Changing Theories

by Garner, Roberta

• ISBN13: 9780802096821
• ISBN10: 0802096824
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-04-01
• Publisher: Univ of Toronto Pr Higher education

Summary

"Influenced by Thomas Kuhn's work on paradigm shifts in the social sciences, this overview of contemporary theory identifies major themes, charts the impact of social change on theories, acquaints readers with a sample of individual theorists (the ""transitional giants"" who shaped contemporary theories), explores the impact of contemporary theories on various areas of sociology, and traces how the great social theories of the past are being reinterpreted and incorporated into new theories. The result is an original interpretation of the important role that theory plays both in the real world and in the shaping of an academic discipline.Black Hawk Hancock is Assistant Professor of Sociology at DePaul University in Chicago. He is currently working on a book on the cultural and racial politics of the social world of dance.Roberta Garner is Professor of Sociology at DePaul University in Chicago. She is co-editor of The New Chicago: A Social and Cultural Analysis (Temple University Press, 2006), and author of Contemporary Movements and Ideologies (McGraw-Hill, 1996) and Social Theory: Continuity and Confrontation, A Reader (University of Toronto Press, 2007). "

Author Biography

Black Hawk Hancock is Assistant Professor of Sociology at DePaul University in Chicago. He is currently working on a book on the cultural and racial politics of the social world of dance. Roberta Garner is Professor of Sociology at DePaul University in Chicago. She is co-editor of The New Chicago: A Social and Cultural Analysis (Temple University Press, 2006), and author of Contemporary Movements and Ideologies (McGraw-Hill, 1996) and Social Theory: Continuity and Confrontation, A Reader (University of Toronto Press, 2007)

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Introduction: What is Theory, and Why does it Change?	p. 1
Periods of Social Theory	p. 4
The Organization of the Book	p. 7
Changes
1968-2009: What Happened?	p. 19
Why 1968?	p. 19
A New Global Order: Globalization, Neoliberalism and Market Expansion, and Hyper-Industrialization	p. 21
Issues without Borders: Population Growth, Urbanization, Health and Environmental Problems, and Regional Conflicts	p. 30
The Emerging Distribution of Economic Inequality	p. 35
Cultural Consequences: Postmodern Culture and Ironic Hopelessness	p. 41
How and Why Did All These Changes Happen?	p. 43
Conclusion	p. 47
Changes in Theory	p. 51
Introduction: Making Theories	p. 51
How and Why Have Sociological Theories Changed in the Past Forty Years?	p. 54
Toward Contemporary Theories	p. 65
Conclusion	p. 95
Transitional Giants
Introduction	p. 99
Erving Goffman (1922-1982)	p. 103
Major Works, Ideas, and Concepts	p. 103
Total Institutions and Labels	p. 110
Interaction Order and Behavior	p. 117
Frames of Reference and Discourse	p. 120
The Politics and Feeling-Tone of Goffman's Work	p. 123
Rupture and Continuity: Goffman as a Transitional Giant and Postmodernist	p. 125
Michel Foucault (1926-1984)	p. 129
Major Works, Ideas, and Concepts	p. 130
Foucault and the Traditions of Social Theory	p. 147
Foucault's Impact and Method	p. 151
Foucault's Politics	p. 155
Conclusion: Foucault and the Transition to Contemporary Theory	p. 156
Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002)	p. 159
The Craft of Sociology	p. 159
Habitus, Body, Practice	p. 165
Symbolic Power, Symbolic Violence, and Misrecognition	p. 169
Fields, Spaces, and Capitals	p. 171
Taste, Distinction, and Naturalized Categories	p. 180
Public Intellectuals and Politics	p. 182
The Critique of Neoliberalism	p. 183
Conclusion: A Note on Foucault and Bourdieu	p. 187
Stuart Hall (1932-)	p. 189
Hegemony	p. 190
Ideology	p. 191
Articulation	p. 192
Overdetermination	p. 193
False Consciousness	p. 194
The Function of Common Sense	p. 194
Interpellation and Ideological Subjects	p. 195
Hegemony, Ideology, and Societies Structured in Dominance	p. 196
Race: The Floating Signifier	p. 197
Media: The Politics of Representation	p. 199
Critical Politics of Contesting Images	p. 201
Culture as the Arena of Struggle	p. 201
Identity	p. 203
The Move to Ethnicity	p. 205
Thinking about Multiculturalism	p. 206
Intellectual Labor and Politics of Resistance	p. 207
Conclusion	p. 207
Conclusion	p. 209
The Uneven Impact of Contemporary Theory on Sociology	p. 209
Legacies, Reinterpretations, and New Paradigms	p. 215
Beyond Legacies: What's New?	p. 219
What Will Happen Next?	p. 220
References and Suggestions for Further Reading	p. 221
Note to Readers	p. 221
General Theoretical References (with José Soltero)	p. 221
References and Reading Suggestions for the Transitional Giants	p. 233
Erving Goffman	p. 234
Michel Foucault	p. 235
Pierre Bourdieu	p. 237
Stuart Hall	p. 239
Two Specialized Areas: References and Reading Suggestions	p. 242
Theoretical Development in the Sociology of Families (prepared by Tait Runnfeldt Medina and Julie Artis)	p. 242
Sociology of Health (prepared by Grace Budrys)	p. 245
Index	p. 249
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