British Social Theory

John Scott is an Honorary Professor at the Universities of Essex, Exeter, and Copenhagen. He was formerly a professor of sociology at the Universities of Essex and Leicester, and pro-vice-chancellor for research at the University of Plymouth. He has been president of the British Sociological Association, Chair of the Sociology Section of the British Academy, and in 2013 was awarded the CBE for Services to Social Science. His work covers theoretical sociology, the history of sociology, elites and social stratification, and social network analysis. His most recent books include British Social Theory: Recovering Lost Traditions before 1950 (SAGE, 2018), Envisioning Sociology. Victor Branford, Patrick Geddes, and the Quest for Social Reconstruction (with Ray Bromley, SUNY Press, 2013), Objectivity and Subjectivity in Social Research (with Gayle Letherby and Malcolm Williams, SAGE, 2011).

• Chapter 1 Was There a Failure of British Social Theory?Foundations of Social ThoughtChapter 2 Social Thought in Mainstream Philosophy: Towards a Science of Social StructureChapter 3 Difference, Diversity, and Development in the Social OrganismChapter 4 The Romantic Critique and Social IdealismChapter 5 The Socialist Critique and Cultural MaterialismClassical Social TheoriesChapter 6 Patrick Geddes: Towards a Professional SociologyChapter 7 Robert MacIver: Building an Intellectual BaseChapter 8 Leonard Hobhouse: Building Disciplinary SociologyDevelopment and DecayChapter 9 Social Theory After the ClassicsChapter 10 Rediscovering Theory and TheoristsAppendix: Principal Social TheoristsBibliography

An enlightening book, not only for students in the social sciences, but also for scholars interested in social epistemology and the history of (sociological) ideas. It reconfirms there were some interesting theorists in the UK in the early twentieth century. Even non-sociologists will learn from this reading, written in clear language and without jargon.