Ideology and Social Order (RLE Social Theory)

Ideology and Social Order (RLE Social Theory) PDF Author: Eric Carlton
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317651715
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 344

Get Book Here

Book Description
Truly interdisciplinary work between Sociology and History is are, because one discipline usually exploits the concerns or data of the other. Eric Carlton, however, has succeeded in bringing together the distinctive orientations of sociology and ancient history into a clearly written discussion of concerns crucial to both disciplines. Based on a comparative analysis or two pre-industrial civilisations, those of Ancient Egypt and Classical Athens, the study is primarily concerned with three issues. The first is the relationship between belief and action: does belief (intellectualised as ideology) affect or determine social behaviour? Second, the author examines the ways in which belief contributes to stability and ‘good order’ in society, and asks to what extent such factors as social status and social change are related to institutionalised mechanisms of social control. Finally, he indicates possible sociological frameworks or models which are ideological rather than stratificatory, whereby complex pre-industrial systems might be analysed. By analysing the societies of Ancient Egypt and Classical Athens in institutional terms, Eric Carlton examines the potency and pervasiveness of the ideological factor and shows that it is a persistent and determinative feature of this type of society.

Ideology and Social Order (RLE Social Theory)

Ideology and Social Order (RLE Social Theory) PDF Author: Eric Carlton
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317651715
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 344

Get Book Here

Book Description
Truly interdisciplinary work between Sociology and History is are, because one discipline usually exploits the concerns or data of the other. Eric Carlton, however, has succeeded in bringing together the distinctive orientations of sociology and ancient history into a clearly written discussion of concerns crucial to both disciplines. Based on a comparative analysis or two pre-industrial civilisations, those of Ancient Egypt and Classical Athens, the study is primarily concerned with three issues. The first is the relationship between belief and action: does belief (intellectualised as ideology) affect or determine social behaviour? Second, the author examines the ways in which belief contributes to stability and ‘good order’ in society, and asks to what extent such factors as social status and social change are related to institutionalised mechanisms of social control. Finally, he indicates possible sociological frameworks or models which are ideological rather than stratificatory, whereby complex pre-industrial systems might be analysed. By analysing the societies of Ancient Egypt and Classical Athens in institutional terms, Eric Carlton examines the potency and pervasiveness of the ideological factor and shows that it is a persistent and determinative feature of this type of society.

Dominant Ideologies (RLE Social Theory)

Dominant Ideologies (RLE Social Theory) PDF Author: Bryan S. Turner
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 131765241X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 279

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this volume leading international scholars elaborate upon the central issues of the analysis of ideology: the nature of dominant ideologies. The ways in which ideologies are transmitted; their effects on dominant and subordinate social classes in different societies; the contrast between individualistic and collectivist belief systems; and the diversity of cultural forms that coexist within the capitalist form of economic organization. This book is distinctive in its empirical and comparative approach to the study of the economic and cultural basis of social order, and in the wide range of societies that it covers. Japan, Germany and the USA constitute the core of the modern global economy, and have widely differing historical roots and cultural traditions. Argentina and Australia are white settler societies on the periphery of the capitalist world-system and as a result have certain common features, that are cut across in turn by social and political developments peculiar to each. Britain after a decade of Thatcherism is an interesting test of the efficacy of an ideological project designed to change the cultural values of a population. Poland shows the limitations of the imposition of a state socialist ideology, and the cultural complexities that result.

Social Theory and Political Practice (RLE Social Theory)

Social Theory and Political Practice (RLE Social Theory) PDF Author: Brian Fay
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317652290
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 124

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book examines the question of how our knowledge of social life affects, and ought to affect, our way of living it. In so doing, it critically discusses two epistemological models of social science – the positivist and the interpretive – from the viewpoint of the political theories which, it is argued, are implicit in these models; moreover, it proposes a third model – the critical – which is organised around an explicit account of the relation between social theory and practical life. The book has the special merit of being a good overview of the principal current ideas about the relation between social theory and political practice, as well as an attempt at providing a new and more satisfactory account of this relationship. To accomplish this task, it synthesises work from the analytic philosophy of social science with that of the neo-Marxism of the Frankfurt school.

Knowledge and Social Structure (RLE Social Theory)

Knowledge and Social Structure (RLE Social Theory) PDF Author: Peter Hamilton
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317634985
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 172

Get Book Here

Book Description
The primary concern of this study is to present, elucidate and analyse the developments which have characterized the sociology of knowledge, and which have set for it the outlines of its major problematics. Peter Hamilton examines the most distinctive approaches to the determinate relationship between knowledge and social structure. He considers the three main ‘pre-paradigms’ of the sociology of knowledge based on the work of Marx, Durkheim and Weber, and looks at the contribution of Scheler, Mannheim and phenomenological studies to this complex field. He explores the intellectual context, particularly that of Enlightenment philosophy, in which the problems involved in producing a sociology of knowledge first came to light. In conclusion, the author suggests an inclusive perspective for approaching the difficulties posed in any attempt to describe and explain relations between knowledge and social structure.

Ideological Representation and Power in Social Relations (RLE Social Theory)

Ideological Representation and Power in Social Relations (RLE Social Theory) PDF Author: Mike Gane
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 131765174X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 254

Get Book Here

Book Description
This collection reflects the French influence on literary and representational theory which has been predominant in recent years. It contains stimulating essays on the fiction of Perault, Borges, James, Eco and Tournier. These are complemented by theoretical essays on power and representation which provide powerful critiques of Barthes, Derrida, Deleuze and Marin, writers central to the contemporary debate. Finally, two perceptive essays reflect upon and attempt to redirect current theory, drawing on and confronting the writings of Michel Foucault.

Marx's Theory of Ideology (RLE Marxism)

Marx's Theory of Ideology (RLE Marxism) PDF Author: Bhikhu Parekh
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317499123
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 230

Get Book Here

Book Description
Although Marx’s concept of ideology has been a subject of considerable discussion, much of the debate has proved to be rather disappointing. There has been no systematic attempt to examine why Marx needed the concept of ideology, why it was an important concept for him and how it related to his views on truth and objectivity. This book, first published in 1982, considers these and other neglected questions. It explains why Marx continued to use the term ideology throughout his life to mean both idealism and apologia and traces the complex ways in which, according to Marx, such talented writers as Hegel became apologists. In conclusion the book outlines the lessons Marx learnt from his investigations into the nature and mechanism of ideology and discusses his theories of objectivity and truth.

Baudrillard (RLE Social Theory)

Baudrillard (RLE Social Theory) PDF Author: Mike Gane
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317652479
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 254

Get Book Here

Book Description
Baudrillard is widely recognised as a powerful new force in cultural and social criticism, and is often referred to as the ‘High Priest of Postmodernism’. This study presents a detached assessment of his social thought and his reputation, challenging the way his work has been received in postmodernism and proposing a new reading of his contribution to social theory. Using many sources currently available only in French, Mike Gane provides the keys to understanding Baudrillard’s project and reveals the extent and scope of Baudrillard’s challenge to modern social theory and cultural criticism. He looks at the sources of Baudrillard’s ideas, analysing how Baudrillard has turned these sources against themselves. He describes Baudrillard’s dramatic encounter with critical Marxist theory and psychoanalysis, showing how Baudrillard’s post-Marxist writings define, through the exploration of fatal theory, a new episode in cultural history: a period of cultural implosion. This balanced account of Baudrillard’s social theory emphasises the originality of his work and argues that his significance can only be understood by grasping the paradoxes of his project – Baudrillard’s work is poetic, yet, at the same time, critical and fatal.

Talcott Parsons on Economy and Society (RLE Social Theory)

Talcott Parsons on Economy and Society (RLE Social Theory) PDF Author: Bryan S. Turner
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317652266
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 286

Get Book Here

Book Description
'In this remarkable collection of essays, Holton and Turner demonstrate that Parsonian sociology addresses the most central problems of our time – issues of sickness and health, power and inequality, the nature of capitalism and its possible alternatives. They develop a mature and original perspective on Parsons as the only classical theorist who avoided crippling nostalgia. Holton and Turner not only talk about Parsonian sociology in a profound and insightful way, they do it, and do it well. As sociology moves away from the rigid dichotomies of earlier debate, this book will help point the way.' – Jeffrey Alexander, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Sociology, UCLA

The Scope of Understanding in Sociology (RLE Social Theory)

The Scope of Understanding in Sociology (RLE Social Theory) PDF Author: Werner Pelz
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317648439
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

Get Book Here

Book Description
In their efforts to emulate the methodology which had proved so successful in the natural sciences, the social sciences – including sociology – have not yet faced the question as to what constitutes understanding in their area with sufficient seriousness. This book asks again: what does understanding denote in an area where man tries to understand man, where self-understanding is involved, where new understanding immediately becomes part of that which is to be understood? What can we know and what is the use and limitation of knowledge in sociology? When are we conscious that we know and understand? Werner Pelz argues for a thorough reorientation in our approach to sociological thinking, and suggests that scientistic preconceptions have often precluded possibly fruitful approaches to humane understanding. He investigates the relations between various kinds of knowing, and examines the new possibilities of understanding made available, for example, by psychoanalytical and phenomenological insights, as well as by those of poets, artists, mystics. He shows that in the social and humanistic sciences, creative or constitutive contributions illuminate rather than demonstrate, and that, for this reason, sociology has not yet found an appropriate method for conveying them without serious distortions.

The International Yearbook of Organization Studies 1981 (RLE: Organizations)

The International Yearbook of Organization Studies 1981 (RLE: Organizations) PDF Author: David Dunkerley
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135936862
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 311

Get Book Here

Book Description
The diverse topics in this volume bring together developments in the field of organization studies. Although the approaches are by no means undifferentiated the articles share a commitment to a revitalized organizational analysis, an historically based analysis and one which attempts to understand the structure and impact of organizations in terms of the location of these organizations within structure of class and power.