Social Theory

Social theory is the theoretical core of the social sciences, clearly distinguishable from political theory and cultural analysis. This 2009 book offers a unique overview of the development of social theory from the end of the Second World War in 1945 to the present day. Spanning the literature in English, French and German, it provides an excellent background to the most impor...

Social theory is the theoretical core of the social sciences, clearly distinguishable from political theory and cultural analysis. This 2009 book offers a unique overview of the development of social theory from the end of the Second World War in 1945 to the present day. Spanning the literature in English, French and German, it provides an excellent background to the most important social theorists and theories in contemporary sociological thought, with crisp summaries of the main books, arguments and controversies. It also deals with newly emerging schools from rational choice to symbolic interactionism, with new ambitious approaches (Habermas, Luhmann, Giddens, Bourdieu), structuralism and antistructuralism, critical revisions of modernization theory, feminism and neopragmatism. Written by two of the world's leading sociologists and based on their extensive academic teaching, this unrivalled work is ideal both for students in the social sciences and humanities and for anyone interested in contemporary theoretical debates.

汉斯·约阿斯，当代国际知名的德国社会学家，1948 年出生于德国的慕尼黑，1979 年获得博士学位，先后任教于爱尔兰根－纽伦堡大学、柏林自由大学等大学，曾任国际社会学学会副主席、德国埃尔福特大学马克斯·韦伯研究中心主任、瑞典乌普萨拉大学社会科学高级研究院研究员。现任芝加哥大学社会学教授、柏林洪堡大学教授，目前在中国已出版《战争与社会思想：霍布斯以降》《人之神圣性》《欧洲的文化价值》等著作。

沃尔夫冈·克诺伯，德国著名社会学家，曾在埃尔福特大学、哥廷根大学任职，现为汉堡社会研究所所长。主要研究领域为社会学理论、政治与历史社会学、社会学史等。