What do you think?
Rate this book
Social Relations and Human Attributes
An examination of the organization of human relations within society includes discussions of the history of attitudes toward mental illness and the interaction between biology and culture
- GenresSociology
297 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1982
2 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Paul Q. Hirst
43 books6 followersPaul Quentin Hirst (May 20, 1946 – June 17, 2003) was a British sociologist and political theorist. He became Professor of Social Theory at Birkbeck College, London, in 1985 and held the post until his death from a stroke and brain haemorrhage.
During the 1970s he became well known (along with Barry Hindess) as the main figure in British structural Marxism. By the late 1970s and 1980s, however, Hirst had become a critic of Louis Althusser's brand of Marxism. Drawing upon Michel Foucault but also W. V. O. Quine and Ludwig Wittgenstein, he criticised essentialism, epistemological discourses and the possibility of any general theory, in a move against careless sociological constructionist imperialism. In his work on democratic governance, he turned towards the ideas of the English political pluralists: John Neville Figgis, G. D. H. Cole, and Harold Laski. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Hirst developed a theory of associationalism which attempted to revive social democracy by providing an alternative to state socialism and free-market liberalism. He also made important contributions to critical legal theory.
His later work, with Grahame Thompson resulted in an influential criticism of fashionable theories of economic globalisation, demonstrating the continued importance of the nation-state. His book 'War and Power' is a historical-sociological analysis of the development of the modern state and state system and addresses some of current political challenges including climate change. His last book 'Space and Power' clearly demonstrated his intellectual scope. In the book he investigates the relationship between space and power, arguing that the exercise of power is both constrained by and shapes the character of the built environment.
With Mark Cousins, Colin MacCabe, and Richard Humphreys, he founded the London Consortium in 1993. He chaired the Executive Committee of Charter 88 and was an early and regular contributor to openDemocracy.
During the 1970s he became well known (along with Barry Hindess) as the main figure in British structural Marxism. By the late 1970s and 1980s, however, Hirst had become a critic of Louis Althusser's brand of Marxism. Drawing upon Michel Foucault but also W. V. O. Quine and Ludwig Wittgenstein, he criticised essentialism, epistemological discourses and the possibility of any general theory, in a move against careless sociological constructionist imperialism. In his work on democratic governance, he turned towards the ideas of the English political pluralists: John Neville Figgis, G. D. H. Cole, and Harold Laski. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Hirst developed a theory of associationalism which attempted to revive social democracy by providing an alternative to state socialism and free-market liberalism. He also made important contributions to critical legal theory.
His later work, with Grahame Thompson resulted in an influential criticism of fashionable theories of economic globalisation, demonstrating the continued importance of the nation-state. His book 'War and Power' is a historical-sociological analysis of the development of the modern state and state system and addresses some of current political challenges including climate change. His last book 'Space and Power' clearly demonstrated his intellectual scope. In the book he investigates the relationship between space and power, arguing that the exercise of power is both constrained by and shapes the character of the built environment.
With Mark Cousins, Colin MacCabe, and Richard Humphreys, he founded the London Consortium in 1993. He chaired the Executive Committee of Charter 88 and was an early and regular contributor to openDemocracy.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 25, 2016
A curious mixture of Marxism, Wittgensteinian thinking, Freudianism, and especially Foucauldian influence, combined into a sociological treatise on the conceptual relationship between social relations and (ideas about) human nature and physiology. It contains in it early germs of gene-culture coevolution and reflections on rationality as embedded in practices, but it is written in a strangely roundabout way, seemingly trying to imply an argument more than actually stating it. It also spends a lot of time re-doing Freudian and Foucauldian stuff that I am not very interested in.
Displaying 1 of 1 review