ABSTRACT
There have been many attempts to analyze the weaknesses o f contemporary sociology (see for example Alexander 1982; Connell 1991; Becker and Rau 1992; Berger 1992). Peter Berger believes that contemporary sociology does not measure up to its past achievements marked by the great works of Durkheim and Weber. He identifies four symptoms which trouble the discipline: parochialism, triviality, rationalism and ideology. As he writes: ‘Each one is crippling. Their combination has been d ead ly ’ (Berger 1992: 16).
