Background
Wrong, Dennis Hume was born on November 22, 1923 in Toronto. Son of Humphrey Hume and Mary Joyce (Hutton) Wrong.
( All of the essays included in the present volume were w...)
All of the essays included in the present volume were written between 1995 and 2001. This attests to the timeliness and relevance of Dennis H. Wrong's writings. He notes that the mid-twentieth-century disposition to believe that politics fundamentally consisted of clashes between totalistic worldviews, such as communism, socialism, capitalism, fascism, nationalism, internationalism, and a cluster of "isms," may have been historically transitional. But politics now appears more nuanced, if no less troubled, following the collapse of the Soviet bloc between 1989 and 1991. Multiculturalism and identity politics, as well as communitarianism flourished in the 1990s. The volume is divided into five parts: "Capitalism--Inequalities and Alternatives," "Multiculturalism and Identity Politics," "Communitarianism," "Theory and Theorists," and "Autobiographical Reminiscences." This concluding part indicates how Wrong's work includes self-reflections as well as reflections--an examination of how figures such as C. Wright Mills and Raymond Aron, Amitai Etzioni, and Digby Baltzell, played a role in shaping his own thought, and how these changed over the course of the past century. This is the third collection of the essays and articles of Dennis H. Wrong published by Transaction. As was the case with his earlier volumes, Reflections on a Politically Skeptical Era is characterized by a deep attention to the actual social history of our times, and how this plays out in academic pursuits--especially within sociology. Whether the works were published in academic journals or more popular media, they reflect a quality of literary manners that is rare among social science writings, but a reflection that never sacrifices a sense of principle and probity in the process.
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( The chapters in this volume represent some of Dennis W...)
The chapters in this volume represent some of Dennis Wrong's best and most enduring essays. Initially published as Skeptical Sociology, this collection displays his ability to write compellingly for general intellectual audiences as well as for academic sociologists. The book is divided into sections that represent Wrong's major areas of interest and investigation: "Human Nature and the Perspective of Sociology," "Social Stratification and Inequality," and "Power and Politics." Each section is preceded by a short introduction that places the articles in context and elaborates and often sheds new light on the contents. The essays in the first section were written with polemical intent, directed against the assumptions of academic sociology that prevailed in an earlier period. Part two calls attention to the neglect by functionalists of power, group conflict, and historical change; Wrong shows that failure to consider them made functional theories of stratification especially vulnerable. The third section is more heterogeneous in subject and theme than the others; all the essays in it touch in some way on power or politics. Included in this volume is Wrong's celebrated and much-quoted article "The Oversocialized Conception of Man in Modern Sociology." Other significant essays reveal the author's views on many timely topics of sociological concern, such as the quests for "community" and for "identity"; the Freudian, Marxian, and Weberian heritages in sociology; social class in America; meritocracy; a theory of democratic politics; humanist, positivist, and functionalist perspectives; and the sociology of the future. The Oversocialized Conception of Man is an indispensable volume for sociologists, political theorists, and historians. Dennis H. Wrong is emeritus professor of sociology at New York University. He is the author of The Problem of Order, Population and Society, Class Fertility Trends in Western Nations, Power: Its Forms, Bases, and Uses (also published by Transaction), and The Modern Condition (forthcoming).
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076580445X/?tag=2022091-20
( In one grand effort, this is an anatomy of power, a his...)
In one grand effort, this is an anatomy of power, a history of the ways in which it has been defined, and a study of its forms (force, manipulation, authority, and persuasion), its bases (individual and collective resources, political mobilization), and its uses. The issues that Dennis Wrong addresses range from the philosophical and ethical to the psychological and political. Much of the work is punctuated with careful examples from history. While the author illuminates his discussion with references to Weber, Marx, Freud, Plato, Dostoevsky, Orwell, Hobbes, Arendt, and Machiavelli, he keeps his arguments grounded in contemporary practical issues, such as class conflicts, multi-party politics, and parent-child relationships. In his new introduction, prepared for the 1995 edition of Power, the author reconsiders the concept of power, now locating it in the broader traditions of the social sciences rather than as a series of actions and actors within the sociological tradition. As a result. Wrong emphasizes such major distinctions as "power over" and "power to," and various conflations of power as commonly used. The new opening provides the reader with a deeper appreciation of the non-reductionist character of the book as a whole.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1560008229/?tag=2022091-20
(Many Americans despair that the glue that once held Ameri...)
Many Americans despair that the glue that once held American society together has since come undone. Yet, as Dennis Wrong shows, our generation is not alone in fearing a breakdown of social ties and a descent into violent conflict. Analyzing such thinkers as Hobbes, Rousseau, Freud, Mead, Parsons, Marx, Durkheim, and Weber, Wrong shows how their ideas about co-operation and conflict afford an illuminating perspective on our own efforts to create a well-functioning system that allows for productive and meaningful lives. In a world where diverse ethnic, religious, class, and national groups are both interdependent yet conflicted, this book reveals the individual and social processes that offer potential for reconciliation in the future.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/002935515X/?tag=2022091-20
Wrong, Dennis Hume was born on November 22, 1923 in Toronto. Son of Humphrey Hume and Mary Joyce (Hutton) Wrong.
Bachelor, University Toronto, 1945. Doctor of Philosophy, Columbia University, 1956.
Teacher Princeton University, 1949-1950, Rutgers University, 1950-1951, University Toronto, 1954-1956, Brown University, 1956-1961. Member graduate faculty New School Social Research, 1961-1963. Professor sociology, chairman department University College, New York University, 1963-1965.
Professor sociology New York University, 1966-1994, professor emeritus, since 1994. Research assistant George F. Kennan and Robert Strunsky, Institute Advanced Study, 1951-1953. Visiting professor University Nevada, 1965-1966.
Visiting fellow Oxford (England) University, 1978, European University Institute, 1996-1997. Simon visiting professor University Manchester, England, 1978.
( In one grand effort, this is an anatomy of power, a his...)
( At the end of the twentieth century, many fear that th...)
(Many Americans despair that the glue that once held Ameri...)
( The chapters in this volume represent some of Dennis W...)
( All of the essays included in the present volume were w...)
Member of Society for Advancement of Socio-Economics, Eastern Sociological Society, American Sociological Association.
Married Elaine L. Gale, November 24, 1949 (divorced October 1965). 1 child, Terence Hume. Married Jacqueline Conrath, March 26, 1966.
Stepchildren: Jaya, Sheila Mehta.