Dogs and Society

Humans and dogs have a long, wonderful, and sometimes problematic association. At a personal level, dogs have been integral to our lives, and our parents’ lives, for as long as the two of us can remember. As sociologists, we also recognize that dogs are important at the macro level. Here, we introduce a selection of early sociological arguments about dogs and their social relationships with humankind by Harriet Martineau, Charles Darwin, Frances Power Cobbe, Roscoe Pound, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Annie Marion MacLean, and George Herbert Mead. This book is a smorgasbord of sociological standpoints, all written by some of sociology’s most perceptive practitioners, from 1865 to 1934. We are delighted with the opportunity to make these essays more widely available.