by
Dahms, Harry F.
Call Number
300.1 23
Publication Date
2011
Summary
Since the time when Talcott Parsons pursued the project of one overarching 'general theory of society', the landscape of social theory has vastly changed, and the pluralism and multidimensionality increased tremendously. Today, with so many different approaches in and to social theory, and multiple ways of defining and describing their relationship to and relevance for the social sciences, there has been a growing danger of diversity and pluralism tipping into fragmentation, making the prospect of social scientists and sociologists being able to communicate with the expectation of reaching some kind of understanding, ever less likely. This volume presents alternative trajectories for how to take steps toward achieving a theoretically informed understanding of the present analytical and practical challenges (in terms of social, sociological, and critical theory), and looks beyond pluralism and fragmentation to the kind of roles social theorists may be playing in the future. These essays revisit the issue of common agenda (or lack thereof) in social theory and provide critical overviews by specialists working in social theory, sociological theory, and critical theory.
Format:
Electronic Resources
Relevance:
191019.5781
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by
Dahms, Harry F., editor.
Call Number
301 23
Publication Date
2013
Summary
In different ways, social theory and social history represent discourses that implicitly or explicitly highlight the need to apply perspectives on modern social realities that are conducive to discerning and scrutinizing the centrality of large-scale processes that have been influencing and shaping the relationships between individuals, social groups and forms of organization, and society as a whole. Social theories with history stress form at the expense of substance (and social, political or cultural relevance); histories without social theory tend to amount to little more than the enumeration of isolated facts, at the expense of cohesive narratives that may be socially compelling and meaningful. Representing a range of approaches and emphases, the chapters in this volume address and illustrate linkages between social theory and history; social theory and historical analysis as mutually supportive frames of analysis, and affinities between the history of social thought and the history of modern societies. Both classical and more recent theorists feature prominently, especially Durkheim and Weber, but also such central figures in the field as Bourdieu and Luhmann.
Format:
Electronic Resources
Relevance:
165427.8281
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