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Contemporary Sociological Theory

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Steven Loyal Sinisa Malesevic

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 Contemporary Sociological Theory
Steven Loyal - University College Dublin, Ireland
Sinisa Malesevic - University College, Dublin, Ireland

October 2020 | 472 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd

Format Published Date ISBN Price

Paperback 12/10/2020 9781529725735 £27.99

Hardcover 12/10/2020 9781529725742 £85.00

Electronic Version 14/10/2020 9781529735802 £21.99

Electronic Version 14/10/2020 9781529735819 £21.99

Electronic Version 14/10/2020 9781529735826 £21.99

Introducing readers to the most important thinkers and schools of thought in contemporary sociological
theory – from Parsons and Merton to the Frankfurt School to Foucault, Bourdieu, Giddens and Hochschild –
this accessible textbook firmly locates key ideas in social, political and historical context. By doing so, it
helps students understand the development of central sociological concepts and how they can help us
understand the contemporary world.

The book includes:

Lively biographical sections to help readers get to know each thinker

Clear and easy-to-understand accounts of each theorist’s arguments - and the most common criticisms
Key concept boxes highlighting the most influential ideas

This comprehensive textbook brings the diverse field of contemporary sociological theory to life. Essential
reading for all students in Sociology and Sociological Theory.

Table Of Contents:

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Parsons and Merton

Goffman

Schutz and Garfinkel

Gramsci

Lukacs

Althusser

Marcuse

Adorno

Homans, Coleman and Boudon

Levi-Strauss, Barthes and Butler

Foucault

Elias

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Bourdieu

Giddens

Habermas

Luhmann

Gellner and Mann

Collins

de Beauvoir, Oakley and Smith

Hochschild, Hill Collins and Latour

Reviews:
Malesevic and Loyal have given us the most comprehensive, accessible, international and up-to-date guide
to sociological theory, ancient and modern: a magnificent achievement.

Professor Emeritus Stephen Mennell

School of Sociology, University College Dublin

Two seasoned and very well-established sociologists have written a book that offers a masterly survey of
the major social theorist from Plato to such 20th century masters as Habermas, Luhmann and Foucault.
Written in a clear and lively style, incorporating historical, political and social context as well as the main
ideas of the theorists, this book proves itself a worthy successor to Lewis Coser’s very successful Masters
of Sociological Thought, whose inspiration it acknowledges. A boon to all students embarking on the study
of classical and contemporary social thought.

Krishan Kumar

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University of Virginia

These two volumes [Classical Sociological Theory and Contemporary Social Theory] succeed brilliantly
where introductory textbooks typically fail. Viewing sociology as a tradition with many variants, they
present the lives and works of its ancestors and major exponents across its history to the present. They do
so vividly, clearly and accurately, setting the distinctive ideas of each in their historical and intellectual
context, commenting on where they continue to have present-day relevance and where they need to be
criticized and sometimes rejected. Comprehensive, reliable, precise and concise, they are a much-needed
successor to Lewis Coser’s magisterial Masters of Sociological Thought.

Steven Lukes
New York University

Loyal and Malesivic offer a tour de force through the rise and transformation of social thought – one that
never compromises on social thought’s dynamic character, its place in a historical and political context,
and the insights it provides into social dynamics of the contemporary world.

Benedikte Brincker
Head of Department, Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

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