Politics, Sociology, and Social Theory: Encounters with Classical and Contemporary Social Thought

by Anthony Giddens

This book is built upon a series of critical encounteres with major figures in classical and present-day social and political thought. The volume offers not only a challenging critique of major traditions of social and political analysis, but unique insights into the ideas which Anthony Giddens has developed over the past two decades. The volume includes discussions of politics and sociology in the thought of Max Weber, together with analyses of Durkheim's politlcal sociology and his interpretation of individualism and solidarity in modern societies. Various more contemporary figures are also subjected to critical dissection and appraisal, most notably Habermas, Foucault, Marcuse, Garinkel and Popper. The work therefore serves as a comprehensive introduction to some of the main debates preoccupying the social sciences and politics. A number of unifying themes associated with Giddens's standpoint run through each of the the methodological reconstruction of social investigation, the reinterpretation of modernity and the reformulation of a critical theory of politics. This book will be of interest to anyone concerned with the major dilemmas faced by social and political theory today, as well as those seeking to follow the overall trajectory of Giddens's thinking.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology, Social Science

313 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2013

About the author

Anthony Giddens, Baron Giddens (born 18 January 1938) is a British sociologist who is renowned for his theory of structuration and his holistic view of modern societies. He is considered to be one of the most prominent modern contributors in the field of sociology, the author of at least 34 books, published in at least 29 languages, issuing on average more than one book every year. In 2007, Giddens was listed as the fifth most-referenced author of books in the humanities.

Three notable stages can be identified in his academic life. The first one involved outlining a new vision of what sociology is, presenting a theoretical and methodological understanding of that field, based on a critical reinterpretation of the classics. His major publications of that era include Capitalism and Modern Social Theory (1971) and New Rules of Sociological Method (1976). In the second stage Giddens developed the theory of structuration, an analysis of agency and structure, in which primacy is granted to neither. His works of that period, such as Central Problems in Social Theory (1979) and The Constitution of Society (1984), brought him international fame on the sociological arena.

The most recent stage concerns modernity, globalization and politics, especially the impact of modernity on social and personal life. This stage is reflected by his critique of postmodernity, and discussions of a new "utopian-realist"[3] third way in politics, visible in the Consequence of Modernity (1990), Modernity and Self-Identity (1991), The Transformation of Intimacy (1992), Beyond Left and Right (1994) and The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy (1998). Giddens' ambition is both to recast social theory and to re-examine our understanding of the development and trajectory of modernity.

Currently Giddens serves as Emeritus Professor at the London School of Economics.

Reviews

[Umut Erdoğan (Kareler ve Sayfalar) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Farklı isimlerin görüşlerini birbirleriyle ilişki kurarak da irdeleyen Giddens, başlıkta özetlenen konular hakkında sosyolojinin öne çıkan isimlerinin görüşleri hakkında detaylı okuma yapmak isteyenler için güzel bir seçenek sunuyor. Yazısı her zamanki gibi blog'da.