Ernest Gellner and Contemporary Social Thought [Hardcover]

A group of leading social theorists re-examine Ernest Gellner's central ideas in a contemporary context.Ernest Gellner was a unique scholar whose work covered a diverse range of topics. A group of leading social theorists deepen our understanding of key social forces in the contemporary world by re-examining some of Gellner's central ideas in the post-9/11, global and late modern context.Ernest Gellner was a unique scholar whose work covered a diverse range of topics. A group of leading social theorists deepen our understanding of key social forces in the contemporary world by re-examining some of Gellner's central ideas in the post-9/11, global and late modern context.Ernest Gellner was a unique scholar whose work covered areas as diverse as social anthropology, analytical philosophy, the sociology of the Islamic world, nationalism, psychoanalysis, East European transformations and kinship structures. Despite this diversity, there is an exceptional degree of unity and coherence in Gellner's work with his distinctly modernist, rationalist and liberal world-view evident in everything he wrote. His central problematic remains constant: understanding how the modern world came into being and to what extent it is unique relative to all other social forms. Ten years after his death, this book brings together leading social theorists to evaluate the significance of Gellner's legacy and to re-examine his central concerns. It corrects many misunderstandings and critically engages with Gellner's legacy to provide a cutting edge contribution to understanding our contemporary post-9/11, global, late modern, social condition.Introduction: an intellectual rebel with a cause Mark Haugaard and Siniaa Maleaevi; Part I. Civil Society, Coercion and Liberty: 1. Ernest Gellner on liberty and modernity Alan Macfarlane; 2. Predation and production in European imperialism Michael Mann; 3. Power, modernity and liberal democracy Mark Haugaard; 4. Gellner versus Marxism: a major concern orl#