Tönnies: Community and Civil Society

A new translation and introduction make this classic of social and political theory readily accessible.

Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (Community and Civil Society) is a classic of social and political theory, exploring the tension between close-knit 'communities' and an emerging global market 'society'. This new translation and introduction make this seminal work accessible to students of social and political theory and the history of European ideas.Ferdinand Tönnies' Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (first published in 1887) is a classic of social and political theory, which explores the clash between small-scale neighbourhood-based 'communities' and large-scale competitive market 'societies'. Tönnies considers all aspects of life - political, economic, legal and family; art, religion and culture; the construction of 'selfhood' and 'personhood'; and modes of cognition, language and understanding. Often recognised as one of the founding texts of sociology, Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft is also a highly significant contribution to European political thought and philosophy, with particular relevance to the legacies of Hobbes and Kant. It is at once a response to modernity, a theoretical exercise in social, political and moral science, and an unusual commentary on the inner character of 'democratic socialism'. This new English rendition will introduce Tönnies' work to a fresh generation of English-speaking readers with interests in social and political theory and the history of European ideas.