Barry Smart offers a coherent and readable discussion of the central aspects of social, cultural, economic, technological and political processes which are transforming everyday life. Specific issues examined include the effect of information technology on social life, transformations in the capitalist mode of production, conceptions of possible alternative post-industrial' social futures, and the impact of modern media and communications on forms of human sensibility. Smart explores the theoretical responses to these developments from social thinkers like Talcott Parsons, Daniel Bell, Alvin...

Without doubt Michel Foucault was one of the towering intellectual presences of the twentieth century. His work on the organization of knowledge, sexuality, power, discipline, medicine, madness, identity and politics has left an indelible mark on our understanding of these matters.
In recognition of Foucault's achievement Routledge has commissioned two three volumed Critical Assessments as the benchmark guides to his thought. The first set, Michel Foucault 1 discusses the work of Michel Foucault on questions of method and politics, and the second set, Michel Foucault 11 will examine...

First published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Focuses on the analysis of the relations of power and knowledge and modes of objectification through which human beings are made subjects; and addresses controversial issues concerning the state and resistance to power.

This book is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the roots, current debates and future development of social theory. It draws together a team of international scholars, and presents an authoritative and panoramic critical survey of the field. The first section, examines the classical tradition. Included here are critical discussions of Comte, Spencer, Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Simmel, Mead, Freud, Mannheim and classical feminist thought, demonstrating not only the critical significance of classical writings, but also their continuing relevance. The second section moves on to...

Why are sport stars central to celebrity culture? What are the implications of their fame?

Proceeding from a broadly based discussion of heroism, fame and celebrity, Smart addresses a number of prominent modern sports and sport stars, including Michael Jordan (basketball), David Beckham (football), Tiger Woods (golf), Anna Kournikova and the Williams sisters (tennis).

He analyses the development of modern sport in the UK and USA, demonstrating the key economic and cultural factors that have contributed to the popularity of sport stars, while examining issues such as race and gender, the...

Why are sport stars central to celebrity culture? What are the implications of their fame?

Proceeding from a broadly based discussion of heroism, fame and celebrity, Smart addresses a number of prominent modern sports and sport stars, including Michael Jordan (basketball), David Beckham (football), Tiger Woods (golf), Anna Kournikova and the Williams sisters (tennis).

He analyses the development of modern sport in the UK and USA, demonstrating the key economic and cultural factors that have contributed to the popularity of sport stars, while examining issues such as race and gender, the...

George Ritzer's McDonaldization thesis argued that contemporary life is succumbing to the standardization, flexibility and practicability of fast-food service. This book brings together specially commissioned papers by leading social and cultural analysts to engage in a critical appraisal of the thesis.

The contributors discuss the roots of the thesis, the rationalization of late modern life, the effects of increasing cultural commodification, the continuing prominence of American cultural and economic imperialism and the impact of globalization on social and cultural life. The strengths...

A wide-ranging, detailed and critical analysis of Western consumerism and its globalization, from one of the most respected names in the field today.

In this work, originally released in 1983, Barry Smart examines the relevance of Foucault's work for developing an understanding of those issues which lie beyond the limits of Marxist theory and analysis - issues such as 'individualising' forms of power, power-knowledge relations, the rise of 'the social', and the associated socialisation of politics. He argues that there exist clear and substantial differences between Foucault's genealogical analysis and that of Marxist theory. Smart thus presents Foucault's work as a new form of critical theory, whose object is a critical analysis of...