Social theory

About: Social theory is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 11421 publications have been published within this topic receiving 624898 citations.

Cultural capital or habitus? Bourdieu and beyond in the explanation of enduring educational inequality

Abstract: Evidence for Bourdieu’s social reproduction theory and its contributions to understanding educational inequality has been relatively mixed. Critics discount the usefulness of core concepts such as ...

Theoretical archaeology: a reactionary view

Abstract: Functionalism is defined as the use of an organic analogy in the explanation of societies, with particular reference to system, equilibrium and adaptation. The New Archaeology is found to be functionalist and a critique of functionalism is put forward, centring on the dichotomies between culture and function, individual and society, statics and dynamics, and on the links to positivism. Criticisms of an alternative approach, structuralism, include the lack of a theory of practice, the dichotomies between individual and society, statics and dynamics, and the paucity of rigour in the methods employed. A contextual or cultural archaeology is described which is based on the notion of ‘structuration’, and which attempts to resolve many of the difficulties associated with functionalism and ‘high’ structuralism. The main concern is with the role of material culture in the reflexive relationship between the structure of ideas and social strategies. Similarities are identified with the historical and humanistic aims of an older generation of British prehistorians such as Daniel, Piggott, Clark and Childe. Today, however, the earlier aims can be followed more successfully because of developments in social theory and ethnographic studies. Functionalism and the New Archaeology In defining functionalism, a simplified version of Radcliffe-Brown's (1952) account will be used since his approach can be shown to be close to that followed by many New Archaeologists (those who in the 1960s and 1970s were concerned with explanations and approaches of the types outlined by Binford and his associates).

Making Sense of Young People, Education and Digital Technology: The Role of Sociological Theory.

Abstract: This paper considers the contribution of sociological theory to the academic study of young people, education and digital technology. First it discusses the shortcomings of the technological and socially determinist views of technology and education that prevail in current academic and policy discussions. Against this background the paper outlines the benefits of a number of different sociological perspectives on the social shaping of technology that, despite their popularity in other areas of science and technology studies, have been employed rarely in analyses of educational technology. In particular the paper outlines the provenance of theoretical approaches such as the social construction of technology, studies of domestication of digital technologies, feminist critical theory and the political economy of technology. Drawing on all these theoretical traditions the scene is then set for future empirical and theoretical examinations of young people’s use of digital technology in formal and informal educ...

Editors' Introduction Escape From Politics? Social Theory and the Social Capital Debate

Abstract: This article sets the stage for the discussion of social capital, civil society, and contemporary democracy by attempting to clarify terms and set out the most promising avenues for discussion and ...

Marx, Durkheim, Weber: Formations of Modern Social Thought

Abstract: PART ONE: INTRODUCTION The Origins and Foundations of Modern Social Theory: 1750-1920 Modern Social Theory Defined The Central Subject Matter of Social Theory PART TWO: KARL MARX The Historical Context of Karl Marx's Work The Shift to Materialism The German Ideology Marx's Economic Works: 1850-1867 Capital Volume One, Part A Economic and Social Elements of Capitalism Capital Volume One, Part B The Theory of Value Capital Volume One, Part C Theory of Surplus Value Capital Volume One, Part D The Genesis of Capitalism Theory of Alienation Marx's Theory of Alienation and the 1844 Manuscripts Marx's Political Writings Marx's Dialectical View of History The Theory of Development PART THREE: EMILE DURKHEIM The Historical Context of Emile Durkheim's Work The Division of Labor in Society The Rules of Sociological Method Durkheim's Study of Suicide The Elementary Form of the Religious Life PART FOUR: MAX WEBER The Historical Context of Max Weber's Work Weber's Theoretical Perspective and Fundamental Themes in His Work The Theme of Capitalism in Weber's Work Weber's Theory of Class, Status and Party Weber's Concept of the Status Group The Separation of Status from Class The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism Weber's Methodology and the Theory of Knowledge in the Social Sciences The Theory of Legitimate Domination Weber's Political Writings Weber's Study of Bureaucracy