Classical Social Theory and Modern Society - by Edward Royce (Paperback)

About the Book

Classical Social Theory and Modern Society introduces students to Marx, Durkheim, and Weber. After surveying the historical context in which they wrote, the book provides an overview of each thinker, then places them in dialogue with each other on four issues that remain relev...

Book Synopsis

Classical Social Theory and Modern Society introduces students to Marx, Durkheim, and Weber. After surveying the historical context in which they wrote, the book provides an overview of each thinker, then places them in dialogue with each other on four issues that remain relevant to life in today's modern world.

Review Quotes

In Classical Social Theory and Modern Society, Edward Royce provides a unique thematic approach to the founding fathers of Classical Sociology by presenting their ideas in an accessible and informative dialogue with each other. Offering a clear, succinct, and comprehensive outline of the main positions in the canon around the most significant themes of Modernity, the book skillfully guides the reader through a wide range of complicated issues and critical debates surrounding classical social theory.


It is a real treat to have a book written by someone deeply knowledgeable about classical social theory who also has the ability to convey those ideas clearly and with passion to students.

One might have thought that there is little that could productively be added to the secondary literature on the classics of social theory, but this book shows otherwise. A refreshing contribution, Royce's work contains many insights: it is written in a lucid and lively style, and will, I am confident, be very well-received in the community of social theorists.

Royce has produced an erudite and highly readable book designed to introduce student readers to the three most important formative figures of modern sociology: Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber. His command of the relevant literature is impressive, as is his ability to convey complex ideas in a comprehensible was for the intended audience. The book does an excellent job of revealing the contemporary relevance of this trio of thinkers by linking their work to four major themes: the modern condition, the fate of the individual, state and democracy, and socialism and capitalism. By concluding with the last of these themes, Royce points to the role of the sociological imaginary in envisioning an alternative world where greater social justice and equality prevails.


Royce's masterful survey of the ideas and sociological vision of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber is unique in dealing with these three thinkers as political public intellectuals and sociologists, while also remaining grounded in meticulous close readings of the texts. Grounding the sociological classics in the intellectual and cultural context of their times, Royce allows their insights to speak to us again on the big questions of democracy, individualism, freedom and equality that are all too relevant in today's world in turmoil, change, and crisis. Students will find the prose and organization easy to follow, and professors and will be both stimulated by Royce's insights and impressed by his scholarly care.

Royce's skillful analysis focuses on questions of continuing significance (modernity, individualism, democracy, and socialism). He provides clear and concise overviews of Marx, Weber, and Durkheim, effectively defining and explaining key ideas, outlining points of connection, and developing the comparisons among the three theorists. Without losing his own clear voice, Royce writes with close attention to, and frequent citations from, primary texts. This will resonate with students who are simultaneously reading the primary texts, and will give students for whom this is their only exposure to Marx, Weber, and Durkheim a taste of the theorists' language. A clear and compelling--and beautifully written-- introduction to the classic social theorists.

This substantive volume offers an overview of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber's theories of society. Focus on only three theorists is justified given that these three are most often seen as the founding trilogy of sociological thinkers in discerning mechanisms for explaining the profound transformations of society following industrialization and the Enlightenment. Royce orients on the unique interpretation of modernity from each theorist with more depth on themes regarding 'the individual, ' politics, and the economy. . . .Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduate collections.

With clarity and erudition, Edward Royce introduces a new generation to the founders of Sociology--Marx, Weber, and Durkheim. This compelling and synthetic volume reveals their similarities, differences, and the muscularity of their theories for understanding contemporary social life. Classical Social Theory and Modern Society has something for undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty everywhere. Indeed, Professor Royce invites any curious and educated citizen to wrestle with the intellectual giants of yesteryear at the seminar table of today.

About the Author

Edward Royce is professor emeritus of sociology at Rollins College where he was a recipient of the Cornell Distinguished Faculty Award. He is the author of The Origins of Southern Sharecropping and Poverty and Power: The Problem of Structural Inequality. He currently resides in Northampton, Massachusetts.