Reason, Conflict and Power ─ Modern Political and Social Thought from 1688 to the Present

The author and a handful of contributors survey the development of western political and social theory from John Locke and Adam Smith to feminism, fundamentalism, and environmentalism. In addition to the above, the 13 chapters look at the thought of Edmund Burke and other political conservatives; Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, the utilitarians; Marx and the socialists; fascism; Max Weber; Emile Durkheim; and modernity and conflict theorists. A distinction is drawn between those theories grounded in reason and those grounded in power. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Jim Rodgers is Professor of Political Science, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. He is co-author ofFacing Terror: The Government's Response to Contemporary Extremists in America (University Press of America, 2002).