Social Theory for Today
Making Sense of Social Worlds
- Alex Law - University of Abertay, Dundee
Sociological Theory
- Professor Bridget Fowler, University of Glasgow
"An excellent book, it will be welcomed and read widely by advanced undergraduates, postgraduates and scholars in sociology, cultural studies, social theory and beyond."
- Professor Chris Shilling, University of Kent
Social Theory for Today guides students through the ‘turns’ of past and present social theory as it attempts to wrestle with a recurring sense of crisis in social relations and social theory. Drawing on both classical and contemporary sources, Alex Law provides readers with a firm grasp of competing perspectives.
Too often social theories attempt to dominate the field by casting rival theorists, past and present, as deluded fools, while the more familiar ‘big names’ in social theory are subject to ever-increasing commentary that runs in ever-decreasing circles. This survey of social theory and crisis lessens the temptation to engage in internal theoretical polemics and esoteric wordplay. Social theory must become practical and specific if it is to become a means of orientation for uncertain times.
This is a must-read for upper level undergraduate and postgraduate students looking for a vibrant and extended understanding of social theory.
Pivoting on a theme appropriate to our dark times - the need to understand social crisis - this learned book reverses the conventional Parsonian focus on social order. Taking Hamlet’s brooding sense of “times out of joint” as the prism through which he approaches the modern social world, the author demonstrates throughout his exceptional breadth of knowledge, ending with a lucid and masterly comparison of Norbert Elias and Pierre Bourdieu. This book is distinctive for extending the usual sociological reach, reopening territory that has lain fallow, set aside from the well-ploughed fields of orthodox social theory. In doing so, he not only produces fresh insight into familiar theorists but guards against collective forgetting of the sociological canon. The result is an illuminating work which repudiates ill-informed sniping at thinkers such as Auguste Comte, Otto Neurath, Siegfried Kracauer and Franz Borkenau, whilst also showing the canonical figures in a new light.
This is a scholarly and engaging addition to the field of social theory that is focused upon the relationship between theory, crisis and history. An excellent book, it will be welcomed and read widely by advanced undergraduates, postgraduates and scholars in sociology, cultural studies, social theory and beyond.
For tourism scholars who reflect seriously on the sociocultural production of meanings, how territorial development (place branding) influences the way in which people perceive themselves, how the local distribution of power marginalizes specific social groups and favors others, how cultural intangibles (social memory) are being transformed according to market rules, and how business-oriented policies are transforming differences in inequalities, Law's book is a must read.
A very good text that covers most of the course content
A wonderful text that brings together classic and contemporary sources of social theory. Inspirational.
This text provides an excellent introduction to sociological theory and can be used for all undergraduate levels.
Credible analysis of the field.
An excellent text that really opens up social theory for undergraduate students. The way that this is written in a very accessible way.
a very concise journey through society, that develops the knowledge of he reader/ student. This book allows the student to understand the fully comprehend modern society.
I'ts very useful for my course of Epistemology oriented on Bourdieu's reflexive sociology.
Sample Materials & Chapters
Social Theory for Today: Social Theory and Crisis
Social Theory for Today: Quotidian Turn Henri Lefebvre