Explaining Social Life: A Guide to Using Social Theory

ISBN-13: 9781137007643 / Angielski / Miękka / 2014 / 336 str.

VI John Parker; Hilary Stanworth

Opis

This distinctive text makes social theory accessible to and usable by students. Whereas social theory is often seen as abstract, esoteric and separate from our understanding of the social world, here it is shown to be a flexible and practical resource for anyone wanting to explain social phenomena.

This expanded and updated second edition actively encourages readers to develop and practice their own capacities for social explanation:

- providing readers with a powerful 'tool kit' of five social theoretical concepts - Individuals, Nature, Culture, Action and Social Structure - that are fundamental to social explanation;
- drawing on a historically and geographically wide range of examples of social phenomena to show how these theoretical concepts operate and why they're important;
- offering end of chapter questions that enable readers to put theory into practice and begin theorising for themselves.

Explaining Social Life is ideal for anyone interested in social theory, including students of sociology, anthropology and related social sciences - both those engaging with social theory for the first time, and more advanced students looking to build upon their understanding.

Spis treści

Introduction: Social theory as a tool kit for social explanation PART I: THE CONCEPT OF THE INDIVIDUAL 1.What Do Individuals Explain? 2.Testing the Explanatory Value of Individuals PART II: THE CONCEPT OF NATURE 3. What Does Nature Explain? 4. Testing the Explanatory Value of Nature PART III: THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE 5. What Does Culture Explain? 6.Testing the Explanatory Value of Culture PART IV: THE CONCEPT OF ACTION 7. What Does Action Explain? 8. Testing the Explanatory Value of Action PART V: THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE 9. What Does Social Structure Explain? 10. Testing the Explanatory Value of Social Structure PART VI: CONCLUSION 11. Get Real: A Perspective on Social Science 12. Being Practical: The Uses and Payoffs of Social Explanation Coda: the quest for explanation.

O autorze

John Parker and Hilary Stanworth are Honorary Research Associates and former Lecturers in Sociology at Swansea University, UK. Both have spent many years teaching Sociology to university students at different levels and pursuing multi-disciplinary research.