An Introduction to Classical and Contemporary Social Theory:

A Critical Perspective

Berch Berberoglu

This book provides a much needed critical perspective for an analysis of the works of some of the major classical and contemporary social theorists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Designed to stimulate interest in the beginning sociology student to examine the critical issues raised by these theorists, this book is intended as a supplemental text in introductory sociology and social theory courses to further familiarize students with the works of some of the most prominent social theorists of the past century.

The twenty chapters that make up this book were designed to be brief, concise, and to the point, expressed whenever possible in the words of the theorists concerned so that the central ideas of each of the theorists can be presented in their original form. In this sense, this brief introductory book serves as an initial stepping stone to more in-depths analyses of these and other theorists usually covered in more advanced texts in social theory.

This Second Edition of the book contains five new chapters that address a variety of theoretical perspectives ranging from symbolic interactionism to post-modernism, including critical analysis of exchange theory. An examination of the opposing views in the controversy over race and class is also provided to advance discussion and debate on this important question in contemporary social theory.

Bringing together the ideas of some of the major social theorists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this book serves as a useful guide to an understanding of the central social questions of our time.

 Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I

CLASSICAL SOCIAL THEORY

1. Marx and Engels on Social Class and Class Struggle

2. Durkheim on Society and Social Order

3. Weber on Bureaucracy, Power, and Social Status

4. Pareto, Mosca, and Michels on Elites and Masses

5. Cooley and Mead on Human Nature and Society

6. Freud on the Development of Society and Civilization

7. Gramsci and Lenin on Ideology, the State, and Revolution

8. Kollantai on Class, Gender, and Patriarchy

9. Du Bois and Frazier on Race, Class, and Social Emancipation

Part II

    CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL THEORY

10. Parsons, Merton, and Functionalist Theory

11. Homans on Social Exchange

12. Mills on the Power Elite

13. Domhoff on the Power Structure and the Governing Class

14. Althusser, Poulantzas, and Miliband on Politics and the State

15. Trimberger, Block, and Skocpol and Neo-Weberian Theorizing

16. Goffman and Garfinkel on Dramaturgy, Ethnomethodology, and Everyday Life

17. Wilson and Willie on Race, Class, and Poverty

18. Wallerstein and World Systems Theory

19. Therborn and Szymanski on Contemporary Marxist Theory

20. Harvey and Callinicos on Postmodernism and Its Critique

Conclusion

Bibliography

About the Author

Index

Publication date:  1998

ISBN:  1-882289-55-2 (paper)

1-882289-56-0 (cloth)

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