French Socialisms
Available in English for the first time, Célestin Bouglé’s (1870-1940) French Socialisms (1932) provides a comprehensive overview of the relevance of Saint-Simonism, Fourierism, and Proudhonism for today. Bouglé, who has been called the “alter-ego” of the prolific sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858-1917), was a specialist on the neglected ideas of French socialism, especially following Durkheim’s death. In this succinct work, Bouglé traces the roots of socialism, the life and ideas of Henri de Saint-Simon (1760-1825), Charles Fourier (1772-1837), and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-1865), and then the impact of their followers on the world. In addition to the translation of Bouglé’s, the editor Cayce Jamil provides a foreword detailing the relationship between the emergence of sociology and socialism as well as an afterword that traces the significance of French socialism following the original 1932 publication of this book.
Available in English for the first time, Célestin Bouglé’s (1870-1940) French Socialisms (1932) provides a comprehensive overview of the relevance of Saint-Simonism, Fourierism, and Proudhonism for today. Bouglé, who has been called the “alter-ego” of the prolific sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858-1917), was a specialist on the neglected ideas of French socialism, especially following Durkheim’s death. In this succinct work, Bouglé traces the roots of socialism, the life and ideas of Henri de Saint-Simon (1760-1825), Charles Fourier (1772-1837), and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-1865), and then the impact of their followers on the world. In addition to the translation of Bouglé’s, the editor Cayce Jamil provides a foreword detailing the relationship between the emergence of sociology and socialism as well as an afterword that traces the significance of French socialism following the original 1932 publication of this book.
Available in English for the first time, Célestin Bouglé’s (1870-1940) French Socialisms (1932) provides a comprehensive overview of the relevance of Saint-Simonism, Fourierism, and Proudhonism for today. Bouglé, who has been called the “alter-ego” of the prolific sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858-1917), was a specialist on the neglected ideas of French socialism, especially following Durkheim’s death. In this succinct work, Bouglé traces the roots of socialism, the life and ideas of Henri de Saint-Simon (1760-1825), Charles Fourier (1772-1837), and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-1865), and then the impact of their followers on the world. In addition to the translation of Bouglé’s, the editor Cayce Jamil provides a foreword detailing the relationship between the emergence of sociology and socialism as well as an afterword that traces the significance of French socialism following the original 1932 publication of this book.
Endorsements
Célestin Bouglé was a leading public intellectual in the early 20th century France and the most influential sociologist from the Durkheimian circle. He founded the first sociology research centre in France and has left very rich intellectual legacy. Among his publications French Socialisms (1932) stands out as it meticulously charts the key contribution of the three leading socialist traditions: Saint-Simonism, Fourierism and Proudhonism. In this book Bouglé shows how the French socialist tradition played a central role in the birth of sociology, positivism, socialism, anarchism, and Marxism. In his excellent, comprehensive, and highly accessible foreword and afterword Cayce Jamil explains the wider social and historical context of this book and the relevance of Bouglé’s ideas for today’s world. This is an important sociological contribution that shows how the ideas developed by the French socialists have shaped many aspects of modernity and why their theories are still highly relevant for the contemporary world.
Sinisa Malesevic
Full Professor of Sociology
University College, Dublin
French Socialisms by Célestin Bouglé is the kind of book that needs translation into English because it tells us much about the history of socialist thinking of early French sociology that has often gone unnoticed by most contemporary sociologists. This translation was sponsored by Cayce Jamil who commissioned the translator, Shaun Murdock, and who writes both a foreword and afterword that give the political context of much early French sociology. In a very real sense, this one book is actually two books: (1) a translation of an underappreciated classic and (2) a very sophisticated but highly readable analysis of early French sociology that has gone under-emphasized. If this were not enough, Jamil also assembles and organizes bibliographic materials in a way that can guide further inquiry and reading by interested scholars. The result is a new way to bring older classics and the context of their development to contemporary readers, hopefully giving the ideas in these forgotten classics new relevance to twenty-first century audiences. There should be more books like this.
Jonathan H. Turner
38th University Professor
University of California System
It is good to have a translation of Célestin Bouglé’s book on French Socialism. Erudite and scholarly, but written with a deft touch and in an elegant style well captured by the translator, Bouglé provides penetrating insight into Saint-Simon, Fourier and Proudhon. Cayce Jamil’s editorial material contextualizes the book well and overcomes the gaps that are inevitable in a book from the 1930s. Of use to scholars, the book will also be of interest to the general reader wanting to learn about French socialist thought.
Michael Tyldesley
Emeritus Honorary Fellow
Manchester Metropolitan University