Social theory

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

Identities and social structure: The 2003 cooley-mead award address

Abstract: The present paper examines existing links between identities and the social structure in the context of identity control theory. I point out that, whether social structure is conceived as positions (roles and group memberships) to which identities are tied, or as the human organization of resource flows and transfers that are controlled by the identity verification process, identities and social structure are two sides of the same coin. Building on this theme, I develop hypotheses that explore some of the implications of this identity—social structure link. Some hypotheses suggest contexts in which identity change is likely; others explore the various consequences of identity verification, which depend on the different ways in which identities are tied to the social structure.

Class and stratification : an introduction to current debates

Abstract: Introduction to the Second Edition. Introduction to the First Edition. Part I: Explaining Inequality: Introduction. Social Order and Theories of Social Differentiation. Stratification and the Debate on Social Class. The Growing Critique of 'Class Analysis'. Concluding Summary. Part II: The Classic Inheritance and its Development: Introduction. Marx. Weber. Class and Sociology after the Second World War. Culture, Class and History. Once Again, the Indivisibility of Structure and Action. Social Class, Urban Sociology and the Turn to 'Realism'. Conclusions. Part III: Measuring the 'Class Structure': Goldthorpe and Wright: Introduction. Occupations. Conclusions. Part IV: Problems of Class Analysis: Introduction. Changes in the Structure of Work and Employment. The Expansion of Women's Employment. Class, Politics, and Action. Gender and Class. Are Social Classes Dying? Converging Approaches. Conclusion. Part V: Farewell to Social Class?: Introduction. Bringing Status Back In. Recent Social Theory. Farewell to Class Societies? Discussion and Conclusions. Part VI: Lifestyle, Consumption Categories and Consciousness Communities: Introduction. Consumption-sector Cleavages. Culture, Class and Occupation. From 'Abstract Labour' to 'Customer Care'. Summary and Conclusions. Part VII: Citizenship, Entitlements and the 'Underclass': Introduction. T H Marshall and the Development of the Concept of Citizenship. Women and Citizenship. Race and Citizenship. Social Citizenship and the 'Underclass'. Conclusion. 8. Retrospect and Prospect. Introduction. Social Mobility. Social Polarization. Conclusions. References. Index.

Homo geographicus : a framework for action, awareness, and moral concern

Abstract: "This brilliant book, reflecting an original mind and years of preparatory research, is a major work of contemporary geographical scholarship. It is perhaps the most important theoretical work in human geography of the past thirty years. 'Homo Geographicus' provides a powerful intellectual broadside on behalf of reason as a faculty of mind that all humans share. This will be a controversial book that will stimulate much-needed debate about geographical agency, spatiality, and postmodernist claims. An exemplary book."--John Agnew, Syracuse University "Robert Sack is one of the most original theoreticians in geography today. In 'Homo Geographicus' he continues his project of identifying the geographical sources of social life, and takes an important step toward giving the geographic perspective an essential and central role in modern social theory."--J. Nicholas Entrikin, University of California at Los Angeles "Written in straightforward and unpretentious language, 'Homo Geographicus' refocuses thinking about the nature of the geographic and provides a framework for why and how the various domains of study within the discipline of geography are intimately linked." --Billie Lee Turner II, George Perkins Marsh Institute, Clark University In 'Homo Geographicus' Sack offers nothing less than a philosophy and theory of geography. He maps out how nature, culture, self, and such geographical factors as space, place, home, and world fit together, enabling us to see more clearly how we transform the world and how we are affected by that transformation. He also provides possible moral directions for us to pursue so that we can be more responsible for our actions and make better our places, our home, and the earth itself.

Bourdieu on Education and Social and Cultural Reproduction

Abstract: Bourdieu's work has attracted considerable interest and, not withstanding criticism of his style and obscure theoretical formulations, has introduced some powerful concepts into social theory. This...

The Production of Locality

Abstract: In this chapter, the author addresses related questions that have arisen in an ongoing series of writings about global cultural flows. Although they broadly inform his response to these questions, the author's argument does not stem directly from concern with either the production of space or the disciplinary anxieties of anthropology as such. Rather, it engages a continuing debate about the future of the nation-state. It is one of the grand cliches of social theory that locality as a property or diacritic of social life comes under siege in modern societies. But locality is an inherently fragile social achievement. The long-term reproduction of a neighbourhood that is simultaneously practical, valued and taken-for-granted depends on the seamless interaction of localized spaces and times with local subjects possessed of the knowledge to reproduce locality. The production of a neighbourhood is inherently colonizing, in the sense that it involves the assertion of socially organized power over places and settings which are viewed as potentially chaotic.