Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory
Text and Readings

Fourth Edition

Scott Appelrouth - California State University, Northridge, USA
Laura Desfor Edles - California State University, Northridge, USA

Other Titles in:
Social Theory

August 2020 | 920 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

The authors are proud sponsors of the 2020 SAGE Keith Roberts Teaching Innovations Award—enabling graduate students and early career faculty to attend the annual ASA pre-conference teaching and learning workshop.

Now available for the first time in print and e-book formats

Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory: Text and Readings offers students with the best of both worlds—carefully-edited excerpts from the original works of sociology's key thinkers accompanied by an analytical framework that discusses the lives, ideas, and historical circumstances of each theorist. This unique format enables students to examine, compare, and contrast each theorist’s major themes and concepts. In the Fourth Edition of this bestseller, examples from contemporary life and a rich variety of updated pedagogical tools (tables, figures, discussion questions, and photographs) come together to illuminate complex ideas for today’s readers.

Included with this title:

The password-protected Instructor Resource Site (formally known as SAGE Edge) offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides. Learn more.

List of Figures and Tables

Preface

About the Authors

Chapter 1. Introduction

Key Concepts

What Is Sociological Theory?

Why Read Original Works?

Navigating Sociological Theory: The Questions of “Order” and “Action”

The European Enlightenment

The Ins and Outs of the Sociological Theory “Canon”

Discussion Questions

PART I. FOUNDATIONS OF CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

Chapter 2. Karl Marx (1818–1883)

Key Concepts

A Biographical Sketch

Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Marx’s Theoretical Orientation

Discussion Questions

Chapter 3. Émile Durkheim (1858–1917)

Key Concepts

A Biographical Sketch

Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Durkheim’s Theoretical Orientation

Discussion Questions

Chapter 4. Max Weber (1864–1920)

Key Concepts

A Biographical Sketch

Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Weber’s Theoretical Orientation

Discussion Questions

PART II. CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY: EXPANDING THE FOUNDATION

Chapter 5. Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935)

Key Concepts

A Biographical Sketch

Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Gilman’s Theoretical Orientation

Discussion Questions

Chapter 6. Georg Simmel (1858–1918)

Key Concepts

A Biographical Sketch

Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Simmel’s Theoretical Orientation

Discussion Questions

Chapter 7. W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963)

Key Concepts

A Biographical Sketch

Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Du Bois’s Theoretical Orientation

Discussion Questions

Chapter 8. George Herbert Mead (1863–1931)

Key Concepts

A Biographical Sketch

Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Mead’s Theoretical Orientation

Discussion Questions

PART III. TWENTIETH-CENTURY SOCIOLOGICAL TRADITIONS

Chapter 9. Structural Functionalism

Key Concepts

Talcott C. Parsons (1902–1979): A Biographical Sketch

Parsons’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Parsons’s Theoretical Orientation

Robert K. Merton (1910–2003): A Biographical Sketch

Merton’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Merton’s Theoretical Orientation

Discussion Questions

Chapter 10. Critical Theory

Key Concepts

Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse: Biographical Sketches

Adorno’s and Marcuse’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Adorno’s and Marcuse’s Theoretical Orientations

Jürgen Habermas (1929– ): A Biographical Sketch

Habermas’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Habermas’s Theoretical Orientation

Patricia Hill Collins (1948– ): A Biographical Sketch

Collins’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Collins’s Theoretical Orientation

Discussion Questions

Chapter 11. Exchange and Rational Choice Theories

Key Concepts

George C. Homans (1910–1989): A Biographical Sketch

Homans’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Homans’s Theoretical Orientation

Peter M. Blau (1918–2002): A Biographical Sketch

Blau’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Blau’s Theoretical Orientation

James S. Coleman (1926–1995): A Biographical Sketch

Coleman’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Coleman’s Theoretical Orientation

Discussion Questions

Chapter 12. Symbolic Interactionism and Dramaturgy

Key Concepts

Symbolic Interactionism: An Overview

Erving Goffman (1922–1982): A Biographical Sketch

Goffman’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Goffman’s Theoretical Orientation

Arlie Russell Hochschild (1940– ): A Biographical Sketch

Hochschild’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Hochschild’s Theoretical Orientation

Discussion Questions

Chapter 13. Phenomenology

Key Concepts

Alfred Schutz (1899–1959): A Biographical Sketch

Schutz’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Schutz’s Theoretical Orientation

Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann: Biographical Sketches

Berger and Luckmann’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Berger and Luckmann’s Theoretical Orientation

Ethnomethodology: An Overview

Dorothy E. Smith (1926– ): A Biographical Sketch

Smith’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Smith’s Theoretical Orientation

Discussion Questions

Chapter 14. Poststructuralism

Key Concepts

Defining Poststructuralism

Michel Foucault (1926–1984): A Biographical Sketch

Foucault’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Foucault’s Theoretical Orientation

Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002): A Biographical Sketch

Bourdieu’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Bourdieu’s Theoretical Orientation

Edward Said (1935–2003): A Biographical Sketch

Said’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Said’s Theoretical Orientation

Discussion Questions

Chapter 15. Postmodernism

Key Concepts

Defining Postmodernism

Jean Baudrillard (1929–2007): A Biographical Sketch

Baudrillard’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Baudrillard’s Theoretical Orientation

Judith Butler (1956– ): A Biographical Sketch

Butler’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Butler’s Theoretical Orientation

Discussion Questions

Chapter 16. The Global Society

Key Concepts

Defining Globalization

Immanuel Wallerstein (1930–2019): A Biographical Sketch

Wallerstein’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Wallerstein’s Theoretical Orientation

Anthony Giddens (1938– ): A Biographical Sketch

Giddens’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Giddens’s Theoretical Orientation

Ulrich Beck (1944–2015): A Biographical Sketch

Beck’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Beck’s Theoretical Orientation

George Ritzer (1940– ): A Biographical Sketch

Ritzer’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas

Ritzer’s Theoretical Orientation

Discussion Questions

Glossary and Terminology

References

Index

Supplements

Instructor Resource Site
edge.sagepub.com/appelrouthcc4e

Online resources included with this text

The online resources for your text are available via the password-protected Instructor Resource Site, which offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides.

I've used this book before and I've always loved how it's organized!

Professor Angelique Maes

Sociology, Coker College

February 7, 2023

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Fantastic text from which to teach Intro to Theory. I very much appreciate the blend of original source material and interpretation. Makes my job easier!

Mr Nathan F Parsons

Sociology Dept, Washington State Uni Vancouver

August 12, 2021

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