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Social theory
About: Social theory is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 11421 publications have been published within this topic receiving 624898 citations.
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TL;DR: Punishment is a complex social institution that affects both social relations and cultural meanings as discussed by the authors, and it is worth noting that punishment is the heart and soul of criminology, and perhaps of sociology as well.
Abstract: 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"
1,413 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1987
TL;DR: Castoriadis's "The Imaginary Institution of Society" as discussed by the authors is one of the most important works of contemporary European thought, and it is the most original, ambitious, and reflective attempt to think through the liberating mediation of history, society, external and internal nature once again as praxis.
Abstract: "[T]he most original, ambitious, and reflective attempt to think through the liberating mediation of history, society, external and internal nature once again as praxis". -- Ju rgen Habermas, "The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity" "Castoriadis's "The Imaginary Institution of Society" is a work of great power and originality. As a work of social theory, I would argue that it belongs in a class with the writings of Habermas and Arendt". -- Jay Bernstein, University of Essex This is one of the most original and important works of contemporary European thought. First published in France in 1975, it is the major theoretical work of one of the foremost thinkers in Europe today. Castoriadis offers a brilliant and far-reaching analysis of the unique character of the social-historical world and its relations to the individual, to language, and to nature. He argues that most traditional conceptions of society and history overlook the essential feature of the social-historical world, namely that this world is not articulated once and for all but is in each case the creation of the society concerned. In emphasizing the element of creativity, Castoriadis opens the way for rethinking political theory and practice in terms of the autonomous and explicit self-institution of society.
1,412 citations
Book•
16 Sep 2009TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a new theory of institutional change that emphasises the distributional consequences of social institutions and explain the emergence of institutions as a byproduct of distributional conflict in which asymmetries of power in a society generate institutional solutions to conflicts.
Abstract: Many of the fundamental questions in social science entail an examination of the role played by social institutions. Why do we have so many social institutions? Why do they take one form in one society and quite different ones in others? In what ways do these institutions develop? When and why do they change? Institutions and Social Conflict addresses these questions in two ways. First it offers a thorough critique of a wide range of theories of institutional change, from the classical accounts of Smith, Hume, Marx and Weber to the contemporary approaches of evolutionary theory, the theory of social conventions and the new institutionalism. Secondly, it develops a new theory of institutional change that emphasises the distributional consequences of social institutions. The emergence of institutions is explained as a by-product of distributional conflict in which asymmetries of power in a society generate institutional solutions to conflicts.
1,399 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss seven social science ontologies (rational choice, evolution theory, structuralism, interpretivism, functionalism, conflict and power struggle, relationism), their assumptions on agency and causal mechanisms, and their views on socio-technical transitions and environmental sustainability.
1,355 citations
TL;DR: A manifesto for Cyborgs: Science, technology, and socialist feminism in the 1980s as mentioned in this paper is a seminal work in Australian Feminist Studies: Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 1-42.
Abstract: (1987). A manifesto for Cyborgs: Science, technology, and socialist feminism in the 1980s. Australian Feminist Studies: Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 1-42.
1,327 citations