Origins of Sociological Theory Arris Dorsey & Readale Collier
- ISBN: 9781788823791
- Edition: 1st
- ©Year: 2020
- List Price : 140
About the Book
The field of sociology itself-and sociological theory by extension-is relatively new. Both date back to the 18th and 19th centuries. The drastic social changes of that period, such as industrialization, urbanization, and the rise of democratic states caused particularly Western thinkers to become aware of society. The oldest sociological theories deal with broad historical processes relating to these changes. Since then, sociological theories have come to encompass most aspects of society, including communities, organizations and relationships. The basic insight of sociology is that human behaviour is largely shaped by the groups to which people belong and by the social interaction that takes place within those groups. The main focus of sociology is the group, not the individual. This compendium offers selections that present special propositions, specific concepts, or examples of substantive theorizing rather than discussions of integrated systems. The present attempt is made to describe the different aspects of sociological theory generally being explained by the social scientistsand it is hoped that it will be of great use for all those concerned with sociology.
Contents: 1. Sociology: An Introduction, 2. Positivism, Antipositivism and Postpositivism,
3. Critical Theory, 4. Structural Functionalism, 5. Conflict Theories, 6. Social Constructionism,
7. Symbolic Interactionism, 8. Structure and Agency, 9. Actor-network Theory,
10. Contemporary Theories, 11. Social Movements.
Arris Dorsey is associate Professor of Sociology and History. She is the author or coauthor of twenty-seven books and eleven edited books. Her works include Contemporary Sociological Theory, Theoretical Sociology and The Emergence of Sociological Theory. She has been a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and won a Teaching Excellence award by the National Sociological Association, Dorsey's comprehensive collection of classical sociological theory is a definitive guide to the roots of sociology from its undisciplined beginnings to its current influence on contemporary sociological debate. She has served as Chair of the Sociological Association's Sections on Theoretical Sociology and organizations and Occupations. Arris Dorsey will publish the Modern Sociological Theory, and the Classical SociologicalTheory.The lattertexts,aswellasthisone, have been translated intoa number of languages.
Readale Collier is Assistant Professor of Sociology. He was awarded an honorary doctorate. He has served as Chair of the Sociological Association's Sections on Theoretical Sociology and organizations and Occupations. He has been Scholar-in-Residence at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study and the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences. Readale Collier's main theoretical interests lie in meta-theory as well as applied social theory. In meta-theory, his contributions include "Meta-theorizing in Sociology, Sociology: A Multiple Paradigm Science, etc. He edited the Encyclopedia of Social Theory, and is the founding editor of the Journal of Consumer Culture. The latter texts, as well as this one, have been translated into a number of languages.