An Introduction To Classical And Contemporary Social Theory

This book provides a critical analysis of classical and contemporary social theory from a class perspective. It is concise, lucid, and well written.

The authors are proud sponsors of the 2020 SAGE Keith Roberts Teaching Innovations Award—enabling graduate students and early career faculty to attend the annual ASA pre-conference teaching and learning workshop. Now available for the first time in print and e-book formats Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory: Text and Readings offers students with the best of both worlds—carefully-edited excerpts from the original works of sociology′s key thinkers accompanied by an analytical framework that discusses the lives, ideas, and historical circumstances of each theorist. This unique format enables students to examine, compare, and contrast each theorist’s major themes and concepts. In the Fourth Edition of this bestseller, examples from contemporary life and a rich variety of updated pedagogical tools (tables, figures, discussion questions, and photographs) come together to illuminate complex ideas for today’s readers. Included with this title: The password-protected Instructor Resource Site (formally known as SAGE Edge) offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides.

This book provides a critical analysis of classical and contemporary social theory from a class perspective. It is concise, lucid, and well written.

This book is arguably the definitive undergraduate textbook on contemporary social theory. Written by one of the world’s most acclaimed social theorists, Anthony Elliott provides a dazzlingly accessible and comprehensive introduction to modern social theory from the Frankfurt School to globalization theories and beyond. In distilling the essentials of social theory, Elliott reviews the works of major theorists including Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, Michel Foucault, Jacques Lacan, Jacques Derrida, Anthony Giddens, Pierre Bourdieu, Julia Kristeva, Jurgen Habermas, Judith Butler, Slavoj Zizek, Manuel Castells, Ulrich Beck, Zygmunt Bauman, Giorgio Agamben and Manuel De Landa. Every social theorist discussed is contextualized in a wider political and historical context, and from which their major contributions to social theory are critically assessed. This book is essential reading for students and professionals in the fields of social theory, sociology and cultural studies, as it is both an original enquiry and a consummate introduction to social theory.

A unique hybrid of text and readings, this book combines the major writings of sociology′s core classical and contemporary theorists with an historical as well as theoretical framework for understanding them. Laura Desfor Edles and Scott A Appelrouth provide not just a biographical and theoretical summary of each theorist/reading, but an overarching scaffolding which students can use to examine, compare and contrast each theorists′ major themes and concepts. No other theory text combines such student-friendly explanation and analysis with original theoretical works. Key features include: * Pedagogical devices and visual aids - charts, figures and photographs - to help summarize key concepts, illuminate complex ideas and provoke student interest * Chapters on well-known figures, such as Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Parsons and Foucault as well as an in-depth discussion of lesser known voices, such as Charlotte Perkins-Gilman, WEB Du Bois, and Leslie Sklair * Photos of not only the theorists, but of the historical milieu from which the theories arose as well as a glossary at the back

The authors are proud sponsors of the 2020 SAGE Keith Roberts Teaching Innovations Award—enabling graduate students and early career faculty to attend the annual ASA pre-conference teaching and learning workshop. Now with SAGE Publishing, Contemporary Sociological Theory and Its Classical Roots: The Basics, is a brief survey of sociology′s major theorists and theoretical approaches, from the Classical founders to the present. With updated scholarship in the new Fifth Edition, authors George Ritzer and Jeffrey Stepnisky connect many theorists and schools of thought together under broad headings that offer students a synthesized view of sociological theory. This text is perfect for those who want an accessible overview of the entire tradition of sociological thinking, with an emphasis on the contemporary relevance of theory.

This third edition of Social Theory Re-Wired is a significantly revised edition of this leading text and its unique web learning interactive programs that "allow us to go farther into theory and to build student skills than ever before," according to many teachers. Vital political and social updates are reflected both in the text and the online supplements. "System updates" to each section offer an expanded set of contemporary theory readings that focus on the impacts of information/digital technologies on each of the text’s five big themes: 1) the Puzzles of Social Order, 2) the Social Consequences of Capitalism, 3) the Darkside of Modernity, 4) Subordinated/Alternative Knowledges, and 5) Self-Identity and Society. New to this edition: The "big ideas/questions" thematic structure of the text as well as the connections between classical and contemporary theorists continues to be popular with instructors. This feature is enhanced in the new edition An expanded "Podcast Companions" series now pairs at least one podcast to every reading in the book Many new updates to the exercise platform allow students to theorize and build theory on their own New readings excerpts include such important recent work as: Shoshana Zuboff’s "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism," Ruha Benjamin’s "Race After Technology," David Graeber’s "Of Flying Cars and the Declining Rate of Profit," Sherry Turkle’s “Always-On/Always-on-You.”

Classical and Contemporary Social Theory: Investigation and Application, 1/e, is the most comprehensive, informative social theory book on the market. The title covers multiple schools of thought and applies their ideas to society today. Readers will learn the origins of social theory and understand the role of myriad social revolutions that shaped the course of societies around the world.