Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory

Text and Readings

• The overarching theoretical framework has been expanded to further help students understand, compare, and contrast the readings.
• Additional discussion of the Enlightenment thinkers, such as Locke, Rousseau, Hume, Kant, Hobbes, Wollstonecraft, demonstrates how these thinkers shaped the core theoretical questions that guide sociological inquiry to this day.
• A new primary source reading from theorist Ulrich Beck enables students to analyze climate change from a sociological perspective.
• A new reading from Talcott Parsons gives students a better understanding of social action theory and structural functionalism.
• Updated examples, statistics and visuals tie theory to current events, thus connecting the material to students' lives.
• Streamlined primary readings such as Weber's "Bureaucracy" keep students focused on central ideas.
• An expanded glossary isolates key concepts.
• Now available for the first time in print and e-book formats.

KEY FEATURES:

• The book’s acclaimed text/reader format provides students with the best of both worlds, original readings accompanied by interpretive and analytical guidance necessary to interpret them.
• A theoretical framework presented in chapter one gives students a visual means to understand the theorists and perspectives that follow.
• Theoretical Orientation Diagrams and Core Concepts Diagrams show students how to fit the theorist under study into the broader universe of social theory.
• “Significant Others” boxes highlight writers and thinkers who influenced, and were influenced by, the major theorists featured in each chapter.
• Each chapter includes photos of theorists and of their historical milieu, along with applications to the contemporary scene.