Theory Of Action Routledge Revivals

Modern sociology owes its existence and the progress it has made to the integration of differing kinds of orientations. In this work, first published 1987, Professor Richard Münch sets out to reformulate the theory of action, a notion central to sociology and one to which all schools of thought within sociology have contributed. He gives an exposition of the voluntaristic theory of action as found in Talcott Parson's work, reconstructing and extending Parson's theory from the perspective of the present-day level of development. In this way he both integrates opposing orientations to action theory and presents the voluntaristic theory of action in a readable and teachable from.

Today, rapid change is a constant challenge in the workplace, and thousands of individuals need to be involved in continuous learning. Traditional training approaches, however, do not emphasise informal and incidental learning. Furthermore, since informal learning us seldom designed, learning outside of a structured experience may lead to mistaken or dysfunctional learning. Strategies for improving informal learning are urgently needed. This book, first published in 1990, responds to this need by taking a challenging look at many assumptions about workplace learning outside of the classroom and by proposing methods to improve it. They develop a theory of informal and incidental workplace learning based on current developments in training and human resource development which they illustrate with readable and illuminating case studies which tell vivid stories of adult education and human resource development practice. Informal and Incidental Learning in the Workplace is essential reading for researchers and practitioners of human resource development, and also for students of education and adult learning.

Essays on Freedom of Action, first published in 1973, brings together original papers by contemporary British and American philosophers on questions which have long concerned philosophers and others: the question of whether persons are wholly a part of the natural world and their actions the necessary effects of causal processes, and the question of whether our actions are free, and such that we can be held responsible for them, even if they are the necessary effects of casual processes. This volume will be of interest not only to those who are primarily concerned with philosophy but also to students in those many other disciplines in which freedom and determinism arise as problems.

First published in 1973, this book is concerned with the question of whether Sociology is, or ought to be, a theoretical science. Keith Dixon argues that the pretence to the theoretical is a hindrance to the development of the field of Sociology, which devalues significant empirical work by giving status to research findings only in so far as they relate to often arbitrary theoretical concerns. Dixon addresses the historical dimension in the explanation of human nature and rational action. This reissue will be of particular value to students and academics with an interest in the empirical and theoretical methodology applied to Sociological research.

This book, first published in 1976, discusses four classical paradigms for sociology – the positivism of Saint-Simon and Comte, Durkheim, Marx and Weber – and four contemporary developments or revisions of them – the sociologie active of Dumazedier and his colleagues in France, sociology in Socialist Poland, the work of Dahrendorf and the ‘new sociology’ of Mills and his successors. Christopher Bryant suggests that no neutral language exists in which to compare the characteristics of these different paradigms, yet highlights those features which are common to all of them. Unique in its approach and analysis of the relationship between sociology and action, this book is of value and interest to students of sociology and theory and professional sociologists.

First published in 1983, this book attempts to unify two bodies of theory which had become severely disjointed. Theories of the planning process had become detached from those of the urban and regional processes which are the subject of planning intervention. The author argues that major weaknesses of planning intervention in cities and regions have resulted from this split, and shows how it is possible to develop an integrated theory of the relationship between planning and spatial development. The mechanism which helps to unify the two fields is the division of labour. This poses problems for the planning system as its spatial requirements change but it depends upon the state planning framework in order to overcome those obstacles — hindering its capacity for spatial reorganisation. This book offers a thorough analysis of these obstacles and requirements by references to contemporaneous theoretical advances in the study of the development process, the state (especially at sub-national level), and the labour market. It is argued that the way capital makes use of urban and regional space can be explained by using the theoretical framework which is developed and, on this basis, point to certain innovative ways in which the processes underlying urban and regional de-industrialisation may be countered.

This book, written by a philosopher interested in the problems of social science and scientific method, and a sociologist interested in the philosophy of science, presents a novel conception of how we should think about and carry out the scientific study of social life. This book combines an evaluation of different conceptions of the nature of science with an examination of important sociological theorists and frameworks. This second edition of the work was originally published in 1982.

First published in 1971, Social Choice is both a text and reference containing the proceedings of a conference dealing with contemporary work on the normative and descriptive aspects of the social choice problem. This reissue will be of interest to advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on group decision making and social choice. Economists, social psychologists, political scientists and sociologists will welcome this valuable work.