The Normative Structure Of Sociology Rle Social Theory

Author : Hermann Strasser
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 284 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2014-08-13
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317652328

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The Normative Structure of Sociology (RLE Social Theory) by Hermann Strasser Pdf

In this provocative analysis of the central issues and developments in modern social theory, Dr Strasser contends that enquiry into the function, tasks and mission of sociology as a discipline can be understood only in relation to the subject's historical development. He believes that a discussion of the origin and intention of sociology, particularly in relation to the established social order, enables us to grasp fully the nature of sociological theory, both past and present. He maintains that a sociologist's own position in society, and consequently his views on its development and his way of expressing those views, will affect the theoretical position he takes up.

Author : Hermann Strasser
Publisher : London ; Boston : Routledge & K. Paul
Page : 289 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 1976-01-01
Category : Sociologie - Histoire
ISBN : 0710081677

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The Normative Structure of Sociology by Hermann Strasser Pdf

Author : Mark L. Wardell,Stephen P. Turner
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2014-08-07
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317651000

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Sociological Theory in Transition (RLE Social Theory) by Mark L. Wardell,Stephen P. Turner Pdf

Current sociological theories appear to have lost their general persuasiveness in part because, unlike the theories of the ‘classical era’, they fail to maintain an integrated stance toward society, and the practical role that sociology plays in society. The authors explore various facets of this failure and possibilities for reconstructing sociological theories as integrated wholes capable of conveying a moral and political immediacy. They discuss the evolution of several concepts (for example, the social, structure, and self) and address the significant disputes (for example, structuralism versus humanism, and individual versus society) that have dominated twentieth-century sociological thought. Their ideas and analyses are directed towards an audience of students and theorists who are coming to terms with the project of sociological theory, and its relationship with moral discourses and political practice. The authors of these essays are sociological theorists from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. They are all established, but not ‘establishment’ authors. The book contains no orthodoxies, and no answers. However, the essays do contribute to identifying the range of issues that will constitute the agenda for the next generation of sociological theorists.

Author : Joe Bailey
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 167 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2014-08-13
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317651789

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Ideas and Intervention (RLE Social Theory) by Joe Bailey Pdf

Theorizing in sociology has increasingly become a self-generating and self-fulfilling activity, as sociologists absorb theory as an isolated and formalist part of their discipline. Joe Bailey believes that sociological theory should be a contribution to practical social intervention. His book presents a practical view of social theorizing as an activity at which sociologists are skilled and which they could teach to the interventionist professions. The relation between theory and practice is defined as one in which theory guides practice and makes explicit necessary choices. A description of disciplines and professions is provided as a basis for examining social intervention in three areas – law, social work and urban planning. The author considers some exemplary contributions which sociological theorizing could and should provide, and concludes by proposing a pluralist view of theory as the best strategy for a sociology relevant to practice.

Author : John Rex
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 286 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2014-08-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317650768

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Sociology and the Demystification of the Modern World (RLE Social Theory) by John Rex Pdf

Professor Rex’s controversial book concerns not only those who are professional sociologists but all thinking people who live in the modern world. One of the objects of sociology is to give ‘power to the people’, to make a contribution to the understanding of political problems. Rex writes from a deep conviction that sociology is a subject whose insights should be made available to the great mass of the people, so that they may liberate themselves from the mystification of social reality that is continually and routinely presented to them through the media, by those who exercise power and by those who have influence. The book is dedicated to St Augustine and Franz Fanon, both of whom, Rex points out, were conscious of living in an age which was embarking on a new barbarism, but had the courage to use their intellects to help understand the possibility of a better future. Rex continues in this tradition, and his main preoccupations are reflected in the present book. It includes a discussion of the problem of social knowledge, an analysis of the basic problems of theory building, and, with the aid of concepts derived from Max Weber, an attempt to understand the major problems of the first, second and third worlds. The author also looks at social structures and moral perspectives, and discusses the vocation of a sociologist in a collapsing civilisation. The book is certain to stimulate debate, both in sociological and political fields and more generally, and is also a serious contribution to the discussion of the methodology and purposes of sociology.

Author : Buford Rhea
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 309 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2020-07-26
Category : History
ISBN : 9781000155747

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The Future of the Sociological Classics (RLE Social Theory) by Buford Rhea Pdf

In this important volume of specially commissioned essays, nine leading sociologists present their answers to the question, 'What use are the sociological classics today?' They report on the latest scholarship, on neglected features of the various masters, on promising applications and unrecognised implications.

Author : Robert King Merton
Publisher : Glencoe, Ill. : Free Press
Page : 440 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 1949
Category : Social structure
ISBN : UCAL:B3986784

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Social Theory and Social Structure by Robert King Merton Pdf

Author : Tosco Raphael Fyvel
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 109 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2020-08-26
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781000155730

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The Frontiers of Sociology (RLE Social Theory) by Tosco Raphael Fyvel Pdf

The six essays in this volume are designed to introduce the general reader to some of the main issues in the fields of education, industry, politics, family changes and the like, which concern British sociologists. While each of the essays is independently conceived, their joint aim is to show how sociologists can use empirical methods to throw fresh light on current social problems and also to convey the distinctive approach, the distinctive view of the world towards which sociologists are striving.

Author : Geoff Payne,Robert Dingwall,Judy Payne,Mick Carter
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 332 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2014-08-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317650850

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Sociology and Social Research (RLE Social Theory) by Geoff Payne,Robert Dingwall,Judy Payne,Mick Carter Pdf

A social science which has become so remote from the society which pays for its upkeep is ultimately doomed, threatened less by repression than by intellectual contempt and financial neglect. This is the message of the authors of this book in this reassessment of the evolution and present state of British sociology. Their investigation analyses the discipline as a social institution, whose product is inexorably shaped by the everyday circumstances of its producers; it is the concrete outcome of people’s work, rather than a body of abstract ideas. Drawing upon their varied experience as teachers and researchers, they identify three major trends in contemporary sociology. First, that the discipline’s rapid expansion has led to a retreat from rigorous research into Utopian and introspective theorising. Second, that the concept of sociological research is being taught in a totally false way because of this, and encourages ‘research’ within a wholly academic environment. Third, that the current unpopularity of sociology with academics, prospective students and politicians is no coincidence, but a reflection of the conditions under which sociology is now produced and practised. In Sociology and Social Research the authors suggest substantial changes in sociological research, the way in which it is carried out and the conditions under which it is undertaken. Their book is a timely warning to fellow sociologists when the profession is under attack as a result of public expenditure cuts.

Author : Kenneth Menzies
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 255 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2014-08-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317657187

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Sociological Theory in Use (RLE Social Theory) by Kenneth Menzies Pdf

Central to most sociologists’ self-image is the claim that their theories are based on research. However, using a random sample of 680 articles appearing in major American, British and Canadian journals, Dr Menzies shows that in some areas of sociology the wide gap between theory and research means that much of sociological theory is virtually untested. He explains how theory is embodied in eight particular types of research, critically examines these research theories, and contrasts them with the positions of modern theorists. The sample of journal articles also permits a comparison of British, American and Canadian sociology. By contrasting on how researchers us theories, Dr Menzies is able to reassess several theories. For instance, symbolic interactionist research uses embedded causal claims and stands in a dialectical relationship to other sociological research, while the research version of conflict theory depends on external causes to explain social change. The implications of using statistical techniques like factor analysis and regression are also considered in relation to the form of explanation.

Author : Frank Hearn
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 346 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2020-08-26
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781000155839

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Reason and Freedom in Sociological Thought (RLE Social Theory) by Frank Hearn Pdf

How has reason, believed since the Enlightenment to be the ally of freedom in the search for a better, more humanly satisfying world, been reduced to a technical rationality that has actually impoverished the bases of human freedom? What might be the options and obligations for sociologists who wish to restore reason to its proper status? Working within the tradition of C. Wright Mills and Jurgen Habermas, Frank Hearn sets out to answer these questions. He surveys the treatment of the relation between reason and freedom in both the classical tradition (especially the writings of Saint-Simon, Comte, Durkheim, Marx, Weber, and Freud) and an increasingly significant segment of social thought and criticism (and, for example, in the contrasting visions of Daniel Bell and Christopher Lasch.) He then analyses both the concrete social and historical forms of expression taken by what Mills calls 'rationality without reason' and their impact on individual autonomy and the freedoms associated with democratic politics. Finally, he develops Mills's and Habermas's claims that the cultivation of democratic publics and a critical social theory committed to a vibrant public life are indispensable to the protection and revitalization of the values of reason and freedom and of the practices they entail. This book updates and enriches Mills's influential argument by demonstrating its affinity with critical theory, by showing its contributions to a critical understanding of the classical tradition, and by showing its implications for contemporary social, political, and economic developments.

Author : Peter Hamilton
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 172 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2014-08-13
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317634980

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Knowledge and Social Structure (RLE Social Theory) by Peter Hamilton Pdf

The primary concern of this study is to present, elucidate and analyse the developments which have characterized the sociology of knowledge, and which have set for it the outlines of its major problematics. Peter Hamilton examines the most distinctive approaches to the determinate relationship between knowledge and social structure. He considers the three main ‘pre-paradigms’ of the sociology of knowledge based on the work of Marx, Durkheim and Weber, and looks at the contribution of Scheler, Mannheim and phenomenological studies to this complex field. He explores the intellectual context, particularly that of Enlightenment philosophy, in which the problems involved in producing a sociology of knowledge first came to light. In conclusion, the author suggests an inclusive perspective for approaching the difficulties posed in any attempt to describe and explain relations between knowledge and social structure.

Author : Anthony Giddens
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 308 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 1979-11-29
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0520039750

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Central Problems in Social Theory by Anthony Giddens Pdf

"One of the most creative among the younger generation of critical social theorists, Giddens stands alone in his concern for the classical tradition on sociology; but he also makes brilliant use of the latest philosophical and theoretical work of several contemporary schools and disciplines. A very important book for all of social science."—Jeffrey C. Alexander

Author : Piotr Sztompka
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 295 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2014-08-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317652588

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Agency and Structure (RLE Social Theory) by Piotr Sztompka Pdf

A striking feature of the human condition is its dual, contradictory, inherently split character; on the one hand, autonomy and freedom; on the other, constraint and dependence on social structure. This volume addresses this central problem of the linkage between human action and social structure in sociological and social science theory. Contributions cover several different approaches to the agency-structure problematic, and represent the work of a number of leading international sociologists. Their efforts point to a reorientation of social theory, both on philosophical and methodological levels.

Author : Michael Mulkay
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 142 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2014-08-07
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317651185

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Science and the Sociology of Knowledge (RLE Social Theory) by Michael Mulkay Pdf

How far is scientific knowledge a product of social life? In addressing this question, the major contributors to the sociology of knowledge have agreed that the conclusions of science are dependent on social action only in a very special and limited sense. In Science and the Sociology of Knowledge Michael Mulkay's first aim is to identify the philosophical assumptions which have led to this view of science as special; and to present a systematic critique of the standard philosophical account of science, showing that there are no valid epistemological grounds for excluding scientific knowledge from the scope of sociological analysis. The rest of the book is devoted to developing a preliminary interpretation of the social creation of scientific knowledge. The processes of knowledge-creation are delineated through a close examination of recent case studies of scientific developments. Dr Mulkay argues that knowledge is produced by means of negotiation, the outcome of which depends on the participants' use of social as well as technical resources. The analysis also shows how cultural resources are taken over from the broader social milieu and incorporated into the body of certified knowledge; and how, in the political context of society at large, scientists' technical as well as social claims are conditioned and affected by their social position.