Social theory

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

Time, Space and Regionalisation

Abstract: Most social analysts treat time and space as mere environments of action, and accept unthinkingly the conception of time, as mensurable clock time, characteristic of modern Western culture. With the exception of the recent works of geographers — of which more in a moment — social scientists have failed to construct their thinking around the modes in which social systems are constituted across time-space. I want to argue that investigation of this issue is one main task of what I call the theory of structuration; it is not a specific type or ‘area’ of social science, which can be pursued or discarded at will. It is at the heart of social theory, and should hence also be regarded as of very considerable importance for the conduct of empirical research in the social sciences.

Identity, Interest and Action: A Cultural Explanation of Sweden's Intervention in the Thirty Years War

Abstract: Identity, interest and action : a cultural explanation of Sweden's intervention in the Thirty Years War

Environmental Justice at the Crossroads

Abstract: The field of environmental justice emerged at a crossroads of social movements, public policy, and academic research ‐ what we call environmental justice praxis. Now, the field finds itself again at a crossroads as it expands to address new populations, problems, and places. In this article, we first outline the competing definitions of the problems of environmental inequality and environmental racism from the perspective of social movements, policy, and research. Second, we identify the expansion of the field in two key areas: new issues and constituencies and new places and sites of analysis ‐ specifically the relationship between the local and the global. This expansion leads to increasingly sophisticated spatial methodologies and social theories to examine problems of environmental injustice. Finally, we identify three promising trends in the field: refining the mechanisms and processes of environmental injustice, a renewed focus on the state and the environment as key actors, and a revitalized focus on the interactive and continually evolving relationship between scholarship and social movements.

Why network? Theoretical perspectives on networking

Abstract: In recent years, networking and collaboration have become increasingly popular in education. However, there is at present a lack of attention to the theoretical basis of networking, which could illuminate when and when not to network and under what conditions networks are likely to be successful. In this paper, we will attempt to sketch the theoretical background to networking drawing on work in sociology, psychology, and business studies and looking at 4 main theoretical frameworks: constructivism, social capital theory, Durkheimian network theory, and the concept of New Social Movements. We will also explore differences between networks on a number of factors such as goals, activities, density, spread, and power relations.

Theories of Modernity and Postmodernity

Abstract: Part 1 Introduction - defining postmodernity: modernity and postmodernity, Bryan S.Turner modernity, postmodernity and the present, Barry Smart. Part 2 Nostalgia and modernity: reading Wall Street - postmodern contradictions in the American social structure, Norman K.Denzin after nostalgia? wilful nostalgia and the phase of globalization, Roland Robertson postmoderism as humanism? urban space and social theory, Scott Las Simmel and the theory of postmodern society, Deena Weinstein and Michael A.Weinstein. Part 2 Critical theory and the modern project: Habermas and the completion of "The Project of Modernity", David Ashley Lyotard and Weber - postmodern rules and neo-Kantian values, Charles Turner towards a reinterpretation of modernity in an age of postmodernity, Adam B.Seligman. Part 3 Politics, women and postmodernity: women between fundamentalism and modernity, Aysegul Baykan women between modernity and postmodernity, Lieteke van Vucht Tijssen citizenship in the semiotic society, Philip Wexler.