Thoreau and the Sociological Imagination: The Wilds of Society

(Paperback)

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Thoreau and the Sociological Imagination: The Wilds of Society is the first in-depth sociological examination of the ideas of Henry David Thoreau. Through explorations of Thoreau's intellectual links to early social thinkers, as well as the mainstay Thoreauvian concerns for the individual-society relationship, social change, and deconstructing society's idea of progress, Bingham illustrates the sophistication of Thoreau's sociological imagination challenging readers to re-examine the disciplinary boundaries between the social sciences and the humanities.

Reviews

Thoreau and the Sociological Imagination presents the trans-disciplinary breadth of Henry David Thoreau's work, explores the relation between self and society in constructing the common good, and highlights the interplay between humans and the natural environment. In this thought-provoking account, Dr. Bingham, illustrates Thoreau's particularly prescient outlook on social evolution. -- Michele Dillon, University of New Hampshire; coauthor of American Catholics in Transition
In retrospect, it is remarkable that this volume, or one like it, was not published some time ago. Looking at Thoreau as a sociological thinker makes perfect sense. . . . This is a book that should provoke self-reflection among sociologists as well as more general readers. Highly recommended. * Choice Reviews *
With C. Wright Mills and Peter Berger by his side, Bingham argues for a reconstruction of the socio-theoretical canon so as to include the posture and insights of the great humanist Henry David Thoreau. This formidable task is deftly discharged, and in Thoreau and the Sociological Imagination Bingham provides the basis for considerable discussion and debate. -- Braulio Muoz, Swarthmore College, and author of The Peruvian Notebooks and Tensions in Social Theory

Author Bio

Shawn Chandler Bingham is assistant professor of sociology at Saint Leo University in Florida.