Summary
Contents
Subject index
‘This is a robust text - challenging and provocative and one which students will benefit from reading. 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
‘Derek Layder's Understanding Social Theory, provides one of the most comprehensive, incisive and readable treatments of the macro-micro problem now available’ - Professor Paul Colomy, University of Denver
This is a revised, updated and enlarged version of the accessible, authoritative first edition - a jargon-free textbook that provides an introduction to the core issues in social theory. It includes: chapter previews, summaries and a glossary of key terms; a ‘problem focus’ that encourages students to acquire skills of argument and discussion; new material on recent developments in social theory; an entirely new concluding chapter which relates theory to social domains; relevant examples from everyday life to illustrate key theoretical issues.
The book will be essential reading for students in Sociology, Social Psychology, Social Theory, Political Theory and Organization Studies.
A Map of the Terrain: The Organisation of the Book
A Map of the Terrain: The Organisation of the Book
The Main Story: Key Dualisms in Sociology
This book provides an overview of the major issues in social theory but the organisation of the discussion is unlike that found in most textbooks. Instead of presenting the discussion in the form of a list of issues or authors in social theory, this book is organised around a central theme and problem-focus. This concerns how the encounters of everyday life and individual behaviour influence, and are influenced by, the wider social environment in which we live. The book explores this basic theme in terms of three dualisms which play a key part in sociology; individual–society, agency-structure and macro-micro. These ...
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