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With particular attention to his work on modernization and modernity as construed by a sociologist of knowledge, this book offers a sympathetic exposition and evaluation of Peter Berger’s work as one of the world’s most accomplished and influential sociologists. In the context of an examination of Berger’s ongoing work on the social construction of reality, styles of consciousness, the role of science-based technology, pluralism, and other pertinent topics, the author also considers Berger’s unique and thoughtful approach to research and theorizing. Berger’s method of ‘sociological tourism’, which departs sharply from the current emphasis in the social sciences on ever more complex and ostensibly rigorous statistical procedures, provides a refreshing move away from the increasingly esoteric and sometimes alienating methodological self-consciousness that characterizes contemporary sociology. With this distinctive approach, this book will appeal to scholars and students of sociology who share Berger’s interest. The importance of modernization and modernity on a world scale is undeniable, and a deeper understanding of their nature and consequences, will also benefit members of the intelligent laity who are not sociological specialists but are open to new ideas that are clearly explained.
This book is the summation of many decades of work by Peter L. Berger, an internationally renowned sociologist of religion. Secularization theory—which saw modernity as leading to a decline of religion—has been empirically falsified. It should be replaced by a nuanced theory of pluralism. In this new book, Berger outlines the possible foundations for such a theory, addressing a wide range of issues spanning individual faith, interreligious societies, and the political order. He proposes a conversation around a new paradigm for religion and pluralism in an age of multiple modernities. The book also includes responses from three eminent scholars of religion: Nancy Ammerman, Detlef Pollack, and Fenggang Yang.
DIVInfluential scholar Peter L. Berger reveals five signs that point to the supernatural and its place in a modern secular society/divDIV /divDIVAcclaimed scholar and sociologist Peter L. Berger examines religion in twentieth-century Western society, exploring the social nature of knowledge and its effect on religious belief. Using five signs evident in ordinary life—order, play, hope, damnation, and humor—Berger calls for a rediscovery of the supernatural as a crucial, rich dimension of humanity./divDIV /divDIVConceived as a response to his influential book The Sacred Canopy, Berger eschews technical jargon and speaks directly and systematically to those, like himself, who wish to explore religious questions./div
“Now and then,” writes Lionel Trilling, “it is possible to observe the moral life in process of revising itself.” In this new book he is concerned with such a mutation: the process by which the arduous enterprise of sincerity, of being true to one’s self, came to occupy a place of supreme importance in the moral life—and the further shift which finds that place now usurped by the darker and still more strenuous modern ideal of authenticity. Instances range over the whole of Western literature and thought, from Shakespeare to Hegel to Sartre, from Robespierre to R.D. Laing, suggesting the contradictions and ironies to which the ideals of sincerity and authenticity give rise, most especially in contemporary life. Lucid, and brilliantly framed, its view of cultural history will give Sincerity and Authenticity an important place among the works of this distinguished critic.
Peter Berger (1929-2017) was one of the pre-eminent sociologists of the twentieth century. His highly creative and controversial writing made a distinct impact not only in sociology but in such disciplines as political science, public policy, history, religious studies and theology.Originally published in 1986 Making Sense of Modern Times shows how Peter Berger struggled with the classical legacy of the sociological enterprise – a legacy abandoned by contemporary sociology. Berger made a self-conscious effort to recover this vision. Each of the four sections of the book – Social Theory; Modernization; Religion; The Method and Vocation of Sociology – contains essays which examine Berger’s efforts in the light of these broader issues and assess the degree to which Berger succeeds or fails in his efforts. The book includes a contribution from Berger himself, responding to the preceding essays as well as presenting his own appraisal of the future of interpretive sociology.
A watershed event in the field of sociology, this text introduced “a major breakthrough in the sociology of knowledge and sociological theory generally” (George Simpson, American Sociological Review). In this seminal book, Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann examine how knowledge forms and how it is preserved and altered within a society. Unlike earlier theorists and philosophers, Berger and Luckmann go beyond intellectual history and focus on commonsense, everyday knowledge—the proverbs, morals, values, and beliefs shared among ordinary people. When first published in 1966, this systematic, theoretical treatise introduced the term social construction,effectively creating a new thought and transforming Western philosophy.
Peter L. Berger is arguably the best-known American sociologist living today. Since the 1960s he has been publishing books on many facets of the American social scene, and several are now considered classics. So it may be hard to believe Professor Berger's description of himself as an "accidental sociologist." But that in fact accurately describes how he stumbled into sociology. In this witty, intellectually stimulating memoir, Berger explains not only how he became a social scientist, but the many adventures that this calling has led to. Rather than writing an autobiography, he focuses on the main intellectual issues that motivated his work and the various people and situations he encountered in the course of his career. Full of memorable vignettes and colorful characters depicted in a lively narrative often laced with humor, Berger's memoir conveys the excitement that a study of social life can bring. The first part of the book describes Berger's initiation into sociology through the New School for Social Research, "a European enclave in the midst of Greenwich Village bohemia." Berger was first a student at the New School and later a young professor amidst a clique of like-minded individuals. There he published The Social Construction of Reality (with colleague Thomas Luckmann), one of his most successful books, followed by The Sacred Canopy on the sociology of religion, also still widely cited. The book covers Berger's experience as a "globe-trekking sociologist" including trips to Mexico, where he studied approaches to Third World poverty; to East Asia, where he discovered the potential of capitalism to improve social conditions; and to South Africa, where he chaired an international study group on the future of post-Apartheid society. Berger then tells about his role as the director of a research center at Boston University. For over two decades he and his colleagues have been tackling such important issues as globalization, the secularization of Europe, and the ongoing dialectic between relativism and fundamentalism in contemporary culture. What comes across throughout is Berger's boundless curiosity with the many ways in which people interact in society. This book offers longtime Berger readers as well as newcomers to sociology proof that the sociologist's attempt to explain the world is anything but boring.
After ten years of writing in other areas, Peter L. Berger returns to the problem of religion and modernity discussed in his earlier book A rumor of angels. In The heretical imperative, however, not only is the argument developed further in terms of the challenge to religion of modern secularism, but it is also argued that a new and greatly promising encounter is about to take place between the Judaeo-Christian tradition and the great religions of Asia. Berger discusses the options for religious thought in the contemporary world and suggests that out of the confrontation between different traditions may come a powerful revitalization of religious faith.