Examining the central texts of three prominent sociologists (Emile Durkheim, C. Wright Mills, and Jean Baudrillard), Cormack (sociology, St. Francis Xavier U.) explores the relation between the rise of sociological thought and mass society. She rejects and fears Baudrillard's characterization of the sociological as having no distance from the mass, but argues that his formulation of mass culture is a key to resisting mass culture and preserving Dukheimian and Millsian hopes for sociology as a reflexive and culturally relevant discipline. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR