I had some money to spend. A co-author mentioned Neil Fligstein’s new book, A Theory of Fields. So, I decided to get that book. Then, I started looking at my wishlist and my recommendations. I a few more items popped up. Then, I wondered, “Well, what have been some influential books in social science or social theory recently?”
This led a google search, of course. First stop, the ASA’s theory division. They have a page of award winners. Not very impressive. While many great sociology or org theory blogs are out there, the official organs of professional associations (speaking of my experience with EGOS, AOM, ASA, and INSNA) have lagged, although EGOS and INSNA do better. The ASA theory division award pages has many holes in it! For example, it does not the 2010 best article. Was one not awarded? The 2009 winner article is not hyperlinked.
But, there is good news! Apparently, among blogging social scientists, there is a viral type of post: “My top 10 most influential books…” I found several examples and I look forward to crafting my own.
Here is my list of others’ posts.
Ten Influential Books
http://asociologist.com/2010/03/21/ten-influential-books/
Ten Influential Books
http://crookedtimber.org/2010/03/20/ten-influential-books/
Books which have influenced me most
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2010/03/books-which-have-influenced-me-most.html
Ten most influential books
http://jacobtlevy.blogspot.com/2010/03/ten-most-influential-books-see-tyler.html
Influential (Actually Published, Actually Read Cover-to-Cover During College or Graduate School) Books
http://inmedias.blogspot.com/2010/03/influential-actually-published-actually.html
My Top 10 Most Influential Books:
Finally, in assembling this, I found a book I had not heard of, Required Reading: Sociology’s Most Important Books. It is from 1998, so it will not have any great books of last ten years. Still, I am curious to see what it says (and which I have read or not!)
I know my own initial list of books I have read and which find my mind turning to again and again include:
- The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism
- Castells’ The Information Age Triology
- Berger and Luckmann’s Social Construction of Reality
- Geertz’ Interpretation of Culture
- Watts’ Six Degrees
Related articles
- welcome neil fligstein! (orgtheory.wordpress.com)
- new review of fligstein/mcadam’s field theory (orgtheory.wordpress.com)
- A Theory of Fields: A Review (mobilizingideas.wordpress.com)
orgtheory.net
