In Abyssinian poetry, the “wax” is the obvious meaning, the “gold” is the hidden meaning. In Wax and Gold, Donald N. Levine explores mid-to-late-twentieth-century Ethiopian society on the same two levels, using modern sociology and psychology to seek answers to the following questions: What is the nature of the traditional culture of the dominant ethnic group, the Amhara, and what are its enduring values? What aspects of modern culture interest this society and by what means has it sought to institutionalize them? How has tradition both facilitated and hampered Ethiopian efforts to modernize? Enriched by the use of Ethiopian literature and by Levine’s deep knowledge of and affection for the society of which he writes, Wax and Gold is both a scholarly and a personal work.

Wax and Gold: Tradition and Innovation in Ethiopian Culture

History

Levine, Donald N.

Africa

University of Chicago Press

Don Levine moves from the origins of systematic knowledge in ancient Greece to the present day to present an account that is at once a history of the social science enterprise and an introduction to the cornerstone works of Western social thought."Visions" has three meanings, each of which corresponds to a part of the book. In Part 1, Levine presents the ways previous sociologists have rendered accounts of their discipline, as a series of narratives—or "life stories"—that build upon each other, generation to generation, a succession of efforts to envisage a coherent past for the sake of a purposive present.In Part 2, the heart of the book, Levine offers his own narrative, reconnecting centuries of voices into a richly textured dialogue among the varied strands of the sociological tradition: Hellenic, British, French, German, Marxian, Italian, and American. Here, in a tour de force of clarity and conciseness, he tracks the formation of the sociological imagination through a series of conversations across generations. From classic philosophy to pragmatism, Aristotle to W. I. Thomas, Levine maps the web of visionary statements—confrontations and oppositions—from which social science has grown.At the same time, this is much more than an expert synthesis of social theory. Throughout each stage, Levine demonstrates social knowledge has grown in response to three recurring questions: How shall we live? What makes humans moral creatures? How do we understand the world? He anchors the creation of social knowledge to ethical foundations, and shows for the first time how differences in those foundations disposed the shapers of modern social science—among them, Marshall and Spencer, Comte and Durkheim, Simmel and Weber, Marx and Mosca, Dewey and Park—to proceed in vastly different ways.In Part 3, Levine offers a vision of the contemporary scene, setting the crisis of fragmentation in social sciences against the fragmentation of experience and community. By reconstructing the history of social thought as a series of fundamentally moral engagements with common themes, he suggests new uses for sociology's intellectual resources: not only as insight about the nature of modernity, but also as a model of mutually respectful communication in an increasingly fractious world.

Visions of the Sociological Tradition

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Don Levine moves from the origins of systematic knowledge in ancient Greece to the present day to present an account that is at once a history of the social science enterprise and an introduction to the cornerstone works of Western social thought. "Visions" has three meanings, each of which corresponds to a part of the book. In Part 1, Levine presents the ways previous sociologists have rendered accounts of their discipline, as a series of narratives—or "life stories"—that build upon each other, generation to generation, a succession of efforts to envisage a coherent past for the sake of a purposive present. In Part 2, the heart of the book, Levine offers his own narrative, reconnecting centuries of voices into a richly textured dialogue among the varied strands of the sociological tradition: Hellenic, British, French, German, Marxian, Italian, and American. Here, in a tour de force of clarity and conciseness, he tracks the formation of the sociological imagination through a series of conversations across generations. From classic philosophy to pragmatism, Aristotle to W. I. Thomas, Levine maps the web of visionary statements—confrontations and oppositions—from which social science has grown. At the same time, this is much more than an expert synthesis of social theory. Throughout each stage, Levine demonstrates social knowledge has grown in response to three recurring questions: How shall we live? What makes humans moral creatures? How do we understand the world? He anchors the creation of social knowledge to ethical foundations, and shows for the first time how differences in those foundations disposed the shapers of modern social science—among them, Marshall and Spencer, Comte and Durkheim, Simmel and Weber, Marx and Mosca, Dewey and Park—to proceed in vastly different ways. In Part 3, Levine offers a vision of the contemporary scene, setting the crisis of fragmentation in social sciences against the fragmentation of experience and community. By reconstructing the history of social thought as a series of fundamentally moral engagements with common themes, he suggests new uses for sociology's intellectual resources: not only as insight about the nature of modernity, but also as a model of mutually respectful communication in an increasingly fractious world.

Powers of the Mind: The Reinvention of Liberal Learning in America

It is one thing to lament the financial pressures put on universities, quite another to face up to the poverty of resources for thinking about what universities should do when they purport to offer a liberal education. In Powers of the Mind, former University of Chicago dean Donald N. Levine enriches those resources by proposing fresh ways to think about liberal learning with ideas more suited to our times. He does so by defining basic values of modernity and then considering curricular principles pertinent to them. The principles he favors are powers of the mind—disciplines understood as fields of study defined not by subject matter but by their embodiment of distinct intellectual capacities. To illustrate, Levine draws on his own lifetime of teaching and educational leadership, while providing a marvelous summary of exemplary educational thinkers at the University of Chicago who continue to inspire. Out of this vital tradition, Powers of the Mind constructs a paradigm for liberal arts today, inclusive of all perspectives and applicable to all settings in the modern world.

Education & Teaching

Higher & Continuing Education

It is one thing to lament the financial pressures put on universities, quite another to face up to the poverty of resources for thinking about what universities should do when they purport to offer a liberal education. In Powers of the Mind, former University of Chicago dean Donald N. Levine enriches those resources by proposing fresh ways to think about liberal learning with ideas more suited to our times. He does so by defining basic values of modernity and then considering curricular principles pertinent to them. The principles he favors are powers of the mind—disciplines understood as fields of study defined not by subject matter but by their embodiment of distinct intellectual capacities. To illustrate, Levine draws on his own lifetime of teaching and educational leadership, while providing a marvelous summary of exemplary educational thinkers at the University of Chicago who continue to inspire. Out of this vital tradition, Powers of the Mind constructs a paradigm for liberal arts today, inclusive of all perspectives and applicable to all settings in the modern world.

The essays turn about a single theme, the loss of the capacity to deal constructively with ambiguity in the modern era. Levine offers a head-on critique of the modern compulsion to flee ambiguity. He centers his analysis on the question of what responses social scientists should adopt in the face of the inexorably ambiguous character of all natural languages. In the course of his argument, Levine presents a fresh reading of works by the classic figures of modern European and American social theory—Durkheim, Freud, Simmel and Weber, and Park, Parsons, and Merton.

The Flight from Ambiguity: Essays in Social and Cultural Theory

Greater Ethiopia combines history, anthropology, and sociology to answer two major questions. Why did Ethiopia remain independent under the onslaught of European expansionism while other African political entities were colonized? And why must Ethiopia be considered a single cultural region despite its political, religious, and linguistic diversity? Donald Levine's interdisciplinary study makes a substantial contribution both to Ethiopian interpretive history and to sociological analysis. In his new preface, Levine examines Ethiopia since the overthrow of the monarchy in the 1970s. "Ethiopian scholarship is in Professor Levine's debt. . . . He has performed an important task with panache, urbanity, and learning."—Edward Ullendorff, Times Literary Supplement "Upon rereading this book, it strikes the reader how broad in scope, how innovative in approach, and how stimulating in arguments this book was when it came out. . . . In the past twenty years it has inspired anthropological and historical research, stimulated theoretical debate about Ethiopia's cultural and historical development, and given the impetus to modern political thinking about the complexities and challenges of Ethiopia as a country. The text thus easily remains an absolute must for any Ethiopianist scholar to read and digest."-J. Abbink, Journal of Modern African Studies

Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society

xvi 315p hardback, dustjacket in good overall condition, clean pages, firm binding, a very useful copy

Wax & gold: tradition and innovation in Ethiopian culture (A Phoenix book)

In Abyssinian poetry, the wax” is the obvious meaning, the gold” is the hidden meaning. In Wax and Gold, Donald N. Levine explores mid-to-late-twentieth-century Ethiopian society on the same two levels, using modern sociology and psychology to seek answers to the following questions: What is the nature of the traditional culture of the dominant ethnic group, the Amhara, and what are its enduring values? What aspects of modern culture interest this society and by what means has it sought to institutionalize them? How has tradition both facilitated and hampered Ethiopian efforts to modernize? Enriched by the use of Ethiopian literature and by Levine’s deep knowledge of and affection for the society of which he writes, Wax and Gold is both a scholarly and a personal work.

Wax and Gold: Tradition and Innovation in Ethiopian Culture (Midway Reprint)

Presidents, Populism, and the Crisis of Democracy

Review\n"Howell and Moe write with clarity and verve. . . . And it is hard to object to their overarching goals of institutionally reforming our dysfunctional politics and improving the quality of our governance." ― Wall Street Journal\n"In Presidents, Populism, and the Crisis of Democracy, William Howell and Terry Moe make important contributions to understanding political movements and institutions. The authors challenge scholars and practitioners to rethink the rise of President Trump and the role of the president in our ineffective system of government. . . . William Howell and Terry Moe provide a convincing and well-supported path to reform that emboldens the president and returns the Office of the President to a national institution of honor and integrity." ― Congress & the Presidency\n“This book highlights an important (and underappreciated) cause of the populism that threatens American democracy: ineffective government, or a political system that consistently fails to respond to our most important problems. Hard as it may be for Americans to accept, our constitutional system has grown dysfunctional. Howell and Moe propose clear constitutional solutions that break sharply with the conventional wisdom. We should take their ideas seriously. I recommend this book to anyone concerned about the fate of American democracy." -- Steven Levitsky, Harvard University, coauthor of How Democracies Die\n"Howell and Moe show that Trump’s aggressive demagoguery is a perverse symptom of an American problem of administrative weakness and explain how the presidency can be made more effective, powerful, and accountable at the same time. An original, insightful, and provocative picture of American politics in a populist era." -- Jeffrey K. Tulis, author of Legacies of Losing in American Politics\n"In this clarion call for institutional reform, Howell and Moe argue that populism is not the product of rampant polarization, political tribalism, or undemocratic features of our political system. Rather, the culprit is ineffective government. And the best antidote to populism, paradoxically, is the instrument that catapulted it to power: a reimagined presidency, one that is stronger in important respects, but weaker in others. The arguments are powerful, provocative, and sure to fuel debate over efforts to restore American democracy." -- Douglas L. Kriner, coauthor of The Myth of the Imperial Presidency\n"Howell and Moe make a compelling case about the relationship between ineffective government and populism, namely, that a lack of capable government gives rise to populist leaders who promise to fix the system. The authors propose a bold solution to the problem and—whether or not one agrees with all specifics—force the weight of the argument onto the question of what should be done rather than whether anything should be attempted. A must read for students and scholars interested in contemporary American politics as well as the rise of populism worldwide." -- Brandice Canes-Wrone, Princeton University\n"A timely, powerfully argued book about the dangers American democracy faces from populism—and how these dangers can be overcome by making government more potent and effective. The book is concise, accessible, and crisply written. It is sure to spark important debate." -- Eric M. Patashnik, author of Unhealthy Politics: The Battle over Evidence-Based Medicine\n“Blunt, lucid, and smart.” ― Soonish Podcast\nHas American democracy’s long, ambitious run come to an end? Possibly yes. As William G. Howell and Terry M. Moe argue in this trenchant new analysis of modern politics, the United States faces a historic crisis that threatens our system of self-government—and if democracy is to be saved, the causes of the crisis must be understood and defused.\nThe most visible cause is Donald Trump, who has used his presidency to attack the nation’s institutions and violate its democratic norms. Yet Trump is but a symptom of causes that run m

Georg Simmel on Individuality and Social Forms (Heritage of Sociology Series)

Business & Money

Economics

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Levine, Donald N.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Levine, Donald N.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Levine, Donald N.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Wax and Gold: Tradition and Innovation in Ethiopian Culture

Visions of the Sociological Tradition

Visions of the Sociological Tradition

Powers of the Mind: The Reinvention of Liberal Learning in America

Powers of the Mind: The Reinvention of Liberal Learning in America

The Flight from Ambiguity: Essays in Social and Cultural Theory

Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society

Wax & gold: tradition and innovation in Ethiopian culture (A Phoenix book)

Wax and Gold: Tradition and Innovation in Ethiopian Culture (Midway Reprint)

Georg Simmel on Individuality and Social Forms (Heritage of Sociology Series)