• Provides coverage of both classical and contemporary social theory in a single volume, offering a one-stop guide to all the major topics in the theoretical foundations of modern sociology
• Covers the legacies of the classical figures of Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Simmel and Parsons but lays special emphasis on recent developments in social theory since the later twentieth century
• Fourteen chapters have been written by leading specialists in the field on the major topics of modern social theory
• Covers the centre ground of modern sociology but also reaches out to the many current interdisciplinary debates in cultural studies, anthropology, feminist theory, postcolonial studies, philosophy and political science
• All chapters are supplied with questions for discussion, study boxes, guidance on further reading and useful web site addresses

     
This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the core topics, theories and debates in modern social theory. 
    
Fourteen chapters have been written by leading specialists in the field, providing up-to-date guidance on the full sweep of the modern sociological imagination, from the legacies of the classical figures of Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Simmel and Parsons to the work of cutting-edge contemporary theorists. Separate chapters discuss functionalism and its critics, interpretive and interactionist theory, historical social theory, western Marxism, psychoanalytic social theory, structuralism and post-structuralism, structure and agency theory, feminist social theory, postmodernism and its critics, and theories about globalization.
    
All chapters are supplied with questions for discussion, study boxes, guidance on further reading and useful website addresses. It is ideal for students of sociology and cultural studies pursuing foundational courses in the history and theory of social analysis, and is also accessible for the general reader.