The social lens : an invitation to social and sociological theory

Written in a conversational style that is both appealing and provocative, this text uses real life examples to draw readers in and invite them to consider the ideas that have shaped our understanding of society. Kenneth Allan covers the key thinkers in Western thought for the past 200 years. Section I. Introduction : the modern agenda : nineteenth-century theorizing. Capitalism and engines of social change--Karl Marx (1818-1883) ; Rationality and the bureaucratic society--Max Weber (1864-1920) ; Cultural diversity and social integration--Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) ; The individual in modern society--George Herbert Mead (1863-1931), Georg Simmel (1858-1918) ; The challenges of gender and race--Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935), W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) -- Section II. Introduction : theory cumulation and schools of thought in the mid-twentieth century. Structural functionalism--Talcott Parsons (1902-1979), Robert K. Merton (1910-2003) ; Conflict and critical theories ; Part I: Conflict theory--Lewis Coser (1913-2003), Ralf Dahrendorf (1929- ), Randall Collins (1941- ) -- Part II: Jurgen Habermas : critical theory and modernity ; Structures of inequality ; race and gender--William Julius Wilson (1935- ), Janet Chafetz (1942- ) -- Interactionist theories--Herbert Blumer (1900-1987), Erving Goffman (1922-1982), Harold Garfinkel (1917- ) ; Exchange theory--Peter M. Blau (1918-2002), Karen S. Cook (1946- ), Randall Collins (1941- ) -- Section III. Introduction : contemporary new visions and critiques. Constructing society--Anthony Giddens (1938- ), Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) -- World-systems ; Immanuel Wallerstein (1930- ), Niklas Luhmann (1927-1998) ; Identity politics--Dorothy E. Smith (1926- ), Cornel West (1953- ), Patricia Hill Collins (1948- ) -- Post-theories ; Michel Foucault (1926-1984), Jean Baudrillard (1929- ).

The Social Lens: An Invitation to Social and Sociological Theory covers the key thinkers in Western thought for the past 200 years. Written in a conversational style that is both appealing and provocative, this text uses real life examples to draw readers in and invite them to consider the ideas that have shaped our understanding of society.

Key Features:

• Provides in-depth coverage of 30 individual theorists: The book is divided into three sections covering the classics, the organized perspectives, and contemporary critiques and visions. Importantly, the book gives full treatment to and explicitly allows each of the 30 authors their individual perspectives and voices, allowing critical theorists to be critical and positivist theorists to be scientific.
• Emphasizes the problem of modernity/postmodernity as a thinking framework: Roughly organized around the theme of modernity, the book traces theories of race and gender through the three periods, beginning with the positive philosophy of Harriet Martineau and ending with the disenchantment of Jean Baudrillard.
• Explicitly written as an invitation to students: This book contains unparalleled pedagogical features, including study guides, Seeing Further, Defining the Perspective, Essential Theorist boxes, Glossary of Terms, and Building Your Theory Toolbox. These pedagogical features help the student organize and review the material, see their world in theoretical terms, and move beyond the book to begin their own research in theory.