Durkheim died! : Alternative Readings of Sociological Theory

Author: (USA) Berger
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: "Durkheim Is Dead!" is Arthur Asa Berger's latest academic mystery novel, a work that combines sociological theory with detective fiction. Several of the most important sociologists and social thinkers from the 19th and 20th centuries—W.E.B. Du Bois, émile Durkheim, Sigmund Freud, Vladimir Lenin, Georg Simmel, Beatrice Webb, and Max Weber—are attending an academic conference in London. At a pre-conference gala, a series of terrifying incidents occur: scholars engage in a brawl, jewelry is stolen, and Durkheim disappears. The brilliant private detective Sherlock Holmes and his loyal partner, Dr. John Watson, are drawn into the group of sociologists and launch an investigation. The sociologists each share their sociological theories with Holmes and engage in heated debates. Here, Marxist, feminist, racial theory, psychoanalytic, and other sociological schools clash fiercely, filled with wisdom, ideas, and humor. In the end, the truth of this baffling case is revealed—it was all based on one of Durkheim's experiments. Du Bois, Durkheim, Freud, Simmel, Beatrice Webb, and other important sociologists and social thinkers from the 19th and 20th centuries attend an academic conference in London. At a pre-conference gala, a series of terrifying incidents occur: scholars engage in a brawl, jewelry is stolen, and Durkheim disappears. The brilliant private detective Holmes and his loyal partner, Dr. John Watson, are drawn into the group of sociologists and launch an investigation. The sociologists each share their sociological theories with Holmes and engage in heated debates. Feminist, racial theory, psychoanalytic, and other sociological schools clash fiercely here, filled with wisdom, ideas, and humor. In the end, the truth of this baffling case is revealed.