Sociological Theory

Bert N. Adams (Ph.D., University of North Carolina) is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He is a former President and currently a Fellow of the National Council on Family Relations. He has taught sociological theory extensively, both in East Africa and at the University of Wisconsin, and also teaches and writes on the sociology of the family. He is the author of several books, including the introductory textbook THE FAMILY: A SOCIOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION, 5TH EDITION (Harcourt Brace 1995) and SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY (Pine Forge Press 2001). With David M. Klein, he served as co-editor of the Understanding Families Series with Sage, which produced 20 books between 1995 and 2002. He is well connected with family sociologists throughout the world. R. A. Sydie has been professor of sociology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton for the past 30 years and is the current chair of the department of sociology. Her research interests include sociological theory, art and culture, and gender studies. Professor Sydie is the author of Natural Women, Cultured Men. Her latest research project involves a historical examination of sociological work on love and eroticism.

Introduction PART ONE: THE EUROPEAN ROOTS OF SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY The Origins of Sociological Theory Theorizing after the French Revolution - Saint-Simon, Comte and Martineau PART TWO: CONSERVATIVE THEORIES Evolutionism and Functionalism - Spencer and Sumner Social Realism and Functionalism Extended - Durkheim PART THREE: RADICAL THEORY Radical Anti-Capitalism - Marx and Engels Marxism Extended - Lenin and Luxemburg PART FOUR: SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF COMPLEXITY AND FORM Social Action and Societal Complexity - Max Weber and Marianne Weber The Sociology of Form and Content - Simmel PART FIVE: SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF POLITICS AND ECONOMICS Political Sociological Theories - Pareto and Michels Economic Sociological Theories - Veblen and Schumpeter PART SIX: OTHER VOICES IN SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIZING Society and Gender - Gilman and Webb Sociological Theory and Race - Du Bois Society, Self and Mind - Cooley, Mead and Freud PART SEVEN: TWENTIETH-CENTURY FUNCTIONALISM AND BEYOND Twentieth-Century Functionalism - Parsons and Merton Systems, Structuration and Modernity - Luhmann and Giddens PART EIGHT: CRITICISM, MARXISM AND CHANGE Critical Theory The Frankfurt School and Habermas Marxism since 1930 Socio-Cultural Change Evolution, World Systems and Revolution PART NINE: TRANSITIONS AND CHALLENGES Mid-Twentieth-Century Sociology Symbolic Interactionism - Blumer, Goffman and Hochschild Rational Choice and Exchange - Coleman Feminist Sociological Theory - Smith and Collins Knowledge, Truth and Power Foucault's Discourse and the Feminist Response Final Thoughts on Sociological Theorizing

"I like the idea of a more inclusive sociological theory text. It's good to see the work of women and people of color integrated into this book....As we move beyond telling the story of a fairly homogeneous academic elite, we also begin to make social theory and theorizing more accessible to our increasingly diverse students." -- Robert E. L. Roberts Put simply, although the theory instructor has the paramount responsibility of acquainting her students with major perspectives/concepts, the academic figures responsible for constructing them and the intellectual and social conditions under which they theorized, she needs a good deal of help. Adams and Sydie's Sociological Theory is one of those books that provide such prop-a good one for that. -- Alem Kebede * Teaching Sociology *