Modern Sociological Theory / Edition 8

by George Ritzer, Jeffrey N. Stepnisky

Overview

Now with SAGE Publishing, and co-authored by one of the foremost authorities on sociological theory, the Eighth Edition of Modern Sociological Theory by George Ritzer and Jeffrey Stepnisky provides a comprehensive overview of the major theorists and theoretical schools, from the Structural Functionalism of early 20th century through the cutting-edge theories of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The integration of key theories with biographical sketches of theorists and the requisite historical and intellectual context helps students to better understand the original works of contemporary thinkers.

New to this Edition

• A new chapter focuses theories of race, racism, and colonialism, as well as theories about indigenous peoples and theories from the “Global South” that challenge the work of scholars from Europe and North America.
• New material on colonialization, classical women theorists, and race, as well as new timelines in history chapters.
• The chapter on Symbolic Interactionism now discusses work on the sociology of emotions.
• The concluding chapter now discusses affect theory and theories of prosumption, one of the newest developments in consumer theory.
• The chapter on Contemporary Theories of Modernity includes new section on the work of Charles Taylor.
• New perspectives on the work of Immanuel Wallerstein have been added to the chapter on Neo-Marxian theories.
• The opening historical sketch chapters now include a discussion of colonialism as one of the forces that shaped modern society; new material on the historical significance of early women founders; and a section on theories of race.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506325620
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	02/15/2017
Edition description:	Eighth Edition
Pages:	664
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

George Ritzer is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, where he has also been a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and won a Teaching Excellence Award. He was awarded the Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award by the American Sociological Association, an honorary doctorate from La Trobe University in Australia, and the Robin Williams Lectureship from the Eastern Sociological Society. His best-known work, The Mc Donaldization of Society (8th ed.), has been read by hundreds of thousands of students over two decades and translated into over a dozen languages. Ritzer is also the editor of Mc Donaldization: The Reader; and author of other works of critical sociology related to the Mc Donaldization thesis, including Enchanting a Disenchanted World, The Globalization of Nothing, Expressing America: A Critique of the Global Credit Card Society, as well as a series best-selling social theory textbooks and Globalization: A Basic Text. He is the Editor of the Encyclopedia of Social Theory (2 vols.), the Encyclopedia of Sociology (11 vols.; 2nd edition forthcoming), the Encyclopedia of Globalization (5 vols.), and is Founding Editor of the Journal of Consumer Culture. In 2016 he will publish the second edition of Essentials of Sociology with SAGE.

Jeffrey Stepnisky is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Mac Ewan University in Alberta, Canada, where he teaches classical and contemporary social theory. He has published in the area of social theory, especially as it relates to questions of subjectivity, in journals such as The Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior and Social Theory & Health. Along with this book he is co-author of Sociological Theory, Classical Sociological Theory, and Modern Sociological Theory, and has co-edited the Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Major Social Theorists, all with George Ritzer.

Table of Contents

PART I Introduction to Sociological Theory
CHAPTER 1 A Historical Sketch of Sociological Theory: The Early Years
Introduction
Social Forces in the Development of Sociological Theory
Intellectual Forces and The Rise of Sociological Theory
The Development of French Sociology
The Development of German Sociology
The Origins of British Sociology
The Key Figure in Early Italian Sociology
Turn-of-the-Century Developments in European Marxism
CHAPTER 2 A Historical Sketch of Sociological Theory: The Later Years
Early American Sociological Theory
Sociological Theory to Midcentury
Sociological Theory From Midcentury
Late-Twentieth-Century Developments in Sociological Theory
Theories of Modernity and Postmodernity
Social Theory in the Twenty-First Century
PART II Modern Sociological Theory: The Major Schools
CHAPTER 3 Structural Functionalism, Neofunctionalism, and Conflict Theory
Structural Functionalism
Systems Theory
Conflict Theory
CHAPTER 4 Varieties of Neo-Marxian Theory
Economic Determinism
Hegelian Marxism
Critical Theory
Neo-Marxian Economic Sociology
Historically Oriented Marxism
Neo-Marxian Spatial Analysis
Post-Marxist Theory
CHAPTER 5 Symbolic Interactionism
The Major Historical Roots
The Ideas of George Herbert Mead
Symbolic Interactionism: The Basic Principles
The Self and the Work of Erving Goffman
The Sociology of Emotions
Criticisms
The Future of Symbolic Interactionism
CHAPTER 6 Ethnomethodology
Defining Ethnomethodology
The Diversification Of Ethnomethodology
Some Early Examples
Conversation Analysis
Studies of Institutions
Criticisms of Traditional Sociology
Stresses and Strains in Ethnomethodology
Synthesis and Integration
CHAPTER 7 Exchange, Network, and Rational Choice Theories
Exchange Theory
Network Theory
Network Exchange Theory
Rational Choice Theory
CHAPTER 8 Modern Feminist Theory
Feminism’s Basic Questions
Historical Framing: Feminism, Sociology, and Gender
Varieties of Contemporary Feminist Theory
A Feminist Sociological Theory
CHAPTER 9 Micro-Macro and Agency-Structure Integration
Micro-Macro Integration
Agency-Structure Integration
Agency-Structure and Micro-Macro Linkages: Fundamental Differences
PART III From Modern to Postmodern Social Theory (and Beyond)
CHAPTER 10 Contemporary Theories of Modernity
Classical Theorists on Modernity
The Juggernaut of Modernity
The Risk Society
The Holocaust and Liquid Modernity
Modernity’s Unfinished Project
Self, Society, and Religion
Informationalism and the Network Society
CHAPTER 11 Theories of Race and Colonialism
Fanon and the Colonial Subject
Postcolonial Theory
Critical Theories of Race and Racism
Racial Formation
A Systematic Theory of Race
Southern Theory and Indigenous Resurgence
CHAPTER 12 Globalization Theory
Major Contemporary Theorists on Globalization
Zygmunt Bauman on the Human Consequences of Globalization
Economic Theory
Political Theory
Neoliberalism
Other Theories
CHAPTER 13 Structuralism, Poststructuralism, and Postmodern Social Theory
Structuralism
Poststructuralism
Postmodern Social Theory
Criticisms and Post-Postmodern Social Theory
CHAPTER 14 Social Theory the Twenty-first century
Queer Theory
Actor-Network Theory, Posthumanism, and Postsociality
Affect Theory
Prosumption Theory
References
Credits
Name Index
Subject Index