The Sociology of Radical Commitment

"In this collection of essays, editors Gary Backhaus and George Psathas present the life and thought of Kurt H. Wolff, a Jewish refugee from Darmstadt, student of Karl Mannheim, practitioner of the sociology of knowledge, translator of the classic German texts, and creator of the radical existential sociology of surrender-and-catch. The aim of the book is to explicate Wolff's relation to the tradition and orientation to which he belongs, while at the same time demonstrating how he developed a sociology of radical commitment. Wolff's hope is to find possibilities for humankind that lead us out of the crises for which traditional scientia has been disappointingly ineffective, and this volume is essential to students wishing to expand the pursuit of sociological knowledge."--BOOK JACKET.