Spring/Summer 2005 - University of Toronto Press Publishing

SOCIOLOGY / ANTHROPOLOGYSociology and the SacredAn Introduction to Philip Rieff’s Theory of CultureAntonius A.W. ZondervanThe acclaimed American sociologist and culturalphilosopher Philip Rieff gained great academicprestige with his thesis on the emergence of‘Psychological Man’ in western culture and withhis classic book, Freud: The Mind of the Moralist,published in 1959. In this work and the later TheTriumph of the Therapeutic (1966) he not onlyoffered a highly original interpretation of the workof Sigmund Freud, but critically evaluated theenormous influence of psychotherapeutic thinkingon Western culture. However, Rieff’s later workon the theory of culture did not garner the sameattention, and his most recent writings havereceived very little critical engagement. InSociology and the Sacred, Antonius A.W.Zondervan sets out to remedy this neglect, arguingthat Rieff’s work is ripe for intellectual reconsideration.Zondervan begins by presenting an outline ofRieff’s entire body of work, focussing on his theoryof culture, and explaining how the sacred is a keynotion, pivotal to the overall understanding ofRieff’s work. The author argues that the presentupsurge in religion, in many varieties throughoutthe world, cannot be explained by the classical secularization-thesis,making Rieff’s theory of sacredorder in culture an essential contribution to a newsocial theory of religion.Including material from personal interviewswith Rieff that enabled Zondervan to clarify importantaspects of his work, Sociology and the Sacred isan essential contribution to the understanding ofcontemporary culture’s maintenance of its ties toreligion.‘Sociology and the Sacred is groundbreaking work. There isa scarcity of secondary material on Philip Rieff, and he has,for a very long time, deserved a major study. AntoniusZondervan’s book is a thorough and well-informed expositionon Rieff’s work, and an excellent extrapolation of hisimplications for discussions about modernity.’Hamid Dabashi, Department of Middle East and AsianLanguages and Cultures, Columbia University‘This is a terrific book. Antonius Zondervan has done anexcellent job distilling Philip Rieff’s theoretical insights andpresenting them in a sophisticated, critical, and informativeway, drawing connections and bridges where necessary withother discourses. The use of language is lucid and elegant,and the information Zondervan has received directly fromRieff through interviews is fascinating.’Yiannis Gabriel, Tanaka Business School,Imperial CollegeApprox. 240 pp / 6 x 9 / April 2005Cloth ISBN 0-8020-8018-9£32.00 $50.00 EAntonius A.W. Zondervan is a theologian and independentscholar living in Utrecht, The Netherlands.Philip Rieff, 1967. From the collections of the University ofPennsylvania Archives.51