Center: Ideas and InstitutionsLiah Greenfeld, Michel L. Martin There are several concepts within the social sciences that refer to the fundamental realities on which the various disciplines focus their attention. The concept of the "center," as defined by Edward Shils, has such a status in sociology, for it deals with and attempts to provide an answer to the central question of the discipline—the question of the constitution of society. "Center" is a commonly used term with a variety of meanings. According to editors Liah Greenfeld and Michel Martin, "center" carries a twofold meaning when used as a concept. In its first sense, it is a synonym for "central value system," referring to irreducible values and beliefs that establish the identity of individuals and bind them into a common universe. In its second sense, "center" refers to "central institutional system," the authoritative institutions and persons who often express or embody the central value system. Both meanings imply a corresponding idea of "periphery," referring both to the elements of society that need to be integrated and to institutions and persons who lack authority. The original essays compiled in this volume examine and apply the concept of the center in different contexts. The contributors come from a broad range of disciplines—classics, religion, philosophy, history, literary criticism, anthropology, political science, and sociology—which serves to underscore the far-reaching significance of the Shilsean theory of society. The interrelated subsets of the "center-periphery" theme addressed here include: symbolic systems, intellectuals, the expansion of the center into the periphery, parallel concepts in the work of other scholars besides Shils, and the paths of research inspired by these concepts. The volume features an introspective essay by Shils himself, in which he reexamines his central ideas in the light of new experiences and the ideas of others, some of them contained in this volume. By drawing together such diverse scholars around a unified idea, this collection achieves a cohesion that makes it an exciting contribution to the comparative analysis of social and cultural systems. A collective effort in social theory, Center: Ideas and Institutions is a testimony to the breadth and complexity of one of man's ideas. |
Contents
Reflections on German History | 1 |
The Disadvantages of Monotheism for a Universal State | 52 |
Mandelstam and Soviet Power | 66 |
Transcendental Vision Center Formation | 96 |
Current Problems of the University and of Humanistic | 130 |
The Familys Move from Center to Periphery | 173 |
Jewish Minorities and the State in the United States | 186 |
Symbolism of the Center the Periphery and the Middle | 210 |
An Idea and Its Career 19351987 | 250 |
Common terms and phrases
activities Akhmatova analysis anthropology Argentina Argentinian authority autonomy Axial Age Balinese become Cassandra Catholic center and periphery central value system century charismatic Chicago Press Christian Church civilizations conception course cultural democratic Der Spiegel distinction Dubnow ecological economic Edward Shils elites essay ethnic Europe European Exegi existence fact function Geertz groups heterogenetic human ideas identity individual institutions integration intellectuals Ireland Irish Jewish Jews Julian knowledge Madras mainline Mandelstam Max Weber modern organization orientation orthogenetic Osip Mandelstam pagan participation particular pattern periph Petersburg poem poet poetry political population problems Protestant Protestantism Pushkin Redfield relations religion religious ritual role Roman Empire schools Scythians secular sense Shils's social science society sociology Soviet Union structure symbolic tension territorial theory tion tradition transcendental center transformation Ulster United University of Chicago urban verse Weber West German Western Yucatan