Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory: Text and Readings

by Scott Appelrouth, Laura D. Edles

Overview

Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory: Text and Readings provides you with the best of both worlds—carefully-edited excerpts from the original works of sociology's key theorists accompanied by an analytical framework that discusses the lives, ideas, and historical circumstances of each theorist. This unique format enables you to examine, compare, and contrast each theorist’s major themes and concepts. In the Fourth Edition of this bestseller, examples from contemporary life and a rich variety of updated pedagogical tools (tables, figures, photographs, discussion questions,) illuminate complex ideas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506387994
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	09/15/2020
Edition description:	Fourth Edition
Pages:	920
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Scott Appelrouth (Ph D, New York University, 2000) is Professor of Sociology at California State University, Northridge. His interests include sociological theory, cultural sociology, and social movements. He has taught classical and contemporary theory at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, and has published several articles in research- and teaching-oriented journals on social movements, theory, and the controversies over jazz during the 1920s and rap during the 1980s. His current research focuses on political discourse in American party platforms.

Laura Desfor Edles (Ph D, University of California, Los Angeles, 1990) is Professor of Sociology at California State University, Northridge. She is the author of Symbol and Ritual in the New Spain: The Transition to Democracy after Franco (1998) and Cultural Sociology in Practice (2002), as well as various articles on culture, theory, race/ethnicity, and social movements.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables
Preface
About the Authors
Chapter 1. Introduction
Key Concepts
What Is Sociological Theory?
Why Read Original Works?
Navigating Sociological Theory: The Questions of “Order” and “Action”
The European Enlightenment
The Ins and Outs of the Sociological Theory “Canon”
Discussion Questions
PART I. FOUNDATIONS OF CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY
Chapter 2. Karl Marx (1818–1883)
Key Concepts
A Biographical Sketch
Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Marx’s Theoretical Orientation
Discussion Questions
Chapter 3. Émile Durkheim (1858–1917)
Key Concepts
A Biographical Sketch
Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Durkheim’s Theoretical Orientation
Discussion Questions
Chapter 4. Max Weber (1864–1920)
Key Concepts
A Biographical Sketch
Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Weber’s Theoretical Orientation
Discussion Questions
PART II. CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY: EXPANDING THE FOUNDATION
Chapter 5. Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935)
Key Concepts
A Biographical Sketch
Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Gilman’s Theoretical Orientation
Discussion Questions
Chapter 6. Georg Simmel (1858–1918)
Key Concepts
A Biographical Sketch
Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Simmel’s Theoretical Orientation
Discussion Questions
Chapter 7. W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963)
Key Concepts
A Biographical Sketch
Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Du Bois’s Theoretical Orientation
Discussion Questions
Chapter 8. George Herbert Mead (1863–1931)
Key Concepts
A Biographical Sketch
Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Mead’s Theoretical Orientation
Discussion Questions
PART III. TWENTIETH-CENTURY SOCIOLOGICAL TRADITIONS
Chapter 9. Structural Functionalism
Key Concepts
Talcott C. Parsons (1902–1979): A Biographical Sketch
Parsons’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Parsons’s Theoretical Orientation
Robert K. Merton (1910–2003): A Biographical Sketch
Merton’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Merton’s Theoretical Orientation
Discussion Questions
Chapter 10. Critical Theory
Key Concepts
Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse: Biographical Sketches
Adorno’s and Marcuse’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Adorno’s and Marcuse’s Theoretical Orientations
Jürgen Habermas (1929– ): A Biographical Sketch
Habermas’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Habermas’s Theoretical Orientation
Patricia Hill Collins (1948– ): A Biographical Sketch
Collins’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Collins’s Theoretical Orientation
Discussion Questions
Chapter 11. Exchange and Rational Choice Theories
Key Concepts
George C. Homans (1910–1989): A Biographical Sketch
Homans’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Homans’s Theoretical Orientation
Peter M. Blau (1918–2002): A Biographical Sketch
Blau’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Blau’s Theoretical Orientation
James S. Coleman (1926–1995): A Biographical Sketch
Coleman’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Coleman’s Theoretical Orientation
Discussion Questions
Chapter 12. Symbolic Interactionism and Dramaturgy
Key Concepts
Symbolic Interactionism: An Overview
Erving Goffman (1922–1982): A Biographical Sketch
Goffman’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Goffman’s Theoretical Orientation
Arlie Russell Hochschild (1940– ): A Biographical Sketch
Hochschild’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Hochschild’s Theoretical Orientation
Discussion Questions
Chapter 13. Phenomenology
Key Concepts
Alfred Schutz (1899–1959): A Biographical Sketch
Schutz’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Schutz’s Theoretical Orientation
Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann: Biographical Sketches
Berger and Luckmann’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Berger and Luckmann’s Theoretical Orientation
Ethnomethodology: An Overview
Dorothy E. Smith (1926– ): A Biographical Sketch
Smith’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Smith’s Theoretical Orientation
Discussion Questions
Chapter 14. Poststructuralism
Key Concepts
Defining Poststructuralism
Michel Foucault (1926–1984): A Biographical Sketch
Foucault’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Foucault’s Theoretical Orientation
Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002): A Biographical Sketch
Bourdieu’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Bourdieu’s Theoretical Orientation
Edward Said (1935–2003): A Biographical Sketch
Said’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Said’s Theoretical Orientation
Discussion Questions
Chapter 15. Postmodernism
Key Concepts
Defining Postmodernism
Jean Baudrillard (1929–2007): A Biographical Sketch
Baudrillard’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Baudrillard’s Theoretical Orientation
Judith Butler (1956– ): A Biographical Sketch
Butler’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Butler’s Theoretical Orientation
Discussion Questions
Chapter 16. The Global Society
Key Concepts
Defining Globalization
Immanuel Wallerstein (1930–2019): A Biographical Sketch
Wallerstein’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Wallerstein’s Theoretical Orientation
Anthony Giddens (1938– ): A Biographical Sketch
Giddens’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Giddens’s Theoretical Orientation
Ulrich Beck (1944–2015): A Biographical Sketch
Beck’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Beck’s Theoretical Orientation
George Ritzer (1940– ): A Biographical Sketch
Ritzer’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Ritzer’s Theoretical Orientation
Discussion Questions
Glossary and Terminology
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

…the readers will be quite appealing to both students and instructors – much better than what is currently available.”

Julie Harms Cannon

I am thrilled by the hybrid approach. I think the authors’ approach is right on – they are right: we do need a reader which has solid primary source material but is embedded in historical and theoretical discussion and explication. I think the text/reader combination is highly attractive – especially for professors teaching at big public institutions I think this approach will be happily received and widely appreciated.”

Phil Zuckerman

The format of this text is exceptional, and on that the discipline sorely needs.  The authors present thorough biographical and historical backgrounds relevant to each theorist and her/his theories. I believe this is essential to learning and understanding theory…the authors use examples that will aid students in shaping their ability to see theory in their lives.”

Chris Ponticelli

I am very impressed by the coverage in this reader.  I think the selections are excellent for both the classical and contemporary time periods.”

James P. Marshall