This book examines the question of how our knowledge of social life affects, and ought to affect, our way of living it. In so doing, it critically discusses two epistemological models of social science the positivist and the interpretive from the viewpoint of the political theories which, it is argued, are implicit in these models; moreover, it proposes a third model the critical which is organised around an explicit account of the relation between social theory and practical life. The book has the special merit of being a good overview of the principal current ideas about the relation...
This book examines the question of how our knowledge of social life affects, and ought to affect, our way of living it. In so doing, it critically ...
This set makes available a wealth of important reference sources from the diverse field of social theory. Most, if not all, of the authors are acknowledged experts in their fields, and hail from all over the world; many of their works were groundbreaking books on their first publication.
This set makes available a wealth of important reference sources from the diverse field of social theory. Most, if not all, of the authors are acknowl...
After a period in which sociology was torn apart by the polarized claims of micro- and macro-methodology, an increasing number of sociologists are now attempting a fusion of the two approaches. In this volume, some of the most distinguished sociologists set out possible resolutions of the debate. Each of the chapters, placed in perspective by the editors' prologue, approaches the problem from a unique angle. Aaron Cicourel argues for a macro-basis of social interaction; Randall Collins shows how the macro consists of an aggregate of micro-episodes; Troy Duster presents a methodological...
After a period in which sociology was torn apart by the polarized claims of micro- and macro-methodology, an increasing number of sociologists are ...
A striking feature of the human condition is its dual, contradictory, inherently split character; on the one hand, autonomy and freedom; on the other, constraint and dependence on social structure. This volume addresses this central problem of the linkage between human action and social structure in sociological and social science theory. Contributions cover several different approaches to the agency-structure problematic, and represent the work of a number of leading international sociologists. Their efforts point to a reorientation of social theory, both on philosophical and...
A striking feature of the human condition is its dual, contradictory, inherently split character; on the one hand, autonomy and freedom; on the oth...
Animals and Society uses a variety of historical sources and a coherent social theory to tell the story of the invention of animal rights. It moves from incidents like the medieval execution of pigs to a discussion of the politics and strategies of modern rights organisations. The book also presents radical interpretations of nineteenth-century animal welfare laws, and the accounts of the Noble Savage. The insights generated by social science are always at the core of the discussion and the author daws on the work of Michel Foucault, Norbert Elias, Claude Levi-Strauss and Mary...
Animals and Society uses a variety of historical sources and a coherent social theory to tell the story of the invention of animal rights....
Is modernity being replaced by an opposite culture of postmodernity, or is postmodernism simply an internal critique of modernist culture? This key question is central to this stimulating book which explores the transformations taking place in social life, cultural preferences, economic organization and political attitudes, particularly in the context of the contemporary city as a lived or written experience. This book contains accounts of the development of modern ways of life and their erosion in the 20th century. The author argues that a whole set of modern institutions, from the...
Is modernity being replaced by an opposite culture of postmodernity, or is postmodernism simply an internal critique of modernist culture? This key qu...
