Decentering Social Theory

Social theory and research has long faced the limitations of its conventional Eurocentric focus. The essays in this volume offer new thoughts and empirical studies for transcending those limitations.

Social decentering theory was developed in response to the confusion created by the use of the term empathy and to a lesser extent, perspective-taking, to reflect a wide and varied set of human cognitive processes and behaviors. Theory of Social Decentering: A Theory of Other-Orientation Encompassing Empathy and Perspective-Taking, presents an innovative approach to the social cognitive process by which humans take into consideration the thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and dispositions of other people. The multidimensional theory and measure of social decentering represents a unifying theory that identifies and incorporates key elements imbedded in other-oriented terms. The first chapters present the theory and development of a measure of social decentering in a complete and detailed manner examining the important role that social decentering plays in human communication. The remaining chapters of the book examine the role that social decentering, empathy, and perspective-taking play in the development and management of interpersonal relationships, in marital relationships, in teams and group interactions, and in the workplace. The final chapter examines the negative consequences to individuals, decisions, and relationships potentially created by engaging in social decentering. The appendices include copies of the measure of social decentering and the measure of relationship-specific social decentering. The book is of interest for graduates in communication studies, psychology, and sociology, and valuable for communication and social psychology scholars interested in empathy or perspective taking.

This collection investigates the concept of modernity in music and its multiple interpretations in Europe and East Asia. Through contributions by both European and East Asian musicologists it discusses how a decentered understanding of musical modernity could be matched on multiple historiographical perspectives while being attentive to the specificities of local music and their narratives in East Asia and Europe. The essays connect local, global and transnational history with sociological theories of modernity and modernization, making the volume an important contribution to overcoming the Eurocentric dichotomy between western music and world music within the field of historical musicology.

Sociology is experiencing what can only be described as hyperdifferentiation of theories - there are now many approaches competing for attention in the intellectual arena . From this perspective, we should see a weeding out of theories to a small number, but this is not likely to occur because each of the many theoretical perspectives has a resource base of adherents. As a result, theories in sociology do not compete head on with each other as much as they coexist. This seminal reference work was brought together with an eye to capturing the diversity of theoretical activity in sociology - specifically the forefront of theory. Contributors describe what they themselves are doing right now rather than what others have done in the past. The goal of this volume is to allow prominent theorists working in a variety of traditions - who wouldn't usually come together - to review their work. The chapters in this volume represent a mix of theoretical orientations and strategies, but these these theories are diverse and represent the prominent theoretical discussions in sociology today. Some areas included are: Section I: Theoretical Methodologies and Strategies Section II: The Cultural Turn in Sociological Theorizing Section III: Theorizing Interaction Processes Section IV: Theorizing from the Systemic and Macrolevel Section V: New Directions in Evolutionary Theorizing Section VI: Theorizing on Power, Conflict, and Change SectionVII: Theorizing from Assumptions of Rationality This handbook will be of interest to those wanting a broad spectrum and overview of late 20th - early 21st century sociological theory.

This book explores the meaning of leisure in the context of key social formations of our time. Chris Rojek brings together the insights of feminsim, Marxism, Weber, Elias, Simmel, Nietzsche and Baudrillard to produce a survey - and rethinking - of leisure theory. At the same time he presents a radical critique of the traditional 'centring' of leisure, on 'escape', 'freedom' and 'choice'. Revealing how leisure practices have responded to living in a risk society, he shows that 'free' time becomes something very different when simulation and nostalgia lie at the heart of everyday life.

The essays in this volume bring to their focuses on philosophical issues the new angles of vision created by the multicultural, global, and postcolonial feminisms that have been developing around us. These multicultural, global, and postcolonial feminist concerns transform mainstream notions of experience, human rights, the origins of philosophic issues, philosophic uses of metaphors of the family, white antiracism, human progress, scientific progress, modernity, the unity of scientific method, the desirability of universal knowledge claims, and other ideas central to philosophy.

'Postcolonial Thought and Social Theory' maps the convergences and differences between these two seemingly opposed bodies of thought. It explores the different waves of postcolonial thought, elaborates the postcolonial critique of social theory, and charts different strategies for crafting a postcolonial social science.

This volume provides a diverse, eclectic, and paradoxically mature approach to theorizing and demonstrates how the development of theory is crucial to the future of family research.".