Introduction to Sociological Theory

MICHELE DILLON, PHD, is Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Class of 1944 Professor of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire, where she teaches courses in sociological theory. Her publications include the Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, the Concise Reader in Sociological Theory, 5 academic books, and more than 50 book chapters and articles in leading journals.

• List of Boxed Features xiList of Analytical Photos xivAcknowledgments xviiiHow to Use This Book xixAbout the Companion Website xxiIntroduction – Sociological Theory: A Vibrant, Living Tradition 1Analyzing Everyday Social Life: Starbucks 4Societal Transformation and the Origins of Sociology 12The Establishment of Sociology as Science: Auguste Comte and Harriet Martineau 17Social Inequality and Contextual Standpoints: Du Bois, De Tocqueville, and Martineau 23Summary 29Points to Remember 29Glossary 30Questions for Review 31Note 31References 321 Karl Marx (1818–1883) 34Expansion of Capitalism 37Capitalism as Structured Inequality 39Marx’s Theory of History 40Dialectical Materialism 41Communism 43The Millennium’s Greatest Thinker 44Human Nature 44Material and Social Existence Intertwined 45Capitalism as a Distinctive Social Form 46The Division of Labor and Alienation 57Economic Inequality 64Ideology and Power 68Summary 76Points to Remember 76Glossary 77Questions for Review 79Notes 79References 802 Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) 82Durkheim’s Methodological Rules 85The Nature of Society 91Societal Transformation and Social Cohesion 96Traditional Society 97Modern Society 99Social Conditions of Suicide 106Religion and the Sacred 116Summary 123Points to Remember 123Glossary 124Questions for Review 125Notes 126References 1263 Max Weber (1864–1920) 129Sociology: Understanding Social Action 133Culture and Economic Activity 133Ideal Types 140Social Action 141Power, Authority, and Domination 149Social Stratification 159Modernity and Competing Values 163Summary 166Points to Remember 166Glossary 168Questions for Review 169Notes 169References 1704 American Classics: The Chicago School, Talcott Parsons, and Robert Merton 172The Chicago School of Sociology 173Talcott Parsons 176The Social System 177Socialization and Societal Integration 180Social Change and the Secularization of Protestantism 182Pattern Variables 183Modernization Theory 188Stratification and Inequality 190Robert Merton 193Neofunctionalism 198Summary 200Points to Remember 200Glossary: Chicago School 201Glossary: Parsons 202Glossary: Merton 203Glossary: Luhmann 203Glossary: Alexander 204Questions for Review 204Note 204References 2045 Critical Theory: Technology, Culture, and Politics 207The Societal Critique of Horkheimer, Adorno, and Marcuse 212Dialectic of Enlightenment 216Mass Culture and Consumption 223Politics: Uniformity and Control 234Jürgen Habermas: The State and the Public Sphere 239Summary 245Points to Remember 245Glossary 246Questions for Review 248References 2496 Conflict, Power, and Dependency in Macro-Societal Processes 251Ralf Dahrendorf ’s Theory of Group Conflict 252C. Wright Mills: Class and Power 258Dependency Theory: Gunder Frank’s and Cardoso’s Neo-Marxist Critiques of Economic Development 264Summary 270Points to Remember 270Glossary 271Questions for Review 272References 2727 Exchange, Exchange Network, and Rational Choice Theories 274Exchange Theory: George Homans and Peter Blau 275Exchange Network Theory: Richard Emerson, Karen Cook, Mark Granovetter 282Rational Choice Theory (RCT) and Its Critique: James Coleman, Gary Becker, Paula England 287Analytical Marxism 293Summary 295Points to Remember 295Glossary: Exchange Theory 296Glossary: Exchange Network Theory 296Glossary: Rational Choice Theory 297Glossary: Analytical Marxism 297Questions for Review 297Note 298References 2988 Symbolic Interactionism 301Development of the Self Through Social Interaction: G. H. Mead and C. H. Cooley 302The Premises of Symbolic Interactionism: Herbert Blumer 308Erving Goffman: Society as Ritualized Social Interaction 309Symbolic Interactionism and Ethnographic Research 324Summary 324Points to Remember 325Glossary 326Questions for Review 328Note 328References 3289 Phenomenology and Ethnomethodology 331Phenomenology: Alfred Schutz, Peter Berger, and Thomas Luckmann 332Ethnomethodology: Harold Garfinkel 344Gender as an Accomplished Reality: Candace West and Don Zimmerman 348Summary 352Points to Remember 353Glossary: Phenomenology 354Glossary: Ethnomethodology 354Questions for Review 355References 35510 Feminist Theories 357Consciousness of Women’s Inequality: Charlotte Perkins Gilman 361Standpoint Theory: Dorothy Smith and the Relations of Ruling 364Masculinities: R.W. Connell 376Patricia Hill Collins: Black Women’s Standpoint 378Sociology of Emotion 388Arlie Hochschild: Emotional Labor 389Summary 396Points to Remember 397Glossary 398Questions for Review 399Notes 400References 40011 Sex, Bodies, Truth, Power: Michel Foucault, Steven Seidman, and Queer Theory 403Disciplining the Body 404Sex and Queer Theory 415Summary 426Points to Remember 426Glossary 427Questions for Review 428References 42812 Postcolonial Theories and Race 430The Color Line 433Slavery and Racial Otherness: Edward Said, Frantz Fanon 434Colonialism: The Creation of Otherness 436The Phenomenology of Otherness 439New Directions in the Sociology of Colonialism: R. W. Connell 440Southern Theory 441Race and Racism 442Cultural Histories and Postcolonial Identities: Stuart Hall 445Construing Whiteness 448Race and Class: William J. Wilson, Cornell West 449Scarring of Black America 451Racial Politics and Democracy 451Culture and the New Racism: Paul Gilroy 455New Racism 456Summary 459Points to Remember 459Glossary 460Questions for Review 461References 46213 Pierre Bourdieu: Class, Culture, and the Social Reproduction of Inequality 465Social Stratification 467Family and School in the Production of Cultural Capital 472Taste and Everyday Practices 476Summary 486Points to Remember 487Glossary 487Questions for Review 488References 48814 Economic and Political Globalization: Wallerstein, Sklair, Giddens, Sassen, Bauman, Castells 491What is Globalization? 497Economic Globalization 498Immanuel Wallerstein: The Modern World-System 499Contemporary Globalizing Economic Processes 505Globalizing Political Processes: The Changing Authority of the Nation-State 513Summary 526Points to Remember 527Glossary: Wallerstein 528Glossary: Other Relevant Concepts 528Questions for Review 529Notes 530References 53015 Modernities, Risk, Cosmopolitanism, and Posthumanism 533Jürgen Habermas: Contrite Modernity 534S.N. Eisenstadt: Multiple Modernities 536Ulrich Beck: Global Risk Society 542Anthony Giddens: Dilemmas of the Self Amidst Uncertainty 545Cosmopolitan Modernity 547The Global Expansion of Human Rights 549Posthumanism 554Summary 561Points to Remember 561Glossary 562Questions for Review 563References 564Glossary 567Sociological Theorists and Select Key Writings 588Index 592