Social Theory in the Twentieth Century and BeyondThis revised edition of Patrick Baert's widely acclaimed Social Theory in the Twentieth Century, now benefitting from the collaboration of Filipe Carreira da Silva has been brought right up-to-date with cutting-edge developments in social theory today. It offers an easy-to-read but provocative account of the development of social theory, covering a range of key figures and classic schools of thought. The authors bridge the gap between philosophy and social theory, locating the theoretical views of individuals such as Michel Foucault, Anthony Giddens and Jürgen Habermas within wider historical traditions. The revised edition includes new material on actor-network theory, French pragmatist sociology and cultural sociology, and discusses contemporary social thinker such as Zygmunt Bauman, Ulrich Beck, Manuel Castells, Randall Collins, Michael Mann, Saskia Sassen and Theda Skocpol. The authors conclude with a bold, new pragmatist agenda for social theory and the social sciences. Written in a lively style, and avoiding jargon, Social Theory in the Twentieth Century and Beyond is aimed at students who wish to gain an understanding of the main debates and dilemmas driving social theory. Like its predecessor, it will be a standard introduction to modern social theory for students in sociology, politics and anthropology. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Our agenda | 8 |
One Hundred Years of French Social Theory From Structuralism to Pragmatism | 12 |
The Biological Metaphor Functionalism and Neofunctionalism | 52 |
The Enigma of Everyday Life Symbolic Interactionism the Dramaturgical Approach and Ethnomethodology | 90 |
The Invasion of Economic Man From Rational Choice Theory to the New Institutionalism | 125 |
Sociology Meets History Giddenss Theory of Modernity | 155 |
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Social Theory in the Twentieth Century and Beyond Patrick Baert,Filipe Carreira da Silva Limited preview - 2010 |
Common terms and phrases
action analysis anthropology argues argument attempt Bauman Beck behaviour biopolitics Blumer Boltanski Bourdieu Castells central century chapter communicative concept contemporary critical theory critique cultural developed discourse ethics distinction Durkheim economic emergence Émile Durkheim empirical research ethnomethodology example explain forms Foucault framework Frankfurt School functionalism functionalist game theory Garfinkel Giddens Giddens's global global cities Goffman Habermas Habermas's hermeneutics Honneth human ibid individuals instance institutionalism institutions intellectual interaction Jürgen Habermas knowledge language Lévi-Strauss London Marxism Mead Mead's meaning Merton methodological modernity nature normative notion originally in French originally in German Parsons Parsons's people's perspective philosophical political Polity originally practices pragmatism pragmatist public sociology rational choice theorists refers relations relationship Routledge rules Sassen Second Sennett social research social sciences social structure social system social theory society sociologists sociology strategy structuralist structuration theory symbolic interactionism theoretical tion tradition trust whereas York Zygmunt Bauman