Social Theory in the Twentieth Century and Beyond

This revised edition of Patrick Baert's widely acclaimed SocialTheory in the Twentieth Century, now benefitting from thecollaboration of Filipe Carreira da Silva has been brought rightup-to-date with cutting-edge developments in social theory today.It offers an easy-to-read but provocative account of thedevelopment of social theory, covering a range of key figures andclassic schools of thought. The authors bridge the gap betweenphilosophy and social theory, locating the theoretical views ofindividuals such as Michel Foucault, Anthony Giddens andJ rgen Habermas within wider historical traditions.

The revised edition includes new material on French pragmatistsociology and cultural sociology, and on contemporary socialthinkers such as Zygmunt Bauman, Ulrich Beck, Manuel Castells, Randall Collins, Michael Mann, Saskia Sassen and Theda Skocpol. Theauthors conclude with a bold, new pragmatist agenda for socialtheory and the social sciences.

Written in a lively style, and avoiding jargon, Social Theoryin the Twentieth Century and Beyond is aimed at students whowish to gain an understanding of the main debates and dilemmasdriving social theory. Like its predecessor, it will be a standardintroduction to modern social theory for students in sociology, politics and anthropology.