Understanding Social Theory - Softcover

Layder, Derek

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0803984499 ISBN 13: 9780803984493

Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd, 1994

Synopsis

Accessible and authoritative, this jargon-free textbook provides an introduction to the central issues in modern social theory.

The book offers the reader a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to social theory,with the following key features: it is organized around core dualisms in social theory, focusing on: the individual and society; agency-structure; and macro-micro. It offers a balanced account of the contribution that major social theorists have made to our understanding of these issues, covering the ideas of : Parsons, Foucault, Giddens, Elias, Habermas and others. The ideas of individual theorists are explained within the context of different perspectives, including symbolic interactionism, phenomenolog

About this title

About the Author:

Derek Layder is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Leicester and Honorary Professor of Health and Life Sciences and De Montfort University. He was awarded a doctorate by the London School of Economics in 1976. Appointed Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Leicester in 1974 and promoted to Reader in 1995, he became Professor in 1997 and Emeritus Professor from 2002. He has held several visiting academic positions and has also held honorary visiting appointments at The Australian National University (as a Humanities Research Fellow) and the University of Western Sydney (as Eminent Research Visitor). He taught in areas of social theory, social psychology, social research methods and the philosophy of social sciences. He has published numerous academic articles and 12 books. Among his books, in the area of the philosophy of social science, he is the author of The Realist Image in Social Science (1990); in social theory, he has written Understanding Social Theory (second edition, 2006), as well as Modern Social Theory (1997). On research strategies and methods, he has authored New Strategies in Social Research (1993), Sociological Practice (1998), and Doing Excellent Small-Scale Research (2013). He has also written on intimacy, emotion and self-identity, including Emotion in Social Life (2004), Social & Personal Identity (2004) and Intimacy & Power (2009). 

Review:

`Not simply an account, it is also an argument...Not only did Layder′s book make me think it made me want to ask questions about his coverage and argue with him.... Layder′s is a book which I would refer a student who was interested in and thinking hard about theory; perhaps I should also direct to it those students who need to be made to think about theory′ - Ian Craib, British Journal of Sociology

′Derek Layder′s Understanding Social Theory, provides one of the most comprehensive, incisive, and readable treatments of the micro-macro problem now available′ - Professor Paul Colomy, University of Denver

′This is a robust text - challenging and provocative and one which students will benefit from reading. Derek Layder guides the reader through a large body of relevant literature. He draws attention to the strengths and weaknesses of particular approaches as he sees them and he is not afraid to offer his own judgements on the issues and problems he addresses′ - Professor John Eldridge, University of Glasgow

About this edition

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0803984499
• ISBN 13: 9780803984493
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240