1st Edition

Harriet Martineau Theoretical and Methodological Perspectives

Edited By Michael R. Hill, Susan Hoecker-Drysdale Copyright 2002

    The Essays in this volume explore the work of Harriet Martineau from a sociological perspective, highlighting her theoretical contributions in the areas of the sociology of labor, gender and political economy. The contributors each offer a contextual, theoretical and methodological assessment of her work beginning with the opportunities and challenges of utilizing Martineau pedagogically in the sociology classroom.

    Chapter One Taking Harriet Martineau Seriously in the Classroom and Beyond, Michael R. Hill, Susan Hoecker-Drysdale; Chapter TWO Harriet Martineau and the Unitarian Connection, Pat Duffy Hutcheon; Chapter THREE Making Lemonade, Mary Jo Deegan; Chapter FOUR A Methodological Comparison of Harriet Martineau’s Society in America (1837) and Alexis De Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (1835-1840), Michael R. Hill; Chapter FIVE The Meaning of “Things”, Patricia Madoo Lengermann, Jill Niebrugge; Chapter SIX “Words on Work”, Susan Hoecker-Drysdale; Chapter SEVEN “Words on Work”, Susan Hoecker-Drysdale; Chapter EIGHT The Florence Nightingale—Harriet Martineau Collaboration, Lynn McDonald; Chapter NINE Harriet Martineau and the Positivism of Auguste Comte, Susan Hoecker-Drysdale; Chapter 10 E pilogue Martineauian Sociology and Our Disciplinary Future, Michael R. Hill;

    Biography

    Michael R. Hill is Chair-Elect of the American Sociological Association's Section on the History of Sociology and is the editor of the sesquicentennial edition of Harriet Martineau's How to Observe Morals and Manners.
    Susan Hoecker-Drysdale is Professor Emerita of Sociology at Concordia University, Montreal, and is the author of Harriet Martineau: First Woman Sociologist.

    "...the book is well organized and makes a strong contribution to healthcare policy; it would be a good source for administrators, politicians, and experts working in this area." -- Contemporary Sociology 31, 3
    "[This] collection of essays argues for Martineau's foundational and hitherto unrecognized importance in the discipline of sociology. Advancing the claim that Martineau must be taken seriously in the sociology classroom, the editors...note smartly that because so much her sociological writing is 'directly accessible to neophyte readers...students may miss entirely the sophisticated logic and structure of her theoretical views' (14)." -- Victorian Studies