The Social Construction of Reality

Peter L. Berger (Boston, MA) was a University Professor of Sociology Emeritus at Boston University and the founder and Senior Research Fellow of the Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs. He wrote numerous books on sociological theory, the sociology of religion, and Third World development. Among his more recent books are In Praise of Doubt (with Anton Zijderveld); Religious America, Secular Europe? (with Grace Davie and Effie Fokas); Questions of Faith; Many Globalizations (edited with Samuel Huntington); and Redeeming Laughter: The Comic Dimension of Human Experience. Professor Berger received honorary degrees from Loyola University, University of Notre Dame, University of Geneva, University of Munich, Sofia University, and Renmin University of China. He died in 2017.

Thomas Luckmann is professor of sociology at the University of Konstanz (West Germany). He is the author of, among other books, The Invisible Religion and (with Alfred Schutz) The Structures of the Life-World.