Classical Sociological Theory / Edition 1

by Bert N. Adams, R. A. Sydie

Overview

A concise, yet surprisingly comprehensive theory text, given the range of ideas, historical context, and theorists discussed. Unlike other books of the type, Classical Sociological Theory focuses on how the pivotal theories contributed not only to the development of the field, but also to the evolution of ideas concerning social life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761987802
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	01/29/2002
Series:	Sociology for a New Century Series
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.38(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Bert N. Adams (Ph.D., University of North Carolina) is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He is a former President and currently a Fellow of the National Council on Family Relations. He has taught sociological theory extensively, both in East Africa and at the University of Wisconsin, and also teaches and writes on the sociology of the family. He is the author of several books, including the introductory textbook THE FAMILY: A SOCIOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION, 5^TH EDITION (Harcourt Brace 1995) and SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY (Pine Forge Press 2001). With David M. Klein, he served as co-editor of the Understanding Families Series with Sage, which produced 20 books between 1995 and 2002. He is well connected with family sociologists throughout the world.

R. A. Sydie has been professor of sociology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton for the past 30 years and is the current chair of the department of sociology. Her research interests include sociological theory, art and culture, and gender studies. Professor Sydie is the author of Natural Women, Cultured Men. Her latest research project involves a historical examination of sociological work on love and eroticism.

Table of Contents

Preface
A Note to Students
SECTION I. THE EUROPEAN ROOTS OF SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY
1. The Origins of Sociological Theory
The Contours of Sociological Theory
The Philosophical Precursors of Sociology
Final Thoughts on the Philosophical Precursors
References
2. Theorizing After the Revolution
Claude-Henri, Comte de Saint-Simon (1760-1825)
Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)
Final Thoughts
References
SECTION II. CONSERVATIVE THEORIES
3. Evolutionism and Functionalism
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
William Graham Sumner (1840-1910)
Final Thoughts
References
4. Society as Sui Generis
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Final Thoughts
References
SECTION III. RADICAL THEORY
5. Radical Anticapitalism
Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895)
Final Thoughts
References
6. Marxism Extended
V.I. Lenin (1870-1924)
Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919)
Final Thoughts
References
SECTION IV. SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF COMPLEXITY AND FORM
7. Social Action and Social Complexity
Max Weber (1864-1920) and Marianne Weber (1870-1954)
Final Thoughts
References
8. The Sociology of Form and Content
Georg Simmel (1858-1918)
Final Thoughts
References
SECTION V. SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF POLITICS AND ECONOMICS
9. Political Sociological Theories
Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923)
Robert Michels (1876-1936)
Final Thoughts
References
10. Economic Sociological Theories
Thorstein Veblen, (1857-1929)
Joseph Schumpeter, (1883-1950)
Final Thoughts
References
SECTION VI. OTHER VOICES IN SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIZING
11. Society and Gender
Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935)
Beatrice Potter Webb (1858-1943)
Final Thoughts
References
12. Sociological Theory and Race
W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963)
Final Thoughts
References
13. Society, Self, and Mind
Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929)
George Herbert Mead (1863-1931)
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
Final Thoughts
References
14. Final Thoughts on Classical Sociological Theory
Nineteenth-Century Sociological Theory
Early Twentieth-Century Sociological Theory
Other Theoretical Issues
Sociological Theory by the 1930s
References
Credits
Index

Editorial Reviews

"This is an eminently lucid, readable, and comprehensive survey of classical sociological theory. Adams and Sydie provide thoughtful summaries and assessments of the works of dozens of social thinkers….By significantly broadening the cannon and devoting special attention to call, gender, and race, they bring theory up to date even as they take seriously the rich legacy of the past. I have never read a more exciting introduction to the theories of our discipline."

Mustafa Emirbayer