This book offers a comprehensive overview of the major theoretical perspectives in contemporary sociology, covering schools of thought or intellectual movements within the discipline, as well as the work of individual scholars. The author provides not only a rigorous exposition of each theory, but also an examination of the scholarly reception of the approach in question, considering both critical responses and defences in order to reach a balanced evaluation. Chapters cover the following theorists and perspectives: Alexander Bourdieu Ethnomethodology Exchange Theory Foucault ...

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the major theoretical perspectives in contemporary sociology, covering schools of thought or intellectual movements within the discipline, as well as the work of individual scholars. The author provides not only a rigorous exposition of each theory, but also an examination of the scholarly reception of the approach in question, considering both critical responses and defences in order to reach a balanced evaluation. Chapters cover the following theorists and perspectives: c Alexander c Bourdieu c Ethnomethodology c Exchange Theory c Foucault c...

Moral economy, as a set of rules which regulate market transactions, has been the object of much research and debate since the 1980s; it has also been the focus of classical sociological authors such as Weber, Simmel and Toennies. Weber in particular examined the rules of the moral economy in the financial markets, and this volume sheds light on his contribution to the subject. The book formulates two models of business relations - one oligopolistic model, the other based on free competition - which are derived from Weber and Simmel's writings and which represent alternative instances of the...