Cover; Contents; Introduction: The Theoretical Self; 1 Functionalist Perspectives: Theorising Systems and Structures; 2 Marxism: Theorising Capitalism --;Debates and Developments; 3 The Action Perspectives: Theorising Social Action and Self; 4 Feminist Approaches: Theorising Patriarchy and Oppression; 5 Anthony Giddens: Theorising Agency and Structure; 6 Postmodernism: Theorising Fragmentation and Uncertainty; Index.
Best offers a comprehensive overview of social theory from classical sociology to the present day. The reader is guided through the work of Durkheim, Marx and Weber and contemporary thinkers like Anthony Giddens, Michel Foucault, Jurgen Habermas, Judith Butler, Gilles Deluze, Manuel Castells, Luce Irigary, Naomi Woolf and Camille Paglia.