The DIVISION OF LABOR IN SOCIETY

Rating:
Summary: Comment
Review: ... The Coser edition of THE DIVISION OF LABOUR is commonly regarded as the best english translation edition.

Rating:
Summary: A founding block of Sociological Theory
Review: ... The Halls translation is quite a good one. If we examine the Halls text and compare it to the "revisions" that the reviewer has posed, we find that the differences are not merely aesthetic, they are substantive. They change the meaning of the sentence, and therefore the nature and meaning of Durkheim's argument.

I think that this Durkheim's best work. As a warning, it is not easy; perhaps this is where the difficulty with the translation lies. But for anyone interested in sociological theory, this book is essential reading. The translation is the best out there.

Rating:
Summary: The starting point
Review: A classic in many ways, the Division of Labor is a great starting point for sociology - not because it's terribly sexy or interesting or even correct, but because it begins to lay out what sociology can do.