Chronological List of Major Works/Books - Sociological Thinkers

Max Weber

• The History of Medieval Business Organizations (1889) - This early work explored the development of business structures throughout the Middle Ages.

• Roman Agrarian History and its Significance for Public and Private Law (1891) - This book examined the impact of Roman agricultural practices on legal systems.

• The Condition of Farm Labor in Eastern Germany (1892) - This work investigated the working conditions of farm laborers in eastern regions of Germany.

• The Stock Exchange (1894-1896) - This multi-volume study explored the workings of stock exchanges.

• The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904-1905) - This is perhaps Weber's most famous work. It explores the connection between Protestant religious beliefs and the rise of capitalism.

• Collected Essays on the Sociology of Religion (1920-1921) - This collection includes essays on various religions and their social implications, including "The Religion of China" (1915), "The Religion of India" (1916), and "Ancient Judaism" (1921).

• The City (1921) - This book examines the development of cities and their role in society.

• Economy and Society (1922) - Considered Weber's magnum opus, this massive work explores the interrelationships between economic and social institutions.

• General Economic History (1923) - This book examines the historical development of economic systems.

It's important to note that some of Weber's works were published posthumously, and the exact dates of composition for some works can be debated. These are just some of Weber's most important books, and he wrote many other essays and articles throughout his career.

Emile Durkheim

1. The Division of Labor in Society (1893) - Durkheim's first major work explores how societies transition from mechanical solidarity, based on shared values, to organic solidarity, based on interdependence.

2. The Rules of Sociological Method (1895) - This book outlines Durkheim's approach to sociology, emphasizing the importance of studying social facts as objective phenomena.

3. Suicide: A Study in Sociology (1897) - This groundbreaking study examines suicide rates in different social groups, arguing that social factors like anomie (lack of social norms) play a significant role.

4. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912) - Durkheim analyzes religion as a social phenomenon, arguing that it reflects the collective consciousness of a society.

It's important to note that several of Durkheim's writings were published posthumously, including:

• Education and Sociology (1922)

• Sociology and Philosophy (1924)

• Moral Education (1925)

• Socialism (1928)

• Pragmatism and Sociology (1955)

Karl Marx

1. Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right (1843): This early work critiques the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's ideas on law, politics, and religion.

2. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844: These are unpublished writings that Marx wrote in 1844. They deal with themes of alienation, humanism, and communism.

3. Theses on Feuerbach (1845): These are eleven theses that Marx wrote in 1845. They critique the ideas of the German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach and outline Marx's own materialist conception of history.

4. The German Ideology (1845): This unfinished work, co-written by Friedrich Engels, critiques German philosophy and ideology.

5. The Communist Manifesto (1848): This is perhaps Marx's most famous work. It is a short pamphlet that outlines the basic principles of communism.

6. The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon (1852): This work analyzes the rise to power of Louis Napoleon in France in 1848.

7. The Poverty of Philosophy (1847): This work is a critique of the book "Philosophy of Poverty" by French socialist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.

8. Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (1859): This work is a precursor to Marx's magnum opus, "Das Kapital".

9. Das Kapital (1867): This three-volume work is Marx's major work on political economy. It analyzes the capitalist system and argues for the inevitability of a socialist revolution.

10. Critique of the Gotha Program (1891): This work is a critique of a draft program for the German Social Democratic Party.

Bronislaw Malinowski

• Argonauts of the Western Pacific: An Account of their Culture, Kinship, and Religion (1922): This is considered Malinowski's most famous work. It details his fieldwork among the Trobriand Islanders, focusing on their social organization, kinship system, and kula exchange.

• Crime and Custom in Savage Society (1926): This book explores the relationship between law and social order in Melanesian societies. Malinowski argues that crime is not simply a matter of individual deviance, but is also influenced by social factors.

• The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia (1929): This controversial book examines sexuality and marriage customs among the Trobriand Islanders. Malinowski challenges the notion that "primitive" societies are promiscuous and argues that they have complex and well-defined rules governing sexual behavior.

• Coral Gardens and Their Magic (1935): This book focuses on Malinowski's fieldwork among the Trobriand Islanders and their relationship to the natural world. He explores their magic practices, gardening techniques, and beliefs about the environment.

• A Diary in the Strict Sense (1967): This is a posthumously published diary that Malinowski kept during his fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands. It provides a fascinating glimpse into the challenges and rewards of anthropological fieldwork.

Alfred Radcliffe-Brown:

1. 1922: The Andaman Islanders; a study in social anthropology

This book details Radcliffe-Brown's fieldwork experiences with the Andamanese people, focusing on their social organization, kinship systems, and rituals.

2. 1931: Social Organization of Australian Tribes

This book explores various Aboriginal Australian groups' kinship structures and social arrangements, applying Radcliffe-Brown's structural-functionalist approach.

3. 1935: Structure and Function in Primitive Society (collection of essays)

This collection brings together several of Radcliffe-Brown's influential essays that outline his theoretical framework of social anthropology, emphasizing social structures and their functions in maintaining social order.

Other noteworthy works by Radcliffe-Brown:

• 1922: African Systems of Kinship and Marriage (article)

• 1939: Taboo: The Frazer Lecture 1939

• (Edited): A Natural History of Andaman Islands

Talcott Parsons

• 1937: The Structure of Social Action (Volume I)

• 1949: The Structure of Social Action (Volume II)

This foundational work established Parsons's framework for understanding social action and systems.

• 1942: Family, Socialization, and Interaction Process (with Robert F. Bales)

Parsons collaborated with Bales on this exploration of family dynamics and their role in socialization.

• 1949: Essays in Sociological Theory

This collection brought together Parsons's earlier essays on various sociological themes.

• 1951: The Social System

This book further developed Parsons's theory of social systems and their functional components.

• 1954: Economy and Society: A Study in the Integration of Economic and Social Theory (with Neil J. Smelser)

Parsons and Smelser examined the relationship between economic and social systems.

• 1960: Power and Liberty

In this work, Parsons explored the concepts of power and liberty within a social context.

• 1961: Societies: Evolutionary and Comparative Perspectives

This book delved into Parsons's views on societal evolution and how societies differed.

• 1964: Social Structure and Personality

Parsons revisited the relationship between social structures and individual personalities.

• 1965: Theories of Society (2 Volumes)

This compilation presented a comprehensive overview of Parsons's sociological theories.

• 1967: Christianity and Modern Industrial Society

Parsons analyzed the role of Christianity in modern industrial societies.

• 1970: Toward a General Theory of Action

This book aimed to establish a unified theory of human action across various disciplines.

Robert K. Merton

• 1938: Science, Technology & Society in Seventeenth-Century England (later included in The Sociology of Science: Theoretical and Empirical Investigations)

• 1949: Social Theory and Social Structure (revised and expanded in 1957 and 1968)

• 1965: On the Shoulders of Giants: A Shandean Postscript

• 1973: The Sociology of Science

• 1976: Sociological Ambivalence

• 1979: The Sociology of Science: An Episodic Memoir

• 1985: "George Sarton: Episodic Recollections by an Unruly Apprentice" (Isis 76(4):470–86)

• 2004: On Social Structure and Science, edited by Piotr Sztompka

Note:

• Some of Merton's works like "Social Structure and Anomie" (1938) and "The Normative Structure of Science" (1942) were originally published as articles but are included in other compilations.

Claude Lévi-Strauss

• 1949: Les Structures élémentaires de la parenté (The Elementary Structures of Kinship) - This is considered a foundational work in structural anthropology.

• 1955: Tristes Tropiques (A World on the Wane) - This is a travelogue and intellectual autobiography that brought Lévi-Strauss wider recognition.

• 1958: Anthropologie structurale (Structural Anthropology) - A collection of essays outlining his structuralist approach to anthropology.

• 1962: La Pensée sauvage (The Savage Mind) - Explores the rationality of non-Western cultures.

• 1962: Le Totémisme aujourd'hui (Totemism) - Examines the concept of totemism in various cultures.

Mythologiques Series (Four Volumes):

• 1964: Le Cru et le cuit (The Raw and the Cooked) - Analyzes myths through binary oppositions.

• 1966: Du miel aux cendres (From Honey to Ashes) - Continues the analysis of myths in the Mythologiques series.

• 1968: L'Origine des manières de table (The Origin of Table Manners) - Part of the Mythologiques series.

• 1971: L'Homme nu (The Naked Man) - The concluding volume of the Mythologiques series.

• 1973: Anthropologie structurale deux (Structural Anthropology Two) - A sequel to his earlier collection of essays.

• 1975: La Voie des masques (The Way of the Masks) - Analyzes the art, religion, and mythology of Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples.

• 1983: Le Regard éloigné (The View from Afar) - A collection of essays.

Note: This list focuses on major works. Lévi-Strauss published many other articles and books throughout his career.