Theoretical Thinking in Sociology

Theoretical Thinking in Sociology PDF Author: William Skidmore
Publisher: CUP Archive
ISBN: 9780521226639
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Sociological theory has typically been studied in three types of courses: history of sociological thought, modern sociological perspectives, and philosophy of science. Theoretical Thinking in Sociology is a book that combines all three of these approaches and covers four main themes in sociological theory - exchange theory, functionalism, symbolic interaction and ethnomethodology. Although each theory takes a different approach to the task of explaining social order, all are presented with an emphasis on theoretical thinking. In addition to outlining these theories, the author describes in detail the theoretical problems faced by leading sociological theorists and their solutions to them, and presents theory as a creative intellectual development. The book reviews significant problems from the history of theory in sociology, and discusses research literature and the relationship of this research to its theoretical field. Each chapter of this 1979 second edition ends with a summary, topics for discussion, essay questions, and suggestions for further reading.

Theoretical Thinking in Sociology

Theoretical Thinking in Sociology PDF Author: William Skidmore
Publisher: CUP Archive
ISBN: 9780521226639
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 292

Get Book Here

Book Description
Sociological theory has typically been studied in three types of courses: history of sociological thought, modern sociological perspectives, and philosophy of science. Theoretical Thinking in Sociology is a book that combines all three of these approaches and covers four main themes in sociological theory - exchange theory, functionalism, symbolic interaction and ethnomethodology. Although each theory takes a different approach to the task of explaining social order, all are presented with an emphasis on theoretical thinking. In addition to outlining these theories, the author describes in detail the theoretical problems faced by leading sociological theorists and their solutions to them, and presents theory as a creative intellectual development. The book reviews significant problems from the history of theory in sociology, and discusses research literature and the relationship of this research to its theoretical field. Each chapter of this 1979 second edition ends with a summary, topics for discussion, essay questions, and suggestions for further reading.

Modern Reconstruction of Classical Thought: Talcott Parsons

Modern Reconstruction of Classical Thought: Talcott Parsons PDF Author: Jeffrey Alexander
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317808614
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 559

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Book Description
In this volume the author maintains that sociology must learn to combine the insights of both Durkheim and Marx and that it can only do so on the presuppositional ground that Weber set forth. Alexander maintains that the idealist and materialist traditions must be transformed into analytic dimensions of multidimensional and synthetic theory. This volume focusses on the writing of Talcott Parsons, the only modern thinker who can be considered a true peer of the classical founders, and examines his own profoundly ambivalent attempt to carry out this analytic transformation.

Southern Theory

Southern Theory PDF Author: RAEWYN. CONNELL
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9780367719418
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Southern Theory presents the case for a radical re-thinking of social science and its relationships to knowledge, power and democracy on a world scale. Mainstream social science pictures the world as understood by the educated and affluent in Europe and North America. From Weber and Keynes to Friedman and Foucault, theorists from the global North dominate the imagination of social scientists, and the reading lists of students, all over the world. For most of modern history, the majority world has served social science only as a data mine. Yet the global South does produce knowledge and understanding of society. Through vivid accounts of critics and theorists, Raewyn Connell shows how social theory from the world periphery has power and relevance for understanding our changing world from al-Afghani at the dawn of modern social science, to Raul Prebisch in industrialising Latin America, Ali Shariati in revolutionary Iran, Paulin Hountondji in post-colonial Benin, Veena Das and Ashis Nandy in contemporary India, and many others. With clarity and verve, Southern Theory introduces readers to texts, ideas and debates that have emerged from Australia's Indigenous people, from Africa, Latin America, south and south-west Asia. It deals with modernisation, gender, race, class, cultural domination, neoliberalism, violence, trade, religion, identity, land, and the structure of knowledge itself. Southern Theory shows how this tremendous resource has been disregarded by mainstream social science. It explores the challenges of doing theory in the periphery, and considers the role Southern perspectives should have in a globally connected system of knowledge. Southern Theory draws on sociology, anthropology, history, psychology, economics, philosophy and cultural studies, with wide-ranging implications for social science in the 21st century.

Theoretical Logic in Sociology: The modern reconstruction of classical thought: Talcott Parsons

Theoretical Logic in Sociology: The modern reconstruction of classical thought: Talcott Parsons PDF Author: Jeffrey C. Alexander
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Sociology
Languages : en
Pages : 568

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Book Description


Outline of a Theory of Practice

Outline of a Theory of Practice PDF Author: Pierre Bourdieu
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521291644
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Through Pierre Bourdieu's work in Kabylia (Algeria), he develops a theory on symbolic power.

Individualism, Holism and the Central Dilemma of Sociological Theory

Individualism, Holism and the Central Dilemma of Sociological Theory PDF Author: Jiří Šubrt
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
ISBN: 1787690377
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description
This book examines individualism and holism, the two interpretive perspectives that have divided sociological theory into two camps, examines attempts to overcome this antinomy and sets out a new approach to resolving this dilemma via ‘critical reconfigurationism’.

Understanding the Sociology of Health

Understanding the Sociology of Health PDF Author: Anne-Marie Barry
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1473995116
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
Understanding the Sociology of Health continues to offer an easy to read introduction to sociological theories essential to understanding the current health climate. Up-to-date with key policy and research, and including case studies and exercises to critically engage the reader, this book shows how sociology can answer complex questions about health and illness, such as why health inequalities exist. To better help with your studies this book contains: · a global perspective with international examples; · a new chapter on health technologies; · online access to videos of the author discussing key topics as well as recommended further readings; · a glossary, chapter summaries and reflective questions to help you engage with the subject. Though aimed primarily at students on health and social care courses and professions allied to medicine, this textbook provides valuable insights for anyone interested in the social aspects of health.

Theory for the Working Sociologist

Theory for the Working Sociologist PDF Author: Fabio Rojas
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231543697
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
Theory for the Working Sociologist makes social theory easy to understand by revealing sociology's hidden playbook. Fabio Rojas argues that sociologists use four different theoretical "moves" when they try to explain the social world: how groups defend their status, how people strategically pursue their goals, how values and institutions support each other, and how people create their social reality. Rojas uses famous sociological studies to illustrate these four types of theory and show how students and researchers may apply them to their interests. The guiding light of the book is the concept of the "social mechanism," which clearly and succinctly links causes and effects in social life. Drawing on dozens of empirical studies that define modern sociology and focusing on the nuts and bolts of social explanation, Rojas reveals how areas of study within the field of sociology that at first glance seem dissimilar are, in fact, linked by shared theoretical underpinnings. In doing so, he elucidates classical and contemporary theory, and connects both to essential sociological findings made throughout the history of the field. Aimed at undergraduate students, graduate students, journalists, and interested general readers who want a more formal way to understand social life, Theory for the Working Sociologist presents the underlying themes of sociological thought using contemporary research and plain language.

Purpose, Meaning, and Action

Purpose, Meaning, and Action PDF Author: K. McClelland
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137108096
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Control Systems Theory, a newly developing theoretical perspective, starts from an important insight into human behaviour: that people attempt to control the world around them as they perceive it. This book brings together for the first time the work of prominent sociologists contributing to the development of this wideranging theoretical paradigm.

Handbook of Classical Sociological Theory

Handbook of Classical Sociological Theory PDF Author: Seth Abrutyn
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030782050
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 714

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Book Description
This is the first handbook focussing on classical social theory. It offers extensive discussions of debates, arguments, and discussions in classical theory and how they have informed contemporary sociological theory. The book pushes against the conventional classical theory pedagogy, which often focused on single theorists and their contributions, and looks at isolating themes capturing the essence of the interest of classical theorists that seem to have relevance to modern research questions and theoretical traditions. This book presents new approaches to thinking about theory in relationship to sociological methods.