Social theory

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

Context and Background: Pierre Bourdieu's analysis of class, gender and sexuality

Abstract: A meeting ground for mainstream social theory and contemporary feminist theory. Brings feminist theory face to face with Pierre Bourdieu s social theory. Demonstrates how much Bourdieu s theory has to offer to contemporary feminism. Comprises a series of contributions from key contemporary feminist thinkers. Defines new territories for feminist theorizing. Transforms and advances Bourdieu s social and cultural theory

Contested Knowledge: Social Theory in the Postmodern Era

Abstract: Preface. Acknowledgements. Introduction. Part I: The Enlightenment and the Classical Tradition: The Dream of Reason: 1. Grand Visions: Auguste Comte and Karl Marx. 2. The Promise of Sociology: Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Part II: Disciplining Theory: The Making of a Sociological Theory Canon: 3. From European Social Theory to American Sociological Theory: Talcott Parsons and the Autonomy of Theory. 4. The Triumph of Scientific Theory: Postwar American Sociological Theory and the Abandonment of Public Enlightenment. Part III: Dislodging the Canon: The Reassertion of a Moral Vision of the Human Sciences: 5. Between Science and Politics: The Critical Theory of C. W. Mills, Jurgen Habermas, and Stuart Mill. 6. Knowledge and Power: The French Poststructuralists. 7. The New Social Movements and the Making of New Social Knowledges. 8 Post-Enlightenment Paradigms of Disciplinary Knowledge: Refashioning Sociology for the Twenty-First Century. Epilogue. Bibliographic Essay. Index.

Transforming Social Work Practice: Postmodern Critical Perspectives

Abstract: Transforming Social Work Practice shows that postmodern theory offers new strategies for social workers concerned with political action and social justice. It explores ways of developing practice frameworks, paradigms and principles which take advantage of the perspectives offered by postmodern theory without totally abandoning the values of modernity and the Enlightenment project of human emancipation. Case studies demonstrate how these perspectives can be applied to practice.

Social theory of modern societies : Anthony Giddens and his critics

Abstract: List of abbreviations Editors' introduction David Held and John B. Thompson 1. Social theory as critique Richard J. Bernstein 2. Hermeneutics and modern social theory Zygmunt Bauman 3. The theory of structuration John B. Thompson 4. Models of historical trajectory: an assessment of Giddens's critique of Marxism Erik Olin Wright 5. Capitalism, nation-states and surveillance Bob Jessop 6. War and the nation-state in social theory Martin Shaw 7. Only half the story: some blinkering effects of 'malestream' sociology Linda Murgatroyd 8. Citizenship and autonomy David Held 9. Presences and absences: time-space relations and structuration theory Derek Gregory 10. Space, urbanism and the created environment Peter Saunders 11. On the (ir)relevance of structuration theory to empirical research Nicky Gregson 12. A reply to my critics Anthony Giddens Select bibliography Index.

Contemporary Sociological Theory: Expanding the Classical Tradition

Abstract: 1. THE UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIETY. 2. FUNCTIONALISM. Part One: Talcott Parsons: Grand Theory. Part Two: Robert K. Merton: Middle-Range Theory. Part Three: Neofunctionalism. 3. CONFLICT THEORY. Part One: Conflict Theory and the Critique of Society. Part Two: Conflict Theory and Analytic Sociology: The Legacy of Max Weber. 4. EVOLUTION AND MODERNITY: MACROSOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES. Part One: Karl Marx and the Classless Society. Part Two: Talcott Parsons's Evolutionary Model. Part Three: Jurgen Habermas: Rationalization and Communicative Action. Part Four: Anthony Giddens: Structuration Theory and High Modernity. 5. SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM. Part One: George Herbert Mead: The Self. Part Two: Herbert Blumer: Interpretation and Methodology. Part Three: Erving Goffman: Dramaturgy and the Interaction Order. Part Four: Arlie Russell Hochschild and Patricia Hill Collins: Expanding the Horizons of Symbolic Interactionism. 6. PHENOMENOLOGY. Part One: Harold Garfinkel: The Founder of Ethnomethodology. Part Two: Peter Berger: The Social Construction of Reality. Part Three: Dorothy E. Smith: Feminist Standpoint Theory. 7. THEORIES OF RATIONAL CHOICE. Part One: Rational Choice, Social Exchange, and Individual Behavior. Part Two: Rational Choice and the Analysis of Social Structure. Part Three: James Coleman and the Foundations of Social Theory. 8. REDISCOVERING THE BODY: THE SOCIOLOGY OF THE BODY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY. Part One: The Sociology of the Body. Part Two: Sociobiology. 9. CONCLUSION: EVALUATING SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY. Part One: The Future of Sociological Theory: Modernism and Postmodernism. Part Two: Social Theory and Understanding: The Value of Multiple Perspectives. Selected Bibliography. Index.