Best of
Sociology

1941

Escape from Freedom


Erich Fromm - 1941
    This is the central idea of Escape from Freedom, a landmark work by one of the most distinguished thinkers of our time, and a book that is as timely now as when first published in 1941. Few books have thrown such light upon the forces that shape modern society or penetrated so deeply into the causes of authoritarian systems. If the rise of democracy set some people free, at the same time it gave birth to a society in which the individual feels alienated and dehumanized. Using the insights of psychoanalysis as probing agents, Fromm's work analyzes the illness of contemporary civilization as witnessed by its willingness to submit to totalitarian rule.

The Mask of Sanity


Hervey M. Cleckley - 1941
    Cleckley, first published in 1941, describing Cleckley's clinical interviews with patients in a locked institution. The text is considered to be a seminal work and the most influential clinical description of psychopathy in the twentieth century. The basic elements of psychopathy outlined by Cleckley are still relevant today. The title refers to the normal "mask" that conceals the mental disorder of the psychopathic person in Cleckley's conceptualization.

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men


James Agee - 1941
    Their journey would prove an extraordinary collaboration and a watershed literary event when in 1941 "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" was first published to enormous critical acclaim. This unsparing record of place, of the people who shaped the land, and of the rhythm of their lives today stands as one of the most influential books of the twentieth century.

The Elements of Racial Education


Julius Evola - 1941
    Evola explains that race is not simply a biological accident, but serves a higher purpose towards reaching liberation of the soul. As always, Evola insists that one's spiritual race is even more important than one's biological identity.'The title of this small volume expresses clearly our intentions regarding its form and purpose. Here we offer neither an abstract, scientific exposition of the theory of race, nor a survey of the various racial doctrines. Our task in this small volume is more specialized: It does not include abstract expositions which would be used as bases of a generic “education” and information, nor considerations designed to give more depth to the doctrine, but rather it aims to clarify the ideas — we may say the “key ideas” — needed in order for the educator to carry out, with respect to racism, his true task. Simple notions, but clear and suffused with suggestive force, able to act on the souls of the young people rather than on their intellects, so as to promote a certain formation of their will and a certain orientation of their best vocations.' - Julius Evola Table of Contents:1. Forward2. What 'Race' Means3. Inner Meaning of Race4. Consequences of the Feeling of Race5. Racial Heredity and Tradition6. Race and Nation7. Meaning of Racial Prophylaxis8. The Danger of Counter-Selection9. Spirit and Race10. Importance of the Theory of the Inner Races11. The Face of the Various Races12. The Problem of Spiritual Races13. Races and Origins14. Nordic-Western Migrations15. The Problem of 'Latinity'16. Race, Romanity and Italian History17. The Type of our 'Super-Race'18. Historical Place of Fascist Racism.

The Cheyenne Way


Karl N. Llewellyn - 1941
    This cultural trait, together with the colorful background of the Cheyennes, attracted the unique collaboration of a legal theorist and an anthropologist, who, in this volume, provide a definitive picture of the law-ways of a primitive, nonliterate people.This foundational study of primitive law presents the folkways in law of the Cheyennes through the technique of the American case lawyer, adjusted to the requirements of the anthropologist with his scientific understanding of human behavior and realistic sociology. Particularly appealing to the general reader are the law cases themselves. Based on individual episodes that reflect the legal procedure of the Cheyennes over a period of more than sixty years, the cases are heroic narratives in the finest tradition.