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9781107110915

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Advance praise: 'This is a significant book that questions the received view about classical social theory. With considerable erudition and a careful reading of a wide range of the most important thinkers in early twentieth-century Germany, Harrington shows that these theorists had already anticipated some of the ideas that are more commonly associated with contemporary thought. He also demonstrates that the traditional view of the decline of cosmopolitanism needs to be revisited.' Gerard Delanty, University of Sussex Advance praise: 'Germany and the West remains an important topic, although fortunately the time of confrontation is over. This book, by re-evaluating the writings of liberal German social theorists, recalibrates the image of German intellectual history before Nazism, and teaches us the contemporary relevance of their attempts to combine universality and particularity in an appropriate manner.' Hans Joas, Humboldt University, Berlin, and University of Chicago Advance praise: 'A masterful reinterpretation of universalist moral visions expressed during Germany's Weimar Republic. Harrington is unapologetic in his championing of cosmopolitanism against its stalwart sceptics and is unflinching in his defence of this vision's viability in the face of its well-meaning but pessimistic doubters. The book will take an important place in the study of Weimar culture and its legacies, and in contemporary debates over the normative dimensions of globalization.' John P. McCormick, University of Chicago

'This is a significant book that questions the received view about classical social theory. With considerable erudition and a careful reading of a wide range of the most important thinkers in early twentieth-century Germany, Harrington shows that these theorists had already anticipated some of the ideas that are more commonly associated with contemporary thought. He also demonstrates that the traditional view of the decline of cosmopolitanism needs to be revisited.' Gerard Delanty, University of Sussex 'Germany and the West remains an important topic, although fortunately the time of confrontation is over. This book, by re-evaluating the writings of liberal German social theorists, recalibrates the image of German intellectual history before Nazism, and teaches us the contemporary relevance of their attempts to combine universality and particularity in an appropriate manner.' Hans Joas, Humboldt University, Berlin, and University of Chicago 'A masterful reinterpretation of universalist moral visions expressed during Germany's Weimar Republic. Harrington is unapologetic in his championing of cosmopolitanism against its stalwart sceptics and is unflinching in his defence of this vision's viability in the face of its well-meaning but pessimistic doubters. The book will take an important place in the study of Weimar culture and its legacies, and in contemporary debates over the normative dimensions of globalization.' John P. McCormick, University of Chicago

Author Information

Austin Harrington is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Leeds. His other publications include Modern Social Theory: An Introduction (2005), Art and Social Theory (2004) and Hermeneutic Dialogue and Social Science: A Critique of Gadamer and Habermas (2001).

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