From Societas to World Society offers a genealogy of what is arguably sociologys most important concept, that of society. The book covers this concepts entire intellectual history from its first systematization in Roman law 2,500 years ago to its crystallization in what Schmidt calls today's default model, informing both empirical research and theoretical logic in the social sciences, which he shows to be highly problematic. As an alternative, Schmidt suggests a conceptualization building upon Niklas Luhmanns theory of world society, which can be utilized for overcoming the formers Eurocentrism and to lay the groundwork for a genuinely global social science.
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
Conventions
1 Introduction: Society as a Social Science Concept
PART 1: Foundations: Fifth Century BCE to the Late Middle Ages
Introduction
2 The Roman Societates
1 The Economic Societas
2 The Military Societas
3 Societas Civilis
3 After the Collapse of Empire: Societas and Societas Civils in the Medieval
Age
4 The Medieval Theory of Civil Society: Law, Theology, and Philosophy
1 The Evolution of Roman Law
2 The Evolution of Christian Theology and Canon Law
3 The Evolution of Civil Society Theory
5 Fast Forward: Societas in the Modern Age
Concluding Summary
PART 2: Political Theories of Society and the Emergence of Sociology, 17th to
Early 20th Centuries
Introduction
6 Social Contract Theories: Althusius, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Spencer
7 Society and Community: Ferdinand Tönnies
1 Society
2 Community
8 Two Classical Sociologists: Max Weber and Émile Durkheim
1 Weber
2 Durkheim
Concluding Summary
PART 3: 20th Century Theories of Society
Introduction
9 Talcott Parsons
10 Niklas Luhmann
11 Jürgen Habermas
12 Pierre Bourdieu
Concluding Summary
PART 4: Globalization and the Emergence of World Society
Introduction
13 Challenges to Sociologys Default Model of Society
14 Responses: the World Society Theories of Immanuel Wallerstein and John W.
Meyer
1 Wallerstein
2 Meyer
15 A Comprehensive Alternative: Luhmann Again and Beyond
Concluding Summary
16 Conclusion: Toward a Tenable Concept of Society
Bibliography
Index
Volker H. Schmidt, Ph.D. (1995), University of Bremen, is currently a Professor of Sociology at the National University of Singapore. His main areas of specialization are social theory, conceptual analysis and history, and global social change.
