from Mills. Mills, exploring foundations for social solidarity during his times, turned backward just as we now turn backward toward Mills. Mills, however, was not content to allow the dead to speak for the living, recognizing that midcentury America, while sharing historical links to past times, also possessed people and structures that moved beyond what sociology of old was prepared to engage. At the start of the twenty-first century, we too must understand it is time to take from Mills what we can, but like Mills, we must learn to move forward and confront the problems of our own age. It is not argued that Mills should be forgotten; only that if Mills is to be relevant to contemporary sociology, a forward-looking vision must be drawn from his work rather than the nostalgic glance backward characteristic of much of Millsian scholarship. Exploring the impetus for Millse(tm)s statements on American culture, these pages are partly a biographical exploration into Millse(tm)s first 20 years and how these formative years shaped the scope and concern of Millse(tm)s later formulation of the emerging eoepostmoderne world. In exploring Millse(tm)s early experiences and how these later reappear in his academic work, the book examines previously unpublishede"and in some cases previously unknowne"primary documents, and shows what contributions a forward-looking Millsian scholarship could provide to an ailing contemporary sociology.
9781594515804 English 1594515808 More than 50 years ago, C. Wright Mills heralded a new age for sociology for the 1960s and beyond. Yet his forward-looking vision also foretold some of the social conditions we associate, more recently, with postmodern society. This intellectual biography of Mills emphasizes early life experiences that shaped Mills's expansive vision of the future, just as Kerr develops, from Mills, tools for confronting current and looming problems. Drawing upon little-known documents, Kerr expands our knowledge about this leading 20th-century sociologist, and shows how forward-looking Millsian scholarship can enhance the endeavors of sociology today., More than fifty years ago, C. Wright Mills heralded a new age for sociology for the 1960s and beyond. Yet his forward-looking vision also foretold some of the social conditions we associate, more recently, with postmodern society. This intellectual biography of Mills emphasizes the early life experiences that shaped Mills's expansive vision of the future, just as Kerr develops, from Mills, tools for confronting current and looming problems. Drawing upon little-known documents, Kerr expands our knowledge about this leading twentieth-century sociologist and shows how forward-looking Millsian scholarship can enhance the endeavors of sociology today. Book jacket., This book explores what contemporary sociology can learn from Mills. Mills, exploring foundations for social solidarity during his times, turned backward just as we now turn backward toward Mills. Mills, however, was not content to allow the dead to speak for the living, recognizing that midcentury America, while sharing historical links to past times, also possessed people and structures that moved beyond what sociology of old was prepared to engage. At the start of the twenty-first century, we too must understand it is time to take from Mills what we can, but like Mills, we must learn to move forward and confront the problems of our own age. It is not argued that Mills should be forgotten; only that if Mills is to be relevant to contemporary sociology, a forward-looking vision must be drawn from his work rather than the nostalgic glance backward characteristic of much of Millsian scholarship. Exploring the impetus for Millse(tm)s statements on American culture, these pages are partly a biographical exploration into Millse(tm)s first 20 years and how these formative years shaped the scope and concern of Millse(tm)s later formulation of the emerging eoepostmoderne world. In exploring Millse(tm)s early experiences and how these later reappear in his academic work, the book examines previously unpublishede"and in some cases previously unknowne"primary documents, and shows what contributions a forward-looking Millsian scholarship could provide to an ailing contemporary sociology.