First published in 1956, The Power Elite stands as a contemporary classic of social science and social criticism. C. Wright Mills examines and critiques the organization of power in the United States, calling attention to three firmly interlocked prongs of power: the military, corporate, and political elite. The Power Elite can be read as a good account of what was taking place in America at the time it was written, but its underlying question of whether America is as democratic in practice as it is in theory continues to matter very much today.

What The Power Elite informed readers of in 1956 was how much the organization of power in America had changed during their lifetimes, and Alan Wolfe's astute afterword to this new edition brings us up to date, illustrating how much more has changed since then. Wolfe sorts out what is helpful in Mills' book and which of his predictions have not come to bear, laying out the radical changes in American capitalism, from intense global competition and the collapse of communism to rapid technological transformations and ever changing consumer tastes. The Power Elite has stimulated generations of readers to think about the kind of society they have and the kind of society they might want, and deserves to be read by every new generation.By C. Wright Mills

NY. Oxford University Press. 1956. 414p.

By Adolfe A. Berle

People live in contexts of power. Here are Berle's Laws of Power

“The "0th" rule . . . . "Power is always preferable to chaos.

Rule One: Power invariably fills any vacuum in human organization.

Rule Two: Power is invariably personal.

Rule Three: Power is invariably based on a system of ideas or philosophy. Absent such a system or philosophy, the institutions essential to power cease to be reliable, power ceases to be effective, and the power holder is eventually displaced.

Rule Four: Power is exercised through, and depends on, institutions. By their existence, they limit, come to control, and eventually confer or withdraw power.

Rule Five: Power is invariably confronted with, and acts in the presence of, a field of responsibility. The two constantly interact, in hostility or co-operation, in conflict or through some form of dialog, organized or unorganized, made part of, or perhaps intruding into, the institutions on which power depends.

Berle' explanation of these rules, with context and stories, makes a fascinating and, I believe, quite useful read. I think anyone who cares about what "power" means can learn from and profit from this book.

New York. Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc.

This book explores the realm of human behavior in social situations and the way that we appear to others. Each person in everyday social intercourse presents himself and his activity to others, attempts to guide and control the impressions they form of him, and employs certain techniques in order to sustain his performance, just as an actor presents a character to an audience.By Erving Goffman

NY. Anchor. 1959. 269p.

An abridged edition to include: The Problem - Religious Affiliation & Social Stratification - The Spirit of Capitalism - Luther's Conception of the Calling - Task of the Investigation - The Practical Ethics of the Ascetic Branches of Protestantism - The Religious Foundations of Worldly Asceticism - Asceticism and the Spirit of Capitalism - EndnotesBy Max Weber. Translated by Talcott Parsons.

NY. .Charles Scribners. 1958. THIS BOOK CONTAINS MARK-UP

By Ernest Jones

Jones was active in establishing the American Psychoanalytic Association (1911). He wrote monographs on the study of suggestion, symbolism, character formation, and obsessional neuroses; those works were collected in Papers on Psycho-Analysis (1913). After his return to London in 1913 he practiced psychoanalysis.

NY. Hillstone. 1974. 392p.

By Charles Brenner

This standard introduction to psycho-analysis has been thoroughly revised to clarify and refine the concepts presented, and two new chapters have been added. Comprehensive and lucid, Dr. Brenner's volume is the indispensable orientation to the subject for both laymen and students.

NY. Doubleday Anchor. 1955. CONTAINS MARK-UP

By Ernest Jones

Jones was active in establishing the American Psychoanalytic Association (1911). He wrote monographs on the study of suggestion, symbolism, character formation, and obsessional neuroses; those works were collected in Papers on Psycho-Analysis (1913). After his return to London in 1913 he practiced psychoanalysis.

NY. Hillstone. 1974. 392p.

First published in 1895: Emile Durkheim’s masterful work on the nature and scope of sociology—now with a new introduction and improved translation by leading scholar Steven Lukes.

The Rules of the Sociological Method is among the most important contributions to the field of sociology, still debated among scholars today. Through letters, arguments, and commentaries on significant debates, Durkheim confronted critics, clarified his own position, and defended the objective scientific method he applied to his study of humans. This updated edition offers an introduction and extra notes as well as a new translation to improve the clarity and accessibility of this essential work.

In the introduction, Steven Lukes, author of the definitive biography Emile Durkheim: His Life and Work, spells out Durkheim’s intentions, shows the limits of Durkheim’s view of sociology, and presents its political background and significance. Making use of the various texts in this volume and Durkheim’s later work, Lukes discusses how Durkheim’s methodology was modified or disregarded in practice—and how it is still relevant today.

With substantial notes on context, this user-friendly edition will greatly ease the task of students and scholars working with Durkheim’s method—a view that has been a focal point of sociology since its original publication. The Rules of the Sociological Method will engage a new generation of readers with Durkheim’s rich contribution to the field.By Emile Durkheim

NY. The Free Press. 1938. 204p. CONTAINS MARK-UP

The Sane Society is a continuation and extension of the brilliant psychiatric concepts Erich Fromm first formulated in Escape from Freedom; it is also, in many ways, an answer to Freud's Civilization and its Discontents.

Fromm examines man's escape into overconformity and the danger of robotism in contemporary industrial society: modern humanity has, he maintains, been alienated from the world of their own creation. Here Fromm offers a complete and systematic exploration of his "humanistic psychoanalysis." In so doing, he counters the profound pessimism for our future that Freud expressed and sets forth the goals of a society in which the emphasis is on each person and on the social measures designed to further function as a responsible individual.By Erich Fromm

Greenwich, Conn. Fawcfett. 1955. 314p.

The Social Bond, an Investigation into the Bases of Law-Abidingness, Vol. I: Antecedents of the Social Bond, the Phylogeny of Sociality (Social Bond ... the Bases of Law-Abidingness, Vol 1) (v. 1)

NY. Fordham University Press. 1976. 230p.

By Charles Horton Cooley

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

NY. Scribners. 1922. 416p. CONTAINS MARK-UP

By Herbert Spencer

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

NY. Appleton. 1901. 432p.

Translated, Edited, And With An Introduction By Kurth. Wolff

Georg Simmel rejected the organicist theories of Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer and German historical tradition. He believed that society is an intricate web of multiple relations between individuals who are in constant interaction. He introduced the term sociation to describe and analyze particular forms of human interaction and their crystallization in-group characteristics. He emphasized the study of forms of interaction and this approach gave impetus to the rise of formal sociology. Georg Simmel's concept of social types was complementary to his concept of social forms. He used the example of 'The Stranger' to explain his social type, which is someone who has a particular place in society within the social group that the person has entered. Simmel stressed both the connection as well as the tensions between the individual and society, arguing that an individual is both a product of society and the link in all-social processes that take place in society. His dialectical approach brings out the dynamic interlink ages as well as conflicts that exist between social units in a society. Georg Simmel argued that conflict is an essential and complementary aspect of consensus or harmony in society. He made a distinction between social appearances and social realities, and argued that in pre-modern societies the relationships of subordination and superordination between master and servant, between employer and employee involved the total personalities of individuals. In capitalist modern society, the concept of freedom emerges and the domination of employer on employee, master on servant becomes partial. In modern societies, individualism emerges in societies with an elaborate division of labor and a number of intersecting social circles, but human beings are surrounded by objects that put constraint on them and dominate their individual needs and desires. Simmel warned that in modern societies, individuals will be frozen into social functions and the price of the objective perfection of the world will be the atrophy of the human soul.

New York Collier-Macmillan. 1950. 496p. CONTAINS MARK-UP

By Leslie T. Wilkins

Tavistock Press was established as a co-operative venture between the Tavistock Institute and Routledge & Kegan Paul (RKP) in the 1950s to produce a series of major contributions across the social sciences.
This volume is part of a 2001 reissue of a selection of those important works which have since gone out of print, or are difficult to locate. Published by Routledge, 112 volumes in total are being brought together under the name The International Behavioural and Social Sciences Library: Classics from the Tavistock Press.
Reproduced here in facsimile, this volume was originally published in 1964 and is available individually. The collection is also available in a number of themed mini-sets of between 5 and 13 volumes, or as a complete collection.

London. Tavistock. 1964. 311p.

By Thomas C. Schelling

A series of closely interrelated essays on game theory, this book deals with an area in which progress has been least satisfactory—the situations where there is a common interest as well as conflict between adversaries: negotiations, war and threats of war, criminal deterrence, extortion, tacit bargaining. It proposes enlightening similarities between, for instance, maneuvering in limited war and in a traffic jam; deterring the Russians and one's own children; the modern strategy of terror and the ancient institution of hostages.

London. Oxford University Press. 1960. 301p.

By Thomas S. Kuhn

Thomas Kuhn was a graduate student in theoretical physics at Harvard, close to finishing his dissertation for his PhD, when he was asked to teach an experimental college course on science for non-scientists. It was his first real taste of the history of science, and it changed his life.

To his surprise, the course altered some of his basic assumptions about science, and the result was a big shift in his career plans from physics to the history and then philosophy of science. In his mid-30s he wrote a book on Copernicus, and five years later produced The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. A monograph of only 170 pages, the book sold over a million copies, was translated into 24 languages, and became one of the most cited works of all time in both the natural and social sciences. Its success was highly unusual for an academic work, and was a shock to Kuhn himself. 

The work is shortish because it was originally composed with the aim of being a long article in the Encylopedia of Unified Science. Once published, this article was expanded into a separate book. This limitation turned out to be a blessing, as he was prevented from going into lengthy and difficult scientific detail, making the book just readable for the layman.

Why has the Structure made such a huge impact? If its message has been restricted to science itself the work would still be very important, but it is the generic idea of ‘paradigms’, in which one world view replaces another, that has been considered valuable across so many areas of knowledge. Indeed, at several points in the book Kuhn touches on the fact that paradigms exist not only in science, but are the natural human way of comprehending the world. The roots of the book lay in an experience Kuhn had reading Aristotle, when he realised that Aristotle’s laws of motion were not just ‘bad Newton’, but a completely different way of seeing the world.

Chicaco. The University Ofchicago Press. 1970. 217p. CONTAINS MARK-UP

By Daniel J. Boorstin

This book is a historical look at the people who became "The Americans." Main subject headings: The Versatiles: New Englanders, The Transients: Joiners, The Upstarts: Boosters, The Rooted and the Uprooted: Southerners, White and Black, The Vagueness of the Land, American Ways of Talking, Search for Symbols, A Spacious Republic. This second volume in “The Americans” trilogy deals with the crucial period of American history from the Revolution to the Civil War. Here we meet the people who shaped, and were shaped by, the American experience—the versatile New Englanders, the Transients and the Boosters. 

NY. Random House. 1965. 515p.

By Betty Friedan

The Feminine Mystique begins with an introduction describing what Friedan called "the problem that has no name"—the widespread unhappiness of women in the 1950s and early 1960s. It discusses the lives of several housewives from around the United States who were unhappy despite living in material comfort and being happily married with fine children. "[The Feminine Mystique] now feels both revolutionary and utterly contemporary. Four decades later, millions of individual transformations later, there is still so much to learn from this book. Those who think of it as solely a feminist manifesto ought to revisit its pages to get a sense of the magnitude of the research and reporting Friedan undertook" (Anna Quindlen). Named by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 best and most influential non-fiction books since 1923.

NY. Dell. 1963. 375p.

By Willam McDougall

"Until the later decades of the nineteenth century, psychology continued to concern itself almost exclusively with the mind of man conceived in an abstract fashion, not as the mind of any particular individual, but as the mind of a representative individual considered in abstraction from his social settings as something given to our contemplation fully formed and complete..."

William McDougall was an early 20th century psychologist who wrote a number of highly influential textbooks, and was particularly important in the development of the theory of instinct and of social psychology in the English-speaking world. He was an opponent of behaviourism and stands somewhat outside the mainstream of the development of Anglo-American psychological thought in the first half of the 20th century; but his work was very well known and respected among lay people.Group Psychology itself consists properly of two parts, that which is concerned to discover the most general principles of group life, and that which applies these principles to the study of particular kinds and examples of group life. The former is logically prior to the second; though in practice it is hardly possible to keep them wholly apart. The present volume is concerned chiefly with the former branch. Only when the general principles of group life have been applied to the understanding of particular societies, of nations and the manifold system of groups within the nation, will it be possible for Social Psychology to return upon the individual life and give of it an adequate account in all its concrete fullness.

NY. G. P. Putnam. 1920. 423p. CONTAINS MARK-UP

By C. P. Snow

The notion that our society, its education system and its intellectual life, is characterised by a split between two cultures—the arts or humanities on one hand, and the sciences on the other—has a long history. But it was C. P. Snow's Rede lecture of 1959 that brought it to prominence and began a public debate that is still raging in the media today. This 50th anniversary printing of The Two Cultures and its successor piece, A Second Look (in which Snow responded to the controversy four years later) features an introduction by Stefan Collini, charting the history and context of the debate, its implications and its afterlife. The importance of science and technology in policy run largely by non-scientists, the future for education and research, and the problem of fragmentation threatening hopes for a common culture are just some of the subjects discussed.

Cambridge U.K. 1951. 173p.