Sociological Theory in the Contemporary Era: Text and Readings / Edition 3

by Scott Appelrouth

Overview

Sociological Theory in the Contemporary Era, Third Edition is a text/reader that introduces students to the ideas and writings of key twentieth and twenty-first century theorists. Authors Scott Appelrouth and Laura Desfor Edles combine original texts, edited for classroom use, with extensive framing discussions that provide crucial biographical, historical, and theoretical context for readings. The book also provides an over-arching scaffolding that students can use to examine, compare, and contrast each theorist’s major themes and concepts. This unique format, combined with frequent use of photos, tables, and diagrams, makes Sociological Theory in the Contemporary Era a lively, engaging, and “student-friendly” introduction to the world of contemporary theory.

Contributor to the SAGE Teaching Innovations & Professional Development Award

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452203607
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	09/28/2015
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	680
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Scott Appelrouth (Ph D, New York University, 2000) is Professor of Sociology at California State University, Northridge. His interests include sociological theory, cultural sociology, and social movements. He has taught classical and contemporary theory at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, and has published several articles in research- and teaching-oriented journals on social movements, theory, and the controversies over jazz during the 1920s and rap during the 1980s. His current research focuses on political discourse in American party platforms.

Laura Desfor Edles (Ph D, University of California, Los Angeles, 1990) is Professor of Sociology at California State University, Northridge. She is the author of Symbol and Ritual in the New Spain: The Transition to Democracy after Franco (1998) and Cultural Sociology in Practice (2002), as well as various articles on culture, theory, race/ethnicity, and social movements.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction
What Is Sociological Theory?
Why Read Original Works?
Who Are Sociology's Core Theorists?
Who are Sociology's Core Contemporary Theorists?
How Can We Navigate Sociological Theory?
Discussion Questions
Chapter 2: Structural Functionalism
Talcott C. Parsons (1902-1979): A Biographical Sketch
Parson's Intellecutal Influences and Core Ideas
Parson's Theoretical Orientation
Readings
Categories of the Orientation and Organization of Action (1951)
Sex Roles in the American Kinship System (1943)
Robert K. Merton (1910-2003): A Biographical Sketch
Merton's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Merton's Theoretical Orientation
Readings
Manifest and Latent Functions (1949)
Social Structure and Anomie (1967)
Discussion Questions
Chapter 3: Critical Theory
Mark Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, and Herbert Marcuse: Biographical Sketches
Horkheimer's, Adorno's, and Marcuse's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Horkheimer's, Adorno'a, and Marcuse's Theoretical Orientations
Readings
Eclipse of Reason (1947)
The Culture Industry Reconsidered (1975)
One-Dimensional Man (1964)
Jurgen Habermas (1929- ): A Biographical Sketch
Habermas's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Habermas's Theoretical Orientation
Readings
Civil Society, Public Opinion, and Communicative Power (1996)
The Tasks of a Critical Theory of Society (1987)
Patricia Hill Collins (1948- ): A Biographical Sketch
Collins's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Collins's Theoretical Orientation
Reading
Black Feminist Thought (1990)
Discussion Questions
Chaper 4: Exchange and Rational Choice Theories
George C. Homans (1910-1989): A Biographical Sketch
Homan's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Homan's Theoretical Orientation
Reading
Social Behavior as Exchange (1958)
Peter M. Blau (1918-2002): A Biographical Sketch
Blau's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Blau's Theoretical Orientation
Reading
Exchange and Power in Social Life (1964)
James S. Coleman (1926-1995): A Biographical Sketch
Coleman's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Coleman's Theoretical Orientation
Reading
Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital (1988)
Discussion Questions
Chapter 5: Symbolic Interactionism and Dramaturgy
Herbert Blumer (1900-1987): A Biographical Sketch
Blumer's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Blumer's Theoretical Orientation
Reading
The Methodological Position of Symbolic Interactionism (1969)
Erving Goffman (1922-1982): A Biographical Sketch
Goffman's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Goffman's Theoretical Orientation
Readings
The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life (1959)
Asylums (1961)
Arlie Russell Hochschild (1940- ): A Biographical Sketch
Hochschild's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Hochschild's Theoretical Orientation
Readings
Working on Feeling (2003)
The Managed Heart (1983)
Discussion Questions
Chapter 6: Phenomenology and Ethnomethodology
Alfred Schutz (1899-1959): A Biographical Sketch
Schutz's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Schutz's Theoreitcal Orientation
Reading
The Phenomenology of the Social World (1967)
Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann: Biographical Sketches
Berger and Luckmann's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Berger and Luckmann's Theoretial Orientation
Reading
The Social Construction of Reality (1966)
Harold Garfinkle (1917- ): A Biographical Sketch
Garfinkle's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Garfinkle's Theoretical Orientation
Reading
Studies in Ethnomethodology (1967)
Dorothy E. Smith (1926- ): A Biographical Sketch
Smith's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Smith's Theoretical Orientation
Readings
Institutional Ethnography (2005)
The Everyday World as Problematic (1987)
Discussion Questions
Chapter 7: Poststructuralism
Defining Poststructuralism
Michel Foucault (1926-1984): A Biographical Sketch
Foucault's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Foucault's Theoretical Orientation
Reading
Social Space and the Genesis of Groups (1982)
Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002): A Biographical Sketch
Bourdieu's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Bourdieu's Theoretical Orientation
Readings
Discipline and Punish (1975)
Outline of a Sociological Theory of Art Perception (1968)
Edward Said (1935-2003): A Biographical Sketch
Said's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Said's Theoretical Orientation
Reading
Orientalism (1978)
Discussion Questions
Chapter 8: Postmodernism
Defining Postmodernism
Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007): A Biographical Sketch
Baudrillard's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Baudrillard's Theoretical Orientation
Reading
Simulacra and Simulations (1981)
Jean-Francois Lyotard (1924-1998): A Biographical Sketch
Lyotard's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Lyotard's Theoretical Orientation
Reading
The Postmodern Condition (1979)
Judith Butler (1956- ): A Biographical Sketch
Butler's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Butler's Theoretical Orientation
Reading
Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire (1990)
Discussion Questions
Chapter 9: The Global Society
Defining Globalization
Immanuel Wallerstein (1930- ): A Biographical Sketch
Wallerstein's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Wallerstein's Theoretical Orientation
Reading
The Modern World-System as a Capitalist World-Economy: Production, Surplus Value, and Polarization (2004)
Leslie Sklair (1940- ): A Biographical Sketch
Sklair's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Sklair's Theoretical Orientation
Reading
Globalization: Capitalism and Its Alternatives (2002)
George Ritzer (1940- ): A Biographical Sketch
Ritzer's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Ritzer's Theoretical Orientation
Reading
Rethinking Globalization: Glocalization/Grobalization and Something/Nothing (2003)
Anthony Giddens (1938- ): A Biographical Sketch
Gidden's Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Gidden's Theoretical Orientation
Reading
The Consequences of Modernity (1990)
Discussion Questions