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Key Sociological Thinkers

  • Textbook
  • © 1998

Overview

Editors:
  1. Rob Stones

    1. University of Essex, UK

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  • 'Star cast' of contributors
    Each chapter has been written to a strong editorial brief, which gives the book a very structured and coherent feel
    Each chapter seeks to draw out the relevance of a particular theorist's work to contemporary society, often with lively and engaging illustrative examples
    Sociological theory is core to all sociology teaching; no student can avoid it. This book offers a path through theory that is particularly easy to grasp because of its emphasis on the work of key theorists

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Table of contents (23 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvi
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  2. Introduction: Society as More than a Collection of Free-floating Individuals

    1. Introduction: Society as More Than a Collection of Free-floating Individuals

      • Rob Stones
      Pages 1-18

  3. Part I

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 19-20
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    2. Karl Marx

      • Bob Jessop
      Pages 21-33

    3. Max Weber

      • Lawrence A. Scaff
      Pages 34-45

    4. Emile Durkheim

      • Whitney Pope
      Pages 46-58

    5. Sigmund Freud

      • Ian Craib
      Pages 59-70

    6. Georg Simmel

      • Patrick Watier
      Pages 71-83

    7. Herbert Blumer

      • Ken Plummer
      Pages 84-95

    8. Talcott Parsons

      • Robert Holton
      Pages 96-107

  4. Part II

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 109-110
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    2. Robert K. Merton

      • Alan Sica
      Pages 111-123

    3. Simone de Beauvoir

      • Mary Evans
      Pages 124-137

    4. Norbert Elias

      • Jason Hughes
      Pages 138-150

    5. Erving Goffman

      • Robin Williams
      Pages 151-162

    6. David Lockwood

      • Nicos Mouzelis
      Pages 163-174

    7. Harold Garfinkel

      • John Heritage
      Pages 175-188

    8. Louis Althusser

      • Ted Benton
      Pages 189-202

  5. Part III

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 203-204
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    2. Jürgen Habermas

      • William Outhwaite
      Pages 205-214
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Keywords

About this book

This broad-ranging text offers an exciting and easily understood introduction to the theorists who have made a key contribution to the discipline of sociology. Its carefully formulated structure places the writers in their social and intellectual context, summarises the central issues dealt with in their work and sketches out the intellectual legacy they have left behind them. Graphically illustrating how these thinkers have shed light on how we think about society, the book aims to convey the spirit of openness intrinsic to the sociological enterprise.

Editors and Affiliations

  • University of Essex, UK

    Rob Stones

About the editor

Rob Stones is Professor in Sociology at the University of Essex and author of Sociological Reasoning: Towards a Past-Modern Sociology.

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