Frontiers of Social Theory

Book Details

• Author: George Ritzer

• Publisher: Rawat Publications

• Language: English

• ISBN: 9788131609187

• Binding: Hardcover

• Release Date: 01-02-2018

• Pages: 398

• Package Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.6 x 1.3 inches

About the Book
Frontiers of Social Theory presents a collection of essays that reflect the current state and near-term prospects of sociological theory. The volume, written especially by younger sociological theorists, highlights a shift away from the theoretical extremism of the past and explores how traditional labels and commitments to sociological theory are evolving. These essays offer a wide range of contemporary theoretical perspectives and reveal the profound exchanges between these theories. Collectively, they demonstrate a strong movement towards synthesis in modern theoretical sociology, a departure from rigid, traditional distinctions.

Contents

1. The Current Status of Sociological Theory: The New Syntheses – George Ritzer
   Part 1: New Life in Some Traditional Social and Sociological Theories

2. Neofunctionalism Today: Reconstructing a Theoretical Tradition

3. Conflict Theory and the Advance of Macro-Historical Sociology – Randall Collins

4. The Decline of the Grand Narrative of Emancipatory Modernity: Crisis or Renewal in Neo-Marxian Theory? – Robert J. Antonio

5. Symbolic Interactionism in the Post-Blumerian Age – Gary Alan Fine

6. Exchange Theory: A Blueprint for Structure and Process – Karen S. Cook, Jodi O'Brien, and Peter Kollock

Part 2: Liveliness of More Recent Social and Sociological Theories
7. The World as It Happens: Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis – Deirdre Boden
8. The Comparative Advantages of Rational Choice Theory – Debra Friedman and Michael Hechter
9. The Uses of French Structuralisms in Sociology – Charles C. Lemert
10. The Postmodern Turn: Positions, Problems, and Prospects – Douglas Kellner
11. Betwixt and Between: Recent Cultural Sociology in Europe and the United States – Michele Lamont and Robert Wuthnow
12. Feminist Sociological Theory: The Near-Future Prospects – Patricia M. Lengermann and Jill Niebrugge-Brantley

Part 3: Overviews of Social and Sociological Theory
13. Micro-Macro Linkage in Sociological Theory: Applying a Metatheoretical Tool – George Ritzer
14. The Past, Present, and Future of Theory in American Sociology – Jonathan Turner
15. The History and Politics of Recent Sociological Theory – Norbert Wiley

About the Author / Editor
George Ritzer is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland. He has authored numerous articles and several well-known monographs and textbooks in sociological theory and metatheory. Dr. Ritzer has previously served as the Chair of the American Sociological Association’s Section on Theoretical Sociology. He is recognized for his contributions to modern sociology, especially in the areas of social theory and critical analysis.