Contested Knowledge

STEVEN SEIDMAN is Professor of Sociology at the State University of New York at Albany. He is the author and editor of a number of books including Liberalism and the Origins of European Social Theory, The Postmodern Turn, Queer Theory/Sociology, The New Social Theory Reader (with Jeffrey Alexander), and Intimacies.

• Preface viiAcknowledgments xIntroduction 1Part I The Rise of the Classical Tradition 7Introduction to Part I 91 The Idea of a Science of Society: The Enlightenment and Auguste Comte 112 The Revolutionary Theory of Karl Marx 223 The Promise of Sociology: Emile Durkheim 364 The Ironic Social Theory of Max Weber 48Afterword to Part I 61Part II Rethinking the Classical Tradition: American Sociology 65Introduction to Part II 675 The Grand Theory of Talcott Parsons, Peter Berger, and Thomas Luckmann 706 The Scientific Theory of Randall Collins and Peter Blau 867 The Moral Sociology of C. Wright Mills and Robert Bellah 97Afterword to Part II 113Part III Rethinking the Classical Tradition: European Theory 115Introduction to Part III 1178 The Critical Theory of Jürgen Habermas 1199 Stuart Hall and British Cultural Studies 13210 The Critical Sociology of Anthony Giddens and Pierre Bourdieu 140Afterword to Part III 152Part IV Revisions and Revolts: The Postmodern Turn 155Introduction to Part IV 15711 The Postmodern World of Jacques Derrida, Jean-François Lyotard, and Jean Baudrillard 15912 Michel Foucault’s Disciplinary Society 17513 Zygmunt Bauman’s Sociology of Postmodernity 188Afterword to Part IV 197Part V Revisions and Revolts: Identity Politics and Theory 201Introduction to Part V 20314 Feminist Theory/Masculinity Studies 20515 Critical Race Theory/White Studies 22616 Lesbian, Gay, and Queer Theory/Heterosexual Studies 23917 Colonial Discourse Studies 254Afterword to Part V 263Part VI Revisions and Revolts: Theories of World Order 267Introduction to Part VI 26918 From Nation to Globe: David Held and Mary Kaldor 27119 Global Capitalism: Immanuel Wallerstein and Manuel Castells 28120 The Return of Empire? Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, David Harvey and Michael Mann 290Afterword to Part VI 300Part VII The Rise of Postdisciplinary Theory 303Introduction to Part VII 30521 Theorizing Postcolonial Nationalism: A Case of “Domain” Theorizing 30822 Jeffrey Alexander: Reconstructing Democratic Theory in an Age of Disillusionment 32023 Nancy Fraser: The Case for Radical Democracy 331Afterword to Part VII 341Index 344