Download or read book Classical Social Theory and Modern Society written by Edward Royce and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-01-22 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim, and Max Weber are indispensable for understanding the sociological enterprise. They are among the chief founders of the discipline and among the foremost theorists of modernity, and their work can stimulate readers to reflect on their own identities and worldviews. Classical Social Theory and Modern Society introduces students to these three thinkers and shows their continued relevance today. The first chapter sets the stage by situating the work of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber in the context of three modernizing revolutions: the Enlightenment, the French Revolution of 1789, and the Industrial Revolution. Three overview chapters follow that summarize the key ideas of each thinker, focusing on their contributions to the development of sociology and their conceptions of modern society. The last portion of the book explores the thinking of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber on four themes—the pathologies of modern society, the predicament of the modern individual, the state and democracy, and socialism versus capitalism. These thematic chapters place Marx, Durkheim, and Weber in dialogue with one another, offering students the opportunity to wrestle with conflicting ideas on issues that are still significant today. Classical sociology is essential to the teaching of sociology and also an invaluable tool in the education of citizens.
Download or read book Social Theory of Modern Societies written by David Held and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1989-12-07 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the past decade, Anthony Giddens has published a series of substantial volumes that have defined a distinctive and original theoretical approach. The twin focal points of his research are the "theory of structuration" and the analysis of "modernity." Giddens' writing on these and related themes are widely recognized as among the most important contributions to theoretical debate in the social sciences. This is the first book to provide a systematic and critical assessment of Giddens' work. It includes eleven critical essays specially commissioned from contributors who are well known in their own fields. In a concluding essay, Giddens responds to the criticisms raised by these and other authors, and clarifies and elaborates on his current views.
Download or read book Social Theory and Modern Sociology written by Anthony Giddens and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-04-25 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book Anthony Giddens addresses a range of issues concerning current developments in social theory, relating them to the prospects for sociology in the closing decades of the twentieth century. Composed of closely integrated papers, all written over the past few years, the book includes seven essays not previously published, plus two have not appeared in English before. In assessing the likely future evolution of sociology in particular, and the social sciences in general, the author both draws upon ideas established in his more abstract theoretical writings and examines critically competing traditions of thought. Those looking for an accessible introduction to Gidden's writing will find in this book a set of clear expositions of his basic ideas. By situating these ideas in relation to the critical assessment of the views of others, however, the author provides new sources of insight into the distinctiveness of his own claims.
Download or read book Sociological Theory and Modern Society written by Talcott Parsons and published by New York : Free Press. This book was released on 1967 with total page 588 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Punishment and Modern Society written by David Garland and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-04-26 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this path-breaking book, David Garland argues that punishment is a complex social institution that affects both social relations and cultural meanings. Drawing on theorists from Durkheim to Foucault, he insightfully critiques the entire spectrum of social thought concerning punishment, and reworks it into a new interpretive synthesis. "Punishment and Modern Society is an outstanding delineation of the sociology of punishment. At last the process that is surely the heart and soul of criminology, and perhaps of sociology as well—punishment—has been rescued from the fringes of these 'disciplines'. . . . This book is a first-class piece of scholarship."—Graeme Newman, Contemporary Sociology "Garland's treatment of the theorists he draws upon is erudite, faithful and constructive. . . . Punishment and Modern Society is a magnificent example of working social theory."—John R. Sutton, American Journal of Sociology "Punishment and Modern Society lifts contemporary penal issues from the mundane and narrow contours within which they are so often discussed and relocates them at the forefront of public policy. . . . This book will become a landmark study."—Andrew Rutherford, Legal Studies "This is a superbly intelligent study. Its comprehensive coverage makes it a genuine review of the field. Its scholarship and incisiveness of judgment will make it a constant reference work for the initiated, and its concluding theoretical synthesis will make it a challenge and inspiration for those undertaking research and writing on the subject. As a state-of-the-art account it is unlikely to be bettered for many a year."—Rod Morgan, British Journal of Criminology Winner of both the Outstanding Scholarship Award of the Crime and Delinquency Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems and the Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Sociological Association's Crime, Law, and Deviance Section
Download or read book Anthony Giddens and Modern Social Theory written by Kenneth Tucker and published by SAGE. This book was released on 1998-09-24 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anthony Giddens is widely recognized as one of the most important sociologists of the post-war period. This is the first full-length work to examine Giddens′ social theory. It guides the reader through Giddens′ early attempt to overcome the duality of structure and agency. He saw this duality as a major failing of social theories of modernity. His attempt to resolve the problem can be regarded as the key to the development of his brandmark `structuration theory′. The book is the most complete and thorough assessment of Giddens′ work currently available. It incorporates insights from many different perspectives into his theory of structuration, his work on the formation of cultural identities and the fate of the nation-state. This far-reaching work also touches on issues such as the transformation of modern intimacy and sexuality, and the fate of politics in late modern society.
Download or read book Modern Social Theory written by Ian Craib and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-08-12 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The revised edition of this widely acclaimed textbook provides a clear, accessible and comprehensive introduction to modern social theory.As with the first edition, the book is based around the themes of structure and action. After the introductory chapters which examine the nature of theory and its role in the social world, the book then turns to theories of action and the inability of those theories to comprehend social structures in a coherent way.Part 1 covers: Parson's structural-functionalism and the development of conlict theory and neofunctionalism; rational choice theory; symbolic interactionism; ethnomethodology and structuration theory.Part 2 looks at structuralism, structuralist Marxism, and the development of post-structuralist and postmodernist theory.Part 3 examines Critical Theory and the work of Jurgen Habermas.In conclusion, Ian Craib discusses current trends in theory and what might be expected in the future.This second edition has been revised throughout. There are new chapters on rational choice theory and structuration theory and existing chapters have been extended to deal with the development of neofunctionalism, postmodernism and the recent works of Habermas as well as recent developments in other approaches.Throughout, the aim of the book is to demystify a diffcult subject area, emphasising the practical and everyday nature of theoretical thinking in the context of making sense of a rapidly changing world. The late Ian Craib was Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Essex.
Download or read book Contemporary Social and Sociological Theory written by Kenneth Allan and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2013 with total page 489 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Third Edition of Ken Allan's highly-praised Contemporary Social and Sociological Theory book, sociological theories and theorists are explored using a straightforward approach and conversational, jargon-free language. Filled with examples drawn from everyday life, this edition highlights diversity in contemporary society, exploring theories of race, gender, and sexuality that address some of today's most important social concerns. Through this textbook students will learn to think theoretically and apply to their own lives.
Download or read book Sociology and the Demystification of the Modern World RLE Social Theory written by John Rex and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-21 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Professor Rex’s controversial book concerns not only those who are professional sociologists but all thinking people who live in the modern world. One of the objects of sociology is to give ‘power to the people’, to make a contribution to the understanding of political problems. Rex writes from a deep conviction that sociology is a subject whose insights should be made available to the great mass of the people, so that they may liberate themselves from the mystification of social reality that is continually and routinely presented to them through the media, by those who exercise power and by those who have influence. The book is dedicated to St Augustine and Franz Fanon, both of whom, Rex points out, were conscious of living in an age which was embarking on a new barbarism, but had the courage to use their intellects to help understand the possibility of a better future. Rex continues in this tradition, and his main preoccupations are reflected in the present book. It includes a discussion of the problem of social knowledge, an analysis of the basic problems of theory building, and, with the aid of concepts derived from Max Weber, an attempt to understand the major problems of the first, second and third worlds. The author also looks at social structures and moral perspectives, and discusses the vocation of a sociologist in a collapsing civilisation. The book is certain to stimulate debate, both in sociological and political fields and more generally, and is also a serious contribution to the discussion of the methodology and purposes of sociology.
Download or read book Key Ideas in Sociology written by Peter Kivisto and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2010-05-13 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Demonstrates the evolution of ideas developed by theorists over time and links classical sociological theory to today’s world Key Ideas in Sociology, Third Edition, is the only undergraduate text to link today’s issues to the ideas and individuals of the era of classical sociological thought. Compact and affordable, this book provides an overview of how sociological theories have helped sociologists understand modern societies and human relations. It also describes the continual evolution of these theories in response to social change. Providing students with the opportunity to read from primary texts, this valuable supplement presents theories as interpretive tools, useful for understanding a multifaceted, ever-shifting social world. Emphasis is given to the working world, to the roles and responsibilities of citizenship, and to social relationships. A concluding chapter addresses globalization and its challenges. Contributor to the SAGE Teaching Innovations and Professional Development Award
Download or read book Theorizing Modern Society as a Dynamic Process written by Harry F. Dahms and published by Emerald Group Publishing. This book was released on 2012-10-29 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Emphasis is placed in Continental European social theory, and on the importance of political analyses to theorizing modern societies. This title focuses on dynamic processes that gave way to illuminate structural features of modern social life.
Download or read book Modern Sociological Theory written by George Ritzer and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2017-01-23 with total page 927 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now with SAGE Publishing, and co-authored by one of the foremost authorities on sociological theory, the Eighth Edition of Modern Sociological Theory by George Ritzer and Jeffrey Stepnisky provides a comprehensive overview of the major theorists and theoretical schools, from the Structural Functionalism of early 20th century through the cutting-edge theories of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The integration of key theories with biographical sketches of theorists and the requisite historical and intellectual context helps students to better understand the original works of contemporary thinkers. New to this Edition A new chapter focuses theories of race, racism, and colonialism, as well as theories about indigenous peoples and theories from the “Global South” that challenge the work of scholars from Europe and North America. New material on colonialization, classical women theorists, and race, as well as new timelines in history chapters. The chapter on Symbolic Interactionism now discusses work on the sociology of emotions. The concluding chapter now discusses affect theory and theories of prosumption, one of the newest developments in consumer theory. The chapter on Contemporary Theories of Modernity includes new section on the work of Charles Taylor. New perspectives on the work of Immanuel Wallerstein have been added to the chapter on Neo-Marxian theories. The opening historical sketch chapters now include a discussion of colonialism as one of the forces that shaped modern society; new material on the historical significance of early women founders; and a section on theories of race.
Download or read book Society in Flux written by Harry F. Dahms and published by Emerald Group Publishing. This book was released on 2021-12-08 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Society in Flux: Two Centuries of Social Theory traces how modern tensions and modes of analyzing them have changed over the course of the last 200 years or so, through three modes of theorizing: critical theory, classical theory, and systems theory.
Download or read book Contemporary Sociological Theory written by Doyle Paul Johnson and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-03-29 with total page 632 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is designed as a basic text for upper level and graduate courses in contemporary sociological theory. Most sociology programs require their majors to take at least one course in sociological theory, sometimes two. A typical breakdown is between classical and contemporary theory. Theory is perhaps one of the bro- est areas of sociological inquiry and serves as a foundation or framework for more specialized study in specific substantive areas of the field. In addition, the study of sociological theory can readily be related to various aspects of other social science disciplines as well. From the very beginning sociology has been characterized by alternative theoretical perspectives. Classical theory includes the European founding figures of the dis- pline whose works were produced during the later half of the nineteenth century and the first couple of decades of the twentieth century plus early American th- rists. For most of the second half of the twentieth century, a fairly high consensus has developed among American sociologists regarding these major founders, p- ticularly with regard to the works of Durkheim and Weber in analyzing the overall society and of Simmel in analyzing social interaction processes. Since the late 1960s and early 1970s the influence of Marx has also been recognized. Recent decades have also witnessed an increased emphasis on the important contributions of several pioneering feminist perspectives in the early years of sociology.
Download or read book Colonialism and Modern Social Theory written by Gurminder K. Bhambra and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2021-05-18 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern society emerged in the context of European colonialism and empire. So, too, did a distinctively modern social theory, laying the basis for most social theorising ever since. Yet colonialism and empire are absent from the conceptual understandings of modern society, which are organised instead around ideas of nation state and capitalist economy. Gurminder K. Bhambra and John Holmwood address this absence by examining the role of colonialism in the development of modern society and the legacies it has bequeathed. Beginning with a consideration of the role of colonialism and empire in the formation of social theory from Hobbes to Hegel, the authors go on to focus on the work of Tocqueville, Marx, Weber, Durkheim and Du Bois. As well as unpicking critical omissions and misrepresentations, the chapters discuss the places where colonialism is acknowledged and discussed – albeit inadequately – by these founding figures; and we come to see what this fresh rereading has to offer and why it matters. This inspiring and insightful book argues for a reconstruction of social theory that should lead to a better understanding of contemporary social thought, its limitations, and its wider possibilities.
Download or read book Sociological Theory and the Environment written by Riley E. Dunlap and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2002 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nearly all of the major perspectives, focal points and debates in environmental sociology are reflected in this collection of essays. The volume exceeds the bounds of conventional theory by surveying societies and their natural biophysical environments.
Download or read book Sociological Theory in the Contemporary Era written by Scott Appelrouth and published by Pine Forge Press. This book was released on 2010-11-29 with total page 705 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Combines the major writings of sociology's core contemporary theorists with a historical and theoretical framework for understanding these works. This text enables students to compare and contrast core concepts and ideas, stresses contemporary applications and examples, and provides a variety of visuals and pedagogical devices.
