Emile Durkheim: Le Suicide One Hundred Years Later

This landmark volume honors the 100th anniversary of the publication of Emile Durkheim's milestone book, Le Suicide, often described as one of the most important works ever written in the social sciences and the seminal work on suicide. Many other books were published before Le Suicide, but only Durkheim's has achieved unrivaled, overwhelming prominence. Remarkably, the importance of this book has not diminished or become lost with time; even today, practically every new book on suicide and self-destruction cites Durkheim's contribution and influence.

What was so monumental in Durkheim's work that it left the indelible mark it has on current thinking on suicide? To address this question, renowned suicidologist Dr. David Lester invited 16 of the most highly esteemed suicidologists and scholars from around the world to write essays on their views of the great French sociologist and to evaluate and reassess the remarkable contributions he made to social and behavioral science in the light of present-day knowledge and assumptions.

Some of the subjects addressed include: What was Durkheim's contribution to our understanding of suicide? Are his methods and conclusions justifiable? Have they withstood the test of time? What major faults have been identified in Durkheim's theory? How has Durkheim influenced the study of and present-day thinking on suicide? Also included in this volume is the first complete English translation of Durkheim's essay "Suicide et Natalite" (Suicide and the Birthrate), together with ground-breaking commentary on this important early work. An unparalleled bibliography accompanies this soon-to-be classic.