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A biennial prize for the best authored book in Australian Sociology. The deadline for the Stephen Crook Memorial Prize nominations has been extended to May 28th, 2012.
The Prize was established to honour the memory of Professor Stephen Crook in recognition of his significant contribution to Australian sociology. The Prize is awarded biennially, at the TASA Conference, to the best authored monograph within the discipline of Sociology published in the previous two years.
Stephen Crook was TASA President (1999-2002), Joint-Editor of the Journal (1993-1997), and Foundation Professor of Sociology at James Cook University (1998-2002). Steve had longstanding interests in social theory, the sociology of culture and political sociology. His books include: Environmentalism, Public Opinion and the Media in Australia (edited with J. Pakulski, 1998), Adorno: The Stars Down to Earth and Other Essays on the Irrational in Culture (ed, 1994), Postmodernization: Change in Advanced Society (co-authored with J. Pakulski & M. Waters, 1992), Modernist Radicalism and its Aftermath: Foundationalism and Anti-foundationalism in Radical Social Theory (1991).
Memoriam have been published in Nexus (Issue 3, 2002).
A special double issue of the journal Cultural Studies was been dedicated to the memory of Stephen Crook:
Steve's TASA 2000 Conference Presidential Address was published posthumously:
The 2003 TASA Presidential Address was held as a symposium on the Life-work of Stephen Crook and was published in the Journal of Sociology:
The recipient of the Prize will receive:
The intention of the TASA Executive Committee in awarding this prize is to recognise members' contribution to the discipline of sociology through publication of a monograph by a recognised publisher. The general criteria for eligibility are as follows:
NOTE - Textbooks (designated by self-proclaimed student orientation and/or significant pedagogic features), edited collections, PhD theses and self-published works are excluded.
Further details, are available from:
TASA Executive Officer
The Australian Sociological Association (TASA)
Swinburne Institute for Social Research
Swinburne University of Technology
PO Box 218, Mailbag H98
Hawthorn VIC 3122
Ph: +61 3 9214 5283
Email: admin@tasa.org.au
The literature on Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is now enormous. It is difficult to imagine that there is anything new left to say about the book. But what if Weber’s focus is not primarily a cultural exploration of the genesis of modern capitalism in early modern Europe, as he presents the work and practically all of his readers accept, but an argument about the needs of the early 20th century German middle class to take hold of their political destiny, as the British and American middle classes had, under the sway of puritan-inspired self control? This is where Weber, Passion and Profits begins. It is the first of three connected stories about the Protestant Ethic developed in it.
The full article can be read in Nexus 23:1, February 2011.