Classical 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.

Preface A Note to Students SECTION I. THE EUROPEAN ROOTS OF SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY 1. The Origins of Sociological Theory The Contours of Sociological Theory The Philosophical Precursors of Sociology Final Thoughts on the Philosophical Precursors References 2. Theorizing After the Revolution Claude-Henri, Comte de Saint-Simon (1760-1825) Auguste Comte (1798-1857) Harriet Martineau (1802-1876) Final Thoughts References SECTION II. CONSERVATIVE THEORIES 3. Evolutionism and Functionalism Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) Final Thoughts References 4. Society as Sui Generis Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) Final Thoughts References SECTION III. RADICAL THEORY 5. Radical Anticapitalism Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) Final Thoughts References 6. Marxism Extended V.I. Lenin (1870-1924) Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919) Final Thoughts References SECTION IV. SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF COMPLEXITY AND FORM 7. Social Action and Social Complexity Max Weber (1864-1920) and Marianne Weber (1870-1954) Final Thoughts References 8. The Sociology of Form and Content Georg Simmel (1858-1918) Final Thoughts References SECTION V. SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF POLITICS AND ECONOMICS 9. Political Sociological Theories Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) Robert Michels (1876-1936) Final Thoughts References 10. Economic Sociological Theories Thorstein Veblen, (1857-1929) Joseph Schumpeter, (1883-1950) Final Thoughts References SECTION VI. OTHER VOICES IN SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIZING 11. Society and Gender Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) Beatrice Potter Webb (1858-1943) Final Thoughts References 12. Sociological Theory and Race W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) Final Thoughts References 13. Society, Self, and Mind Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929) George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Final Thoughts References 14. Final Thoughts on Classical Sociological Theory Nineteenth-Century Sociological Theory Early Twentieth-Century Sociological Theory Other Theoretical Issues Sociological Theory by the 1930s References Credits Index

"This is an eminently lucid, readable, and comprehensive survey of classical sociological theory. Adams and Sydie provide thoughtful summaries and assessments of the works of dozens of social thinkers....By significantly broadening the cannon and devoting special attention to call, gender, and race, they bring theory up to date even as they take seriously the rich legacy of the past. I have never read a more exciting introduction to the theories of our discipline." -- Mustafa Emirbayer