Full Description
This book offers a comprehensive overview of the major theoretical perspectives in contemporary sociology, covering schools of thought or intellectual movements within the discipline, as well as the work of individual scholars. The author provides not only a rigorous exposition of each theory, but also an examination of the scholarly reception of the approach in question, considering both critical responses and defences in order to reach a balanced evaluation. Chapters cover the following theorists and perspectives: ¢ Alexander ¢ Bourdieu ¢ Ethnomethodology ¢ Exchange Theory ¢ Foucault ¢ Giddens ¢ Goffman ¢ Habermas ¢ Luhmann ¢ Merton ¢ Network and Social Capital Theory ¢ Parsons ¢ Rational Choice Theory ¢ Schutz and Phenomenalism ¢ Structuralism ¢ Symbolic Interactionism An accessible and informative treatment of the central approaches in sociology over the course of the last century, this volume marks a significant contribution to sociological theory and constitutes an essential addition to library collections in the areas of the history of sociology and contemporary social theory.
Contents
Foreword; Chapter 1 The Neofunctionalism of Jeffrey Alexander; Chapter 2 Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002); Chapter 3 Ethnomethodology; Chapter 4 Exchange Theory; Chapter 5 Michel Foucault (1926-1984); Chapter 6 Anthony Giddens; Chapter 7 Erving Goffman (1922-1982); Chapter 8 Jürgen Habermas; Chapter 9 Niklas Luhmann (1927-1998); Chapter 10 Robert K. Merton (1910-2003); Chapter 11 Network and Social Capital Theory; Chapter 12 Talcott Parsons (1902-1979); Chapter 13 Rational Choice Theory; Chapter 14 The Phenomenological Perspective of Alfred Schutz (1899-1959); Chapter 15 Structuralism in Sociology and Other Social Sciences; Chapter 16 Symbolic Interactionism;
