A Beginner's Guide to Social Theory

by Shaun Best

• ISBN13: 9780761965336
• ISBN10: 0761965335
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-02-24
• Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd

Summary

'This book is accessible, as a beginner's guide should be, but without an over-simplification of the arguments. It should prove an immensely durable text for generations of students to come' - John Hughes, Lancaster University At last, a book that makes social theory for undergraduates a pleasure to teach and study. The book offers a comprehensive overview of social theory from classical sociology to the present day. Students are guided through the work of Durkheim, Marx and Weber, functionalism, action perspectives, feminism, postmodernism and contemporary thinkers like Anthony Giddens, Michel Foucault, J[um]urgen Habermas, Frederic Jameson, Judith Butler, Gilles Deluze, Manuel Castells, Luce Irigary, Naomi Woolf and Camille Paglia. The book presents clear accounts of these contributions and employs an extensive range of activities that encourage the reader to evaluate the work of given theorists and approaches. The book is: - Comprehensive - Student-friendly - Accurate - Unpatronising It offers lecturers and students an ideal study resource for undergraduate modules in social theory.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Theoretical Self

Functionalist Perspectives

Theorizing Systems and Structures

Marxism

Theorizing Capitalism - Debates and Developments

The Action Perspectives

Theorizing Social Action and Self

Feminist Approaches

Theorizing Patriarchy and Oppression

Anthony Giddens

Theorizing Agency and Structure

Postmodernism

Theorizing Fragmentation and Uncertainty