‘Göran Ahrne starts his deep-reaching argument for a relational sociology with what most social scientists would seldom admit, that we really do not know how to define society, or structure, or system, or lifeworld or even individual. Ahrne goes back to the forefathers and to a plethora of more recent others to advocate for a sociology that can describe and analyze today’s world with (apparently simple) concepts like social bond, social relationship, and organization. He shows that we do not need to divide the world into micro and macro levels, and even less into different societies that follow the boundaries of nation-states. Looking at how different kinds of new bonds are formed and organized into ordered systems of rules, governed by authority, he succeeds in bringing back in organizations of different kinds and scope, from families to the meta-organizations of world soccer and the world-wide-web. We should thank him for proposing a much better and simpler access to this new multi-tiered world.’

- Magali Sarfatti Larson, Temple University, Pennsylvania, US,

‘Göran Ahrne begins with a master class in social analysis. He follows this up with compelling ideas about the reconstitution of social relations in a globalising world. The new forms of organised relationships envisaged - often just outside the range of conventional scholarship - are revelatory. In sum, this book is a bold assertion of the importance of social relationships and the social sphere in an emerging world more often exclusively defined in terms of concentrations of political and economic power.’

- Stephen Ackroyd, University of Lancaster, UK,

‘Göran Ahrne is one of the most creative sociologists in Europe and the author of a number of important studies, mainly in the areas of organization and everyday life. In this new volume he has produced a highly interesting synthesis of what is new and old in his thinking about society. His concept of social bonds is very innovative and helpful. Researchers, students and libraries should all get a copy.’

- Richard Swedberg, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, US,