The Goffman Reader aims to bring the most complete collection of Erving Goffman's (1922-1982) writing and thinking as a sociologist. Among the most inventive, unique and individualistic of thinkers in American sociology, his works first appeared in the early 1950's at a time when a more formal, traditional sociology dominated the scene. In this collection, Goffman's work is arranged into four categories: the production of self, the confined self, the nature of social life, and the framing of experience. Through this arrangement, readers will not only be presented with Goffman's thinking in...

The Goffman Reader aims to bring the most complete collection of Erving Goffman's (1922-1982) writing and thinking as a sociologist. Among the most inventive, unique and individualistic of thinkers in American sociology, his works first appeared in the early 1950's at a time when a more formal, traditional sociology dominated the scene. In this collection, Goffman's work is arranged into four categories: the production of self, the confined self, the nature of social life, and the framing of experience. Through this arrangement, readers will not only be presented with Goffman's thinking in...

Since the publication in France of his Oeuvres Completes in the mid-1970s, the breadth of Bataille's writing and influence has become increasingly apparent across the disciplines in, for example, the fields of literature, art, art history, philosophy, critical theory, sociology, economics, and anthropology.

Jean-Francois Lyotard was one of the founding members of the College Internationale de philosophie. Ha has taught at Vincennes, Saint Denis and is currently Professor of Philosophy at the University of California at Irvine. Several of his books have appeared in English, notable The Postmodern Condition, Just Gaming and The Dirrerend.

The Lyotard Reader is a collection of Jean-Francois Lyotard's most important and significant papers to date. While they are all written from within philosophy, they seek to address subjects as wide-ranging as film, painting (Adami, Francken, Newman),...

This carefully-structured reader presents a survey of the whole body of Williams' existing work, providing existing readers with a new perspective on his writings, and new readers with the opportunity to explore his ideas in depth.

Julia Kristeva is one of Europe's most brilliant and original theorists, widely acclaimed for her work in such diverse areas as linguistics, psychoanalysis, literary and political theory. The Kristeva Reader is a fully-comprehensive, easily accessible introduction to her work in English, containing a wide range of essays from all phases of Kristeva's career. The essays have been carefully selected as representative of the three main areas of her writing - semiotics, psychoanalysis and political theory - and each is prefaced by a clear, instructive introduction.

This book makes available the broad canvas of Guattari's formidable theoretical and activist writings to provide an indispensable companion to the existing literature.

Cornelius Castoriadis is presently Director of Studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. He is a philosopher, social critic, professional economist, practicing psychoanalyst and one of Europe's foremost thinkers. The Castoriadis Reader provides for the first time an overview of the author's work and encompasses every aspect of his thought.

A personal glimpse inside the mind of a leading philosopher

The Cavell Reader is an introduction to one of the 20th century's most influential American philosophers. Stanley Cavell was well-known for the broad scope of his writing, which is a major theme of this book; topics include aesthetics, psychoanalysis, film theory, literary criticism, religion, Austin, Emerson, Wittgenstein, and more. Presented in a sequence that illustrates Cavell's evolution of thought through key periods and phases, these pieces provide an overview of the man behind the words, and serve as...

The Stanley Fish Reader assembles for the first time the best work of this brightest intellectual light.