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The Sociology of Howard S. Becker: Theory with a Wide Horizon

The Sociology of Howard S. Becker: Theory with a Wide Horizon

by Alain Pessin (Author), Steven Rendall (Translator)

  • New

    Paperback 2017

    $29.58
Synopsis

Howard S. Becker is a name to conjure with on two continents in the United States and in France. He has enjoyed renown in France for his work in sociology, which in the United States goes back more than fifty years to pathbreaking studies of deviance, professions, sociology of the arts, and a steady stream of books and articles on method. Becker, who lives part of the year in Paris, is by now part of the French intellectual scene, a street-smart jazz pianist and sociologist who offers an answer to the stifling structuralism of Pierre Bourdieu. French fame has brought French analysis, including The Sociology of Howard S. Becker, written by Alain Pessin and translated into English by Steven Rendall. The book is an exploration of Becker's major works as expressions of the freedom of possibility within a world of collaborators. Pessin reads Becker's work as descriptions and ideas that show how society can embody the possibilities of change, of doing things differently, of taking advantage of opportunities for free action. The book is itself a kind of collaboration Pessin and Becker in dialogue. The Sociology of Howard S. Becker is a meeting of two cultures via two great sociological minds in conversation.

$29.58

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 154
 Edition: Translation
 Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 24 May 2017
ISBN 10: 022636285X
ISBN 13: 9780226362854

Media Reviews
The Sociology of Howard S. Becker is a gift, and everyone who reads it--as every sociologist should--will be thankful. A lucid translation of Un sociologue en liberte: Lecture de Howard S. Becker by the late Alain Pessin, the book presents the panorama of 'Beckerian Sociology'-- a 'theory with a wide horizon' (the book's subtitle). For more than half a century, Becker's writings have been opening our eyes to social phenomena most of us overlook (social conventions, careers, cooperative activities, among others), and Pessin's study opens our eyes to aspects of Becker's work nearly everyone has overlooked, especially Becker's sensitivity to fluid practices, contingent choices, and chance events. Pessin lauds Becker for teaching much while keeping his lessons light, quoting Becker's quip: 'If it's interesting, it's sociology.' Following Becker's example, Pessin gives us an absorbing book that will draw students into the adventure of sociology and inspire its practitioners to fundamentally rethink how they go about their work. --Charles Camic, Northwestern University
Author Bio
Alain Pessin (1949 2005) was a French libertarian sociologist and the author of many books. Steven Rendall is professor emeritus of romance languages at the University of Oregon. He has translated more than forty books into English, including most recently Montaigne: A Life.