The Polity Reader in Social Theory

This book provides a comprehensive and integrated introduction to the major debates and schools of thought in social theory today. Some thirty different selections cover the period from the turn of the century up to the present.

Classical social thought is well represented: Marx and Weber, Simmel, Mead and the Frankfurt School are among those included in this volume. The main emphasis of the text, however, is upon current social theory, its main lines of orientation, and the dominant areas of controversy and advance. Problems of method and epistemology are given some prominence; however, most of the contributions are substantive in character and are concerned with the theoretical interpretation of modern social institutions.

The authors represented, or discussed, in the volume include all of the most prominent figures in current social theory – for instance, Zygmunt Bauman, Nancy Chodorow, Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Foucault, Harold Garfinkel, Anthony Giddens, Jurgen Habermas, Agnes Heller, Richard Rorty and H. G. Gadamer.

Each section of the volume is preceded by an introduction which summarizes the articles that it contains. The result is a source book which is invaluable for anyone interested in the development of social theory today.