Understanding Social Theory - Softcover

Layder, Derek

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0803984499 ISBN 13: 9780803984493

Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd, 1994

Synopsis

Accessible and authoritative, this jargon-free textbook provides an introduction to the central issues in modern social theory.

The book offers the reader a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to social theory,with the following key features: it is organized around core dualisms in social theory, focusing on: the individual and society; agency-structure; and macro-micro. It offers a balanced account of the contribution that major social theorists have made to our understanding of these issues, covering the ideas of : Parsons, Foucault, Giddens, Elias, Habermas and others. The ideas of individual theorists are explained within the context of different perspectives, including symbolic interactionism, phenomenology, Marxism and feminism.

Throughout the book Layder stresses the links betwen theory, empirical research and everyday life.

About this title

About the Author

Derek Layder is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Leicester and Honorary Professor of Health and Life Sciences and De Montfort University. He was awarded a doctorate by the London School of Economics in 1976. Appointed Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Leicester in 1974 and promoted to Reader in 1995, he became Professor in 1997 and Emeritus Professor from 2002. He has held several visiting academic positions and has also held honorary visiting appointments at The Australian National University (as a Humanities Research Fellow) and the University of Western Sydney (as Eminent Research Visitor). He taught in areas of social theory, social psychology, social research methods and the philosophy of social sciences. He has published numerous academic articles and 12 books. Among his books, in the area of the philosophy of social science, he is the author of The Realist Image in Social Science (1990); in social theory, he has written Understanding Social Theory (second edition, 2006), as well as Modern Social Theory (1997). On research strategies and methods, he has authored New Strategies in Social Research (1993), Sociological Practice (1998), and Doing Excellent Small-Scale Research (2013). He has also written on intimacy, emotion and self-identity, including Emotion in Social Life (2004), Social & Personal Identity (2004) and Intimacy & Power (2009). 

Edition details

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0803984499
• ISBN 13: 9780803984493
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240