Ernest Gellner and Contemporary Social Thought

A group of leading social theorists re-examine Ernest Gellner's central ideas in a contemporary context.

Sini?a Male?evi? (Edited by), Mark Haugaard (Edited by)

9780521882910, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 29 November 2007

290 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.6 kg

'This is an excellent book. It shows a great appreciation of Ernest Gellner's contribution to social thinking and also offers a critical assessment of this thinking in the context of social and intellectual developments since his death. … Ernest Gellner and Contemporary Social Thought is a valuable addition to the libraries of all serious scholars of contemporary society.' Nations and Nationalism

Ernest Gellner was a unique scholar whose work covered areas as diverse as social anthropology, analytical philosophy, the sociology of the Islamic world, nationalism, psychoanalysis, East European transformations and kinship structures. Despite this diversity, there is an exceptional degree of unity and coherence in Gellner's work with his distinctly modernist, rationalist and liberal world-view evident in everything he wrote. His central problematic remains constant: understanding how the modern world came into being and to what extent it is unique relative to all other social forms. Ten years after his death, this book brings together leading social theorists to evaluate the significance of Gellner's legacy and to re-examine his central concerns. It corrects many misunderstandings and critically engages with Gellner's legacy to provide a cutting edge contribution to understanding our contemporary post-9/11, global, late modern, social condition.

Introduction: an intellectual rebel with a cause Mark Haugaard and Siniša Maleševi?
Part I. Civil Society, Coercion and Liberty: 1. Ernest Gellner on liberty and modernity Alan Macfarlane
2. Predation and production in European imperialism Michael Mann
3. Power, modernity and liberal democracy Mark Haugaard
4. Gellner versus Marxism: a major concern or a fleeting affair? Peter Skalnik
Part II. Ideology, Nationalism and Modernity: 5. Nationalism: restructuring Gellner's theory Nicos Mouzelis
6. Between the book and the new sword: Gellner, violence and ideology Siniša Maleševi?
7. Ernest Gellner and the multicultural mess Thomas Hylland Eriksen
Part III. Islam, Postmodernism and Gellner's Metaphysic: 8. Islam, Modernity and Science Michael Lessnoff
9. Truth, reason and the spectre of contingency Kevin Ryan
10. Gellner's metaphysic John A. Hall.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA], Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC], Social theory [JHBA], Social & political philosophy [HPS]