Introduction to Sociological Theory

Michele Dillon is Professor of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire and has many years of experience teaching sociological theory to undergraduate and graduate students. Her previous publications include Handbook of the Sociology of Religion (ed.) (2003), In the Course of a Lifetime: Tracing Religious Belief, Practice, and Change (with Paul Wink) (2007), and American Catholics in Transition (with W. D Antonio and M. Gautier) (2013).

List of Boxed Features xi List of Figures Acknowledgments xiii How to Use This Book xvi Introduction: Welcome to Sociological Theory 1 Analyzing Social Life 4 Societal Transformation and the Origins of Sociology 12 The Establishment of Sociology 17 The Sociological Craft in the Nineteenth Century 23 Summary 27 Glossary 28 1 Karl Marx 31 Expansion of Capitalism 33 Marx s Theory of History 35 Human Nature 40 Capitalism as a Distinctive Social Form 42 Wage-Labor 48 The Division of Labor and Alienation 52 Economic Inequality 59 Ideology and Power 62 Summary 71 Glossary 72 2 Emile Durkheim 77 Durkheim s Methodological Rules 80 The Nature of Society 84 Societal Transformation and Social Cohesion 89 Traditional Society 89 Modern Society 92 Social Conditions of Suicide 98 Religion and the Sacred 106 Summary 111 Glossary 112 3 Max Weber 115 Sociology: Understanding Social Action 118 Culture and Economic Activity 119 Ideal Types 126 Social Action 127 Power, Authority, and Domination 133 Social Stratification 142 Modernity and Competing Values 145 Summary 148 Glossary 149 4 Talcott Parsons and Robert Merton: Functionalism and Modernization 153 Talcott Parsons 154 The Social System 156 Socialization and Societal Integration 158 Social Differentiation, Culture, and the Secularization of Protestantism 160 Pattern Variables 163 Modernization Theory 167 Stratification and Inequality 169 Robert Merton s Middle-Range Theory 172 Parsons s Legacy: Varied Directions Summary 176 Glossary 178 5 Critical Theory: Technology, Culture, and Politics 181 Dialectic of Enlightenment 187 Mass Culture and Consumption 192 Politics: Uniformity and Control199 Jurgen Habermas: The State and Society 201 Summary 208 Glossary 210 6 Conflict, Power, and Dependency in Macro-Societal Processes 215 Ralf Dahrendorf s Theory of Group Conflict 216 C. Wright Mills 220 Dependency Theory: Neo-Marxist Critiques of Economic Development 225 Summary 231 Glossary 233 7 Exchange, Exchange Network, and Rational Choice Theories 235 Exchange Theory 236 Exchange Network Theory Actor Network Theory 242 Rational Choice Theory 246 Analytical Marxism 251 Summary 253 Glossary 254 8 Symbolic Interactionism 257 Development of the Self through Social Interaction 258 The Premises of Symbolic Interactionism 263 Erving Goffman: Society as Ritualized Social Interaction 265 Symbolic Interactionism and Ethnographic Research 279 Summary 280 Glossary 281 9 Phenomenology and Ethnomethodology 285 Phenomenology 286 Ethnomethodology 298 Summary 307 Glossary 308 10 Feminist Theories 311 Consciousness of Women s Inequality 313 Standpoint Theory: Dorothy Smith and the Relations of Ruling 316 Masculinity Patricia Hill Collins:Black Women s Standpoint 327 Sociology of Emotion 335 Arlie Hochschild: Emotional Labor 336 Summary 344 Glossary 345 11 Michel Foucault:Sexuality, the Body, and Power 349 Michel Foucault 350 Sexuality and Queer Theory 360 Summary 367 Glossary 368 12 Race, Racism, and the Construction of Racial Otherness 371 Racial Otherness 373 Social Change, Race, and Racism 377 Slavery, Colonialism, and Racial Formation 381 William Du Bois: Slavery and Racial Inequality 384 Race and Class 388 Race, Community, and Democracy 390 Culture and the New Racism 396 Summary 400 Glossary 401 13 The Social Reproduction of Inequality 405 Pierre Bourdieu s Theory of Class and Culture Social Stratification 406 Family and School in the Production of Cultural Capital 410 Taste and Everyday Practices 414 Summary 424 Glossary 425 14 Economic and Political Globalization What is Globalization? 454 Economic Globalization 456 Immanuel Wallerstein: The Modern World-System 457 Contemporary Economic Globalizing Processes 463 Globalizing Political Processes: The Changing Authority of the Nation-State Migration and Political Mobilization in a Transnational World 483 Summary 447 Glossary 448 15 Modernities, Cosmopolitanism, and Global Consumer Culture Contrite Modernity Multiple Modernities Global Risk Society Cosmopolitan Modernity The Global Expansion of Human Rights Global Consumer Culture Summary Glossary Glossary Sociological Theorists and their Key Writings References Index