The Anthem Companion to Karl Mannheim: (Anthem Companions to Sociology)

The Hungarian-born Karl Mannheim became recognized as a pathbreaking sociologist in Germany when he published 'Ideologie und Utopie' (1929) and in the English-speaking world upon publication of 'Ideology and Utopia' (1936), a book in which he explored the possibilities of an approach to political thought by way of sociology of knowledge. Eighty years later, and viewed from varied substance-rich perspectives worldwide, the many facets of Mannheim’s original work are examined in their bearing on numerous other questions in political theory, cultural studies and social analysis. 'The Anthem Companion to Karl Mannheim' is an international collection of original articles on the classical sociologist and documents the current revitalization of the reception of this social thinker. Using “learning from Mannheim” as their motif, the chapters in this volume favor fresh negotiations with his works, including the writings published posthumously in recent decades.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Karl Mannheim as Interlocutor, David Kettler and Volker Meja; Chapter One Between Ideology and Utopia: Karl Mannheim’s Quest for a Political Synthesis, Henrik Lundberg; Chapter Two Karl Mannheim and the Realism Debate in Political Theory, Peter Breiner; Chapter Three Mannheim, Mass Society and Democratic Theory, Ryusaku Yamada; Chapter Four Karl Mannheim and Hannah Arendt on Conduct, Action and Politics, Philip Walsh; Chapter Five Karl Mannheim and Women’s Research, David Kettler and Volker Meja; Chapter Six The Melodrama of Modernity in Karl Mannheim’s Political Theory, Hartmut Behr and Liam Devereux; Chapter Seven Historicization and the Sociology of Knowledge, Reinhard Laube; Chapter Eight Karl Mannheim, T. S. Eliot and Raymond Williams: Cultural Sociology or Cultural Studies?, Claudia Honegger; Chapter Nine Karl Mannheim’s Sociology of Self- Refl exivity, Amalia Barboza; Chapter Ten Praxeological Sociology of Knowledge and Documentary Method: Karl Mannheim’s Framing of Empirical Research, Ralf Bohnsack; List of Contributors; Index.

About the Author :
Volker Meja is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. David Kettler is Research Professor in the Division of Social Studies at Bard College and Professor Emeritus, Trent University.

Review :
European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology “Kettler and Meja’s Anthem Companion offers timely reflections on some of the main issues in Mannheim’s sociology of knowledge from the point of view of its ‘actuality’ understood as ‘applicability’”. —Gábor Tverdota (2019) “The anthem companion to Karl Mannheim”, European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology, 6:1, 131–136 The Anthem Companions to Sociology offers wide ranging and masterly overviews of the works of major sociologists. The volumes in the series provide authoritative and critical appraisals of key figures in modern social thought. These books, written and edited by leading figures, are essential additional reading on the history of sociology. — Gerard Delanty, Professor of Sociology, University of Sussex, Brighton This ambitious series provides an intellectually thoughtful introduction to the featured social theorists and offers a comprehensive assessment of their legacy. Each edited collection synthesizes the many dimensions of the respective theorist’s contributions and sympathetically ponders the various nuances in and the broader societal context for their body of work. The series will be appreciated by seasoned scholars and students alike. — Michele Dillon, Professor of Sociology and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, University of New Hampshire The orchestration and emergence of the Anthem Companions to Sociology represent a formidable and invaluable achievement. Each companion explores the scope, ingenuity, and conceptual subtleties of the works of a theorist indispensable to the sociological project. The editors and contributors for each volume are the very best in their fields, and they guide us towards the richest, most creative seams in the writings of their thinker. The results, strikingly consistent from one volume to the next, brush away the years, reanimate what might have been lost, and bring numerous rays of illumination to the most pressing challenges of the present. — Rob Stones, Professor of Sociology, Western Sydney University, Australia The Anthem Companions, those that have appeared already and those that are to come, will give every sociologist a handy and authoritative guide to all the giants of their discipline. — Stephen Mennell, Professor Emeritus, University College Dublin Each volume of the Anthem Companions to Sociology examines comprehensively not only a theorist’s distinct approach and unique contributions, but also situates each in reference to the major parameters of mainstream theoretical schools and traditions. This remarkable Series in addition throws into high relief the singular features of modern societies. It promises to set the standard for discussions of Sociology’s long-term development and belongs on the shelves of every social scientist.— Stephen Kalberg, Professor of Sociology Emeritus, Boston University  This valuable series covers both familiar figures in the history of sociology (such as Max Weber and, prospectively, Marx and Durkheim) and less often treated ones such as Arendt and Troeltsch who are also highly relevant to sociology, broadly conceived. In these books, leading scholars explore important but often neglected aspects of their subjects’ work. — William Outhwaite, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Newcastle University, UK