1st Edition

Social Theory Classical and Contemporary – A Critical Perspective

By Berch Berberoglu Copyright 2017
    304 Pages
    by Routledge

    304 Pages
    by Routledge

    Social Theory provides a sophisticated yet highly accessible introduction to classical and contemporary social theories. The author’s concise presentation allows students and instructors to focus on central themes. The text lets theorists speak for themselves, presenting key passages from each theorist’s corpus, bringing theory to life. The approach allows instructors the opportunity to help students learn to unpack sometimes complex prose, just as it offers inroads to class discussion. Chapters on Addams and early feminism, on Habermas and the Frankfurt School, on Foucault, and on globalization and social movements round out contemporary coverage. The book presents and explains key theories, just as it provides an introduction to central debates about them.

    Preface

    Introduction

    Part I: Classical Social Theory

    1. Hegel on Dialectics, the State, and Society

    2. Marx and Engels on Social Class and Class Struggle

    3. Durkheim on Society and Social Order

    4. Weber on Bureaucracy, Power, and Social Status

    5. Pareto, Mosca, and Michels on Elites and Masses

    6. Simmel on Social Relations and Group Affiliations

    7. Cooley and Mead on Human Nature and Society

    8. Freud on the Development of Society and Civilization

    9. Addams and Early Women Social Theorists

    10. Veblen on the Leisure Class and Conspicuous Consumption

    11. Mannheim on Ideology and Utopia

    12. Gramsci and Lenin on Ideology, the State, and Revolution

    13. Kollontai on Class, Gender, and Patriarchy

    14. Du Bois and Frazier on Race, Class, and Social Emancipation

    Part II: Contemporary Social Theory

    15. Parsons, Merton, and Functionalist Theory

    16. Mills on the Power Elite

    17. Domhoff on the Power Structure and the Governing Class

    18. Althusser, Poulantzas, and Miliband on Politics and the State

    19. Trimberger, Block, and Skocpol and Neo-Weberian Theorizing

    20. Homans on Social Exchange

    21. The Frankfurt School of Critical Theory

    22. Goffman and Garfinkel on Dramaturgy, Ethnomethodology, and Everyday Life

    23. Wilson and Willie on Race, Class, and Poverty

    24. Feminist Theory: Yesterday and Today

    25. Wallerstein and World-Systems Theory

    26. Theories of Globalization

    27. Therborn and Szymanski on Contemporary Marxist Theory

    28. Foucault on the Diffusion of Power

    29. Harvey and Callinicos on Postmodernism and Its Critique

    30. Social Movements and Transformation

    Conclusion

    Bibliography

    Index

    About the Author

    Biography

    Berch Berberoglu is Professor of Sociology and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Sociology at the University of Nevada, Reno. His most recent books include Beyond the Global Capitalist Crisis: The World Economy in Transition (2012); Political Sociology in a Global Era (2013); and The Global Capitalist Crisis and Its Aftermath (2014).