The Chicago School was the first major school of sociology in the USA, dominating the field for the first thirty-five years of the twentieth century. Drawing upon the nineteenth century British social survey methods of Charles Booth and others, and influenced by continental European social theorists, the Chicago School moved in an ethnographic direction as they studied immigrant communities , neighbourhood zones and leisure life. In addition the School was central as a training centre for students, going on to train generations of sociologists, and its impact has been enormous throughout this century, influencing debates about race relations and crime. Starting with the earliest debates within Northern American sociology, Pragmatic philosophy, and the Chicago School itself, this set provides key readings from contemporary journals and scholarly publications, which situate the School, give access to major documents through the edited selections of key studies and texts, and help the reader to understand the critical development of the tradition.

Introduction by: Ken Plummer