A revised and expanded version of the critically acclaimed Three Sociological Traditions, this text provides a concise intellectual history of sociology built around the development of four classical schools of thought: the conflict tradition of Marx and Weber, the ritual solidarity of Durkheim, the micro-interactionist tradition of Mead, and Bloomer. and Garfinkel and the utilitarian-rational tradition of choice, new for this edition. Collins, one of the most lively and fascinating writers in the field of sociology, traces the ideological milestones along the path of these four main schools from classical theories to their modern developments. He talks about the origins of sociology, pointing out areas where progress has been made in our understanding of social reality, areas where differences still exist, and the direction in which sociology is heading.

Randall Collins is a professor of sociology at the University of California at Riverside and the author of many books and articles, including The Sociological Idea (OUP, 1992) and The Sociology of Conflict.