Social Theory Today

Social theory has undergone dramatic changes over the past 15 years. The aim of this book is to provide a comprehensive survey of those changes, and an authoritative statement on current trends of development in social thought.across the major traditions of social theory prominent to day. Among the topics covered are: the relationships between modern social theory and the "classics" of the late-18th and 19th centuries; the connections between social theory and mathematical social science; and the logical status of generalizations in the social sciences. Traditions of thought discussed include: behaviourism; symbolic interactionism; Parsonian theory; analytical theory; structuralism and post-structuration theory; world systems theory; and marxism and critical theory. The group of contributors comprises Jeffrey Alexander, Ira Cohen, Anthony Giddens, John Heritage, George Homans, Axel Honneth, Hans Joas, Ralph Miliband, R. Munch, Jonathan H. Turner, Immanuel Wallerstein and Thomas Wilson.