Social Theory for Today by Alex Law

Social Theory for Today by Alex Law

An intelligent and engaging exploration of the continuing relevance of both classical and contemporary social theory in todays world.

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 orderTaking 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.

-- Bridget Fowler
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. -- Chris Shilling
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. -- Antonio Miguel Nogués-Pedregal, Universitas Miguel Hernandez

Alex Law is Professor of Sociology at Abertay University, Dundee.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781446209028
ISBN 10	1446209024
Title	Social Theory for Today
Author	Alex Law
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Sage Publications Ltd
Year published	2014-12-11
Number of pages	344
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.