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Contemporary Sociological Theory and Its Classical Roots
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Contemporary Sociological Theory and Its Classical Roots
The Basics

Sixth Edition


May 2022 | 488 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Contemporary Sociological Theory and Its Classical Roots: The Basics, is a brief survey of sociology's major theorists and theoretical approaches, from the Classical founders to the present. The content is adapted from Ritzer/Stepnisky, Sociological Theory, and the authors connect many theorists together into chapters with broad headings (Contemporary Integrative Theories, Contemporary Theories of Everyday Life, etc.) that offer students a big-picture, synthesized view of sociological theory. Because of its size, price, and flexible organization, the text can be used in a variety of undergraduate sociological theory classes: Classical, Contemporary, or Combined.

 
CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Sociological Theory
Creating Sociological Theory

 
Defining Sociological Theory

 
Creating Sociological Theory: A More Realistic View

 
Overview of the Book

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
CHAPTER 2 Classical Theories I
Émile Durkheim: From Mechanical to Organic Solidarity

 
Karl Marx: From Capitalism to Communism

 
Max Weber: The Rationalization of Society

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
CHAPTER 3 Classical Theories II
Georg Simmel: The Growing Tragedy of Culture

 
Thorstein Veblen: Increasing Control of Business Over Industry

 
George Herbert Mead: Social Behaviorism

 
W. E. B. Du Bois: Race and Racism in Modern Society

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
CHAPTER 4 Contemporary Grand Theories I
Structural Functionalism

 
Conflict Theory

 
General Systems Theory

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
CHAPTER 5 Contemporary Grand Theories II
Neo-Marxian Theory

 
The Civilizing Process

 
The Colonization of the Lifeworld

 
The Juggernaut of Modernity

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
CHAPTER 6 Contemporary Theories of Everyday Life
Symbolic Interactionism

 
Dramaturgy

 
Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis

 
Exchange Theory

 
Rational Choice Theory

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
CHAPTER 7 Contemporary Integrative Theories
A More Integrated Exchange Theory

 
Structuration Theory

 
Culture and Agency

 
Habitus and Field

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
CHAPTER 8 Contemporary Feminist Theories
The Basic Theoretical Questions

 
The Classical Roots

 
Contemporary Feminist Theories

 
Challenges to Feminism

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
CHAPTER 9 Theories of Race and Colonialism
Fanon and the Colonial Subject

 
Postcolonial Theory

 
Critical Theories of Race and Racism

 
Racial Formation

 
A Systematic Theory of Race

 
Southern Theory and Indigenous Resurgence

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
CHAPTER 10 Postmodern Grand Theories
The Transition From Industrial to Postindustrial Society

 
Increasing Governmentality (and Other Grand Theories)

 
Postmodernity as Modernity’s Coming of Age

 
The Rise of Consumer Society, Loss of Symbolic Exchange, and Increase in Simulations

 
The Consumer Society and the New Means of Consumption

 
Queer Theory: Sex and Sexuality

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
CHAPTER 11 Globalization Theory
Major Contemporary Theorists on Globalization

 
Cultural Theory

 
Economic Theory

 
Political Theory

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
CHAPTER 12 Science, technology, and nature
Affect Theory and the New Materialism

 
Science Studies and Actor-Network Theory

 
Theories of the Anthropocene

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
Glossary

 
Source Acknowledgments

 

Supplements

Instructor Resource Site

Online resources included with this text 
 
The online resources for your text are available via the password-protected Instructor Resource Site, which offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides. 
 
For additional information, custom options, or to request a personalized walkthrough of these resources, please contact your sales representative. 

 

Key features
KEY FEATURES:
  • Co-author George Ritzer is a distinguished theorist in his own right and an accomplished scholar of sociological theory, known for his clear, authoritative writing on this subject.
  • The chronological organization allows for easy use of supplementary readers to enhance classroom discussion or to broaden students' understanding of theories and concepts.
  • The chapter on Contemporary Feminist Theories has been revised by two feminist scholars, Patricia Lengermann and Gillian Niebrugge.
  • “Key Concept” boxes summarize over 30 ideas that are widely used and debated in the field, from “Social Facts” to “Civil Society.”
  • “Contemporary Application” boxes examine the relevance of many classical theories to social life in today’s global society.
  • Short biographies of key theorists help readers to see their ideas in the context of personal and historical circumstances.

A new chapter (Ch. 12) examines the relationship between science, technology, and nature, and discusses one of the newest areas of sociological theory--theories of the Anthropocene.

The chapter on Feminist Theory has been extensively revised, with new sections on hegemonic masculinity, postcolonial theory, and neoliberalism, and a new biography of Raewyn Connell.

New "Contemporary Application" topics include The #MeToo Movement, anticolonialim and the destruction of statues, "fake" news, and the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 and society.

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