Over
the years, many writers have claimed that the State
has some kind of noble mission. Few have seen things
with such clarity as the German sociologist Franz
Oppenheimer. The State, Oppenheimer persuasively
argues, is always born in the conquest of one group
by another. The conquerors then set themselves up as
the government and extract tribute in the form of
taxes from the conquered. Furthermore, he argues, the
State can have originated in no other way than
through conquest and subjugation, and to advance his
argument, he draws on vast historical knowledge with
dramatic examples of the beginnings of the State from
prehistoric to primitive; from huntsmen to herders;
from the Vikings to modern day.
The
State affects the most mundane as well as the most
important aspects of our lives. As a powerful,
sprawling institution it shapes the other major
institutions of society and reaches into our most
personal everyday affairs. Yet, little of importance
has been written on the State in terms of its nature
and development. In this significant, but
long-neglected, classic, Franz Oppenheimer develops
his libertarian ideas on the origin and future of the
State.
"I
have long regarded [The State] as a classic, and
welcome its fresh publication. I hope it will be
read widely by the present generation."
--Robert Nisbel
"Oppenheimer's…book
helps us to realize how recent, precious and
fragile are the ideas and institutions of
democracy and welfare state." --Stanislav
Andreski
Table of Contents
FRANZ
OPPENHEIMER (1864-1943) was a German sociologist and
political economist and Chair for Sociology and
Theoretical Political Economy at Johann Wolfgang
Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main. From 1934 to 1935,
Oppenheimer taught in Palestine, emigrating to Los
Angeles in 1936, where he was active in the American
Sociological Association and became a founding member
of the American Journal of Economics and Sociology.
224
pages, 6x9, bibliography, index
Paperback
$19.99
13 digit ISBN: 978-1-155164-300-7
10 digit ISBN: 1-55164-300-6
Hardcover
$48.99
13 digit ISBN: 978-1-155164-301-4
10 digit ISBN: 1-55164-301-4
Cultural Studies /
Political Science & Government
May
2007
