Peter L. Berger

Discusses the way in which sociological perspective helps to illuminate man's social existence and the ethical implications of this scientific view

A Humanistic Perspective

Invitation to Sociology

Uses sociological theory as a means of examining the erosion of religion by secular influences and ways of making traditional religious beliefs plausible

Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion

The Sacred Canopy

Written by one of the most revered sociologists of the of the 20th century, A Rumor of Angels gives readers a unique insight into the complicated relationship between religion and society. It is undeniable that religion has had a profound effect on civilization. Readers will learn just how religion and society affect one another, and how that relationship has changed in modern times, with the secularization of mainstream society. Questioning modern morality, Peter Berger offers one of the most thought provoking books on religion in the 20th century. Praise for Peter Berger "A book of great practical wisdom by authors who have profound insight into the intellectual dynamics governing contemporary life."--Dallas Willard, author of Knowing Christ Today

Modern Society and the Rediscovery of the Supernatural

A Rumor of Angels

Thomas Luckmann

The classic work that redefined the sociology of knowledge and has inspired a generation of philosophers and thinkers In this seminal book, Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann examine how knowledge forms and how it is preserved and altered within a society. Unlike earlier theorists and philosophers, Berger and Luckmann go beyond intellectual history and focus on commonsense, everyday knowledge—the proverbs, morals, values, and beliefs shared among ordinary people. When first published in 1966, this systematic, theoretical treatise introduced the term social construction,effectively creating a new thought and transforming Western philosophy.

A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge

The Social Construction of Reality

Brigitte Berger

Hansfried Kellner

Modernization and Consciousness

The Homeless Mind

Peter Ludwig Berger

El doble carácter de la sociedad como «facticidad objetiva» y como «complejo de significados subjetivos», que orientó respectivamente las teorías sociológicas de Durkheim y de Weber, dio paso -sobre todo a partir de Alfred Schutz, en cuya obra se cimenta la posición de los autores- a este nuevo interrogante: ¿Cómo es posible que los significados subjetivos se vuelvan facticidades objetivas? Es tarea de la sociología del conocimiento captar la forma en que cristaliza, para el sentido común del hombre de la calle, una «realidad» ya establecida. Este libro, concebido como un tratado teórico de carácter sistemático sobre sociología del conocimiento, contiene implícitas en el título y subtítulo sus tesis fundamentales; estas son: que la realidad se construye socialmente y que la sociología del conocimiento debe analizar los procesos por los cuales esto se produce.

La construcción social de la realidad

The Social Reality of Religion

Richard John Neuhaus

They warned public policy experts, then mesmerized by promising new government programs, that these were likely to be less successful than mediating institutions. Now, many of their ideas vindicated, the authors have returned to their original argument to assess what has succeeded, what has gone wrong, and what remains to be done. For this new edition, they have invited twelve scholars to join them in pointing toward new directions for the future.

From State to Civil Society

To Empower People

After ten years of writing in other areas, Peter L. Berger returns to the problem of religion and modernity discussed in his earlier book A rumor of angels. In The heretical imperative, however, not only is the argument developed further in terms of the challenge to religion of modern secularism, but it is also argued that a new and greatly promising encounter is about to take place between the Judaeo-Christian tradition and the great religions of Asia. Berger discusses the options for religious thought in the contemporary world and suggests that out of the confrontation between different traditions may come a powerful revitalization of religious faith.

Contemporary Possibilities of Religious Affirmation

The Heretical Imperative

Berger, an eminent religious sociologist and Protestant believer, attempts to square his own rational side with his religious impulses, bringing a lifetime of professional and personal reflection to bear on the nature of faith, its modern pluralistic context, and its social and individual consequences. A timely guide to the problems of faith for believers and skeptics alike.

The Quest for Faith in an Age of Credulity

A Far Glory

Woran kann man glauben? Darf der moderne Mensch auf Erlösung hoffen? Hat Jesus noch eine besondere Bedeutung? Es sind grundlegende Fragen an das Christentum von heute, die der amerikanische Religionssoziologe Peter L. Berger in seinem neuen Buch stellt. Er hinterfragt aus einer skeptischen Grundhaltung heraus die wesentlichen Aussagen des Apostolischen Glaubensbekenntnisses und stellt diese in einen Diskurs mit verschiedenen Strömungen innerhalb der Theologie und mit Positionen moderner Denker von Sigmund Freud bis Simone Weil. In Bergers kritischer und anregender Auseinandersetzung mit Grundfragen des Christentums schimmern stets seine ganz persönlichen Antworten durch, die zeigen, wie man als moderner Mensch und kritischer Christ in einer pluralen Gesellschaft dennoch glauben kann. Dieser Titel ist die Übersetzung des in den USA und in Großbritannien erfolgreichen Buches "Questions of Faith" (Blackwell Publishers, 2004).

Fragen an das Christentum

Erlösender Glaube?

 Samuel P. Huntington

بيتر إل بيرغر

سامويل بي هنتنغتون 

يشكل هذا الكتاب الثمرة الرئيسية لدراسة دامت ثلاث سنوات حول موضوع العولمة والثقافة في عشرة بلدان تمت تحت رعاية معهد دراسة الثقافة الاقتصادية بجامعة بوسطن. تمت إدارة الدراسة بصورة مشتركة بين المحررين بيتر إل. بيرغر (سوسيولوجي مدير المعهد آنف الذكر) وسامويل هنتنغتون (أستاذ علوم سياسية، شاغل كرسي مميز بجامعة هارفارد). ثمة عدد من الكتيبات والمقالات الإضافية يجري إعدادها من قبل العديد من الباحثين الميدانيين في مختلف البلدان. وفرت مؤسسة بيو الخيرية دعما ماليا رئيسيا للدراسة. قامت مؤسسه هيمالايا التايبوية بتمويل البحث الخاص بتايوان. أما البحث الخاص باليابان فقد مولته مؤسستا نيبون وصنتوري. ولولا الدعم المستمر لجامعة بوسطن ولمؤسسة ليند وهاري برادلي لما كانت إدارة المعهد للمشروع البحثي ممكنة. شكر خاص موجه إلى لويس لوغو من مؤسسات بيو الخيرية، ليس فقط على الدعم المالي لمؤسسته بل وعلى اهتمامه وتشجيعه الشخصيين . العبيكان للنشر 2004

Many Globalizations : Cultural Diversity in the Contemporary World

عولمات كثيرة : التنوع الثقافي في العالم المعاصر

Gordon Redding

'The Hidden Form of Capital' presents evidence from several parts of the changing world about how the realm of the spirit affects the economy. The idea that societies have economic cultures as well as aesthetic, literary, and artistic cultures is well-embedded in a number of major studies attempting to identify the origins of national wealth and progress. This book provides an original contribution to the debate, by discussing the relationship between religion and the economy not via further theoretical speculation, but through the presentation of analytical evidence from real-life case studies in Europe, Asia, Africa, Russia, and the United States. There is currently a major re-assessment of assumptions about the foundations of societal progress, as the market rationality model is exposed for its moral weaknesses. The emergence of socio-economics as a scholarly field, as well as the embracing of complexity theory and the societal effect in economic analysis, brings the question of cultural effects to the forefront. This collection of studies offers more practical and tangible evidence, especially unique and useful for its comparative aspect. The book skilfully combines this comparative and descriptive character with an accessible writing style intended for a wide audience.

Spiritual Influences in Societal Progress

The Hidden Form of Capital

Hümanist Bir Perspektif

Sosyolojiye Cagri

Grande classico del pensiero sociologico, quest'opera imposta il problema della sociologia della conoscenza non più in riferimento alle teorie degli intellettuali, ma ponendo al centro dell'attenzione la conoscenza intesa come patrimonio comune degli individui nella realtà quotidiana.

La realtà come costruzione sociale

Peter L. Berger is arguably the best-known American sociologist living today. Since the 1960s he has been publishing books on many facets of the American social scene, and several are now considered classics. So it may be hard to believe Professor Berger’s description of himself as an "accidental sociologist." But that in fact accurately describes how he stumbled into sociology. In this witty, intellectually stimulating memoir, Berger explains not only how he became a social scientist, but the many adventures that this calling has led to. Rather than writing an autobiography, he focuses on the main intellectual issues that motivated his work and the various people and situations he encountered in the course of his career. Full of memorable vignettes and colorful characters depicted in a lively narrative often laced with humor, Berger’s memoir conveys the excitement that a study of social life can bring. The first part of the book describes Berger’s initiation into sociology through the New School for Social Research, "a European enclave in the midst of Greenwich Village bohemia." Berger was first a student at the New School and later a young professor amidst a clique of like-minded individuals. There he published The Social Construction of Reality (with colleague Thomas Luckmann), one of his most successful books, followed by The Sacred Canopy on the sociology of religion, also still widely cited. The book covers Berger’s experience as a "globe-trekking sociologist" including trips to Mexico, where he studied approaches to Third World poverty; to East Asia, where he discovered the potential of capitalism to improve social conditions; and to South Africa, where he chaired an international study group on the future of post-Apartheid society. Berger then tells about his role as the director of a research center at Boston University. For over two decades he and his colleagues have been tackling such important issues as globalization, the secularization of Europe, and the ongoing dialectic between relativism and fundamentalism in contemporary culture. What comes across throughout is Berger’s boundless curiosity with the many ways in which people interact in society. This book offers longtime Berger readers as well as newcomers to sociology proof that the sociologist’s attempt to explain the world is anything but boring.

How to Explain the World Without Becoming a Bore

Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist

A Biographical Approach

Sociology

Ubiquitär, relativ und brüchig zugleichist Humor eine sehr spezifische menschliche Denk- und Ausdrucksform. In diesem Buch geht Peter L. Berger der Natur des Komischen und dessen Bezug zu anderen menschlichen Erfahrungen nach. Erstmals 1997 veröffentlicht, beinhaltet diese zweite Auflage ein neues Vorwort, in dem Berger Überlegungen zum Verhältnis von Modernität und Humor anstellt.

Das Komische in der menschlichen Erfahrung

Erlösendes Lachen

A sociologist’s look at the continuing importance of religion and the supernatural in the modern world, “cleverly expounded [and] enhanced by wit” (Kirkus Reviews). Acclaimed scholar and sociologist Peter L. Berger examines religion in twentieth-century Western society, exploring the social nature of knowledge and its effect on religious belief. Using five signs evident in ordinary life—order, play, hope, damnation, and humor—Berger calls for a rediscovery of the supernatural as a crucial, rich dimension of humanity. Conceived as a response to his influential book The Sacred Canopy, Berger eschews technical jargon and speaks directly and systematically to those, like himself, who wish to explore religious questions.

Samuel P. Huntington

Much discussed but poorly understood, globalization is at once praised as the answer to all the world's problems and blamed for everything from pollution to poverty. Here Berger and Huntington bring together an array of experts who paint a subtle and richly shaded portrait, showing both the power and the unexpected consequences of this great force. The stereotypes of globalization--characterized as American imperialism on the one hand, and as an economic panacea on the other--fall apart under close scrutiny. Surveying globalization from individual countries of the five major continents, Many Globalizations shows that an emerging global culture does indeed exist. While globalization is American in origin and content, the authors point out that it is far from a centrally directed force like classic imperialism. They examine the currents that carry this culture, from a worldwide class of young professionals to non-governmental organizations, and define globalization's many variations as well as sub-globalizations that bind regions together. Analytical, incisive and stimulating, Many Globalizations offers rare insight into perhaps the central issue of modern times, one that is changing the West as much as the developing world. "Provocative.... Taken together, the trenchant, well-written essays included in this collection provide indisputable evidence that an identifiable global culture is indeed emerging."--World Policy Journal "Analytical and penetrating, belongs...on the desks of anyone with an abiding interest in the forces shaping the world."--Publishers Weekly

Peter L. Berger

About

Books

Join the club