The Women Founders: Sociology and Social Theory 1830-1930

An essential volume for anyone interested in the history of sociology, the development of sociological theory, or the history of women in the profession, this well-researched, compellingly argued book makes the case for the active and significant presence of women in the creation of sociology and social theory in its founding and classic periods. Further, Lengermann and Niebrugge explain how the women came to be erased from the history of sociology and identify the political and intellectual currents that now make their recovery both possible and important. The volume focuses on 15 women in eight chapters. Each chapter begins with a biographical sketch situating each thinker's ideas in a historical, social, and cultural context. Next, the authors analyze the woman's theory, summarizing its underlying assumptions, explicating its major themes, and introducing key vocabulary. The chapter concludes with excerpts from the original texts of the women founders. All the theories discussed in this text share a moral commitment to the idea that sociology should and could work for the alleviation of socially produced human pain. The ethical duty of the sociologist is to seek sound scientific knowledge, to refuse to make the knowledge an end in itself, to speak for the disempowered, to advocate social reform, and to never forget that the appropriate relationship between researcher and subject is one of mutuality.