Description
A big concern for the social sciences is the extent to which individuals and groups can actively (i.e., agency) transform or create our “self’s” and our social world in general. In other words, as the main question in the documentary “The Lottery of Birth” asked, “do you shape the world or does the world shape you?” Symbolic Interactionism and Critical Theory are often seen has having opposing views of such questions. Indeed, they do have some very different views regarding this question in general; however, if you look closely there are also similarities. Here is the setup:1) In your own words, compare and contrast the views of each theory (not each theorists), in general, regarding this question.2) Then, using Habermas and Goffman, and their concepts (you should not try to incorporate all of their concepts), explain in more detail where the theories diverge and how they are similar, with respect to the question (This will require you to find at least 1-2 pertinent quotes from each theorist to aid in your explanation). These quotes need to come from the readings by Habermas and Goffman, respectively, in your textbook, as opposed to from the author’s of your textbook. If this does not make sense to you then ask me. *be sure to use quotation marks and cite theorist and page number. 3) Lastly, discuss your opinion, about which theorist (Habermas or Goffman) you think best explains the question at hand and why.Note 1: You may not use any outside resourcesNote 2: This is a compare and contrast so make sure you are not just saying “this is what Habermas thinks and this is what Goffman thinks”. I need to see you are able to convey a compare and contrast, so although this includes “this is what Habermas thinks and this is what Goffman thinks,” it goes beyond this. You should be utilizing compare and contrast language (i.e., “Unlike Habermas, Goffman blah blah blah” or “Habermas says blah blah, whereas Goffman says yada yada”, or “Like Habermas, Goffman says blah blah blah “, etc. Also, words like similarly; by contrast; etc.)Format: There is not a length requirement (but if you are a student that needs an approximate—I’d say about 3 to 5 pages), but you should answer all that is required above, wholly and thoughtfully, without rambling. This should be typed, normal margins, double-spaced, Cambria or Times New Roman, 12pt font. A cover page with your Name-Soc. 468-Due date of midterm, therefore, your writing of the essay should start on the first page at the top.
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SOCIOLOGICAL
THEORY IN THE
CONTEMPORARY ERA
3
EDITION
SAGE was founded in 1965 by Sara Miller McCune to support
the dissemination of usable knowledge by publishing innovative
and high-quality research and teaching content. Today, we
publish more than 850 journals, including those of more than
300 learned societies, more than 800 new books per year, and
a growing range of library products including archives, data,
case studies, reports, and video. SAGE remains majority-owned
by our founder, and after Sara’s lifetime will become owned by
a charitable trust that secures our continued independence.
L o s A n g e l e s | L o n d o n | N ew D e l h i | S i n g a p o r e | Wa s h i n g to n D C
SOCIOLOGICAL
THEORY IN THE
CONTEMPORARY ERA
TEXT AND READINGS
3
EDITION
SCOTT APPELROUTH
California State University, Northridge
LAURA DESFOR EDLES
California State University, Northridge
FOR INFORMATION:
Copyright 2016 by SAGE Publications, Inc.
SAGE Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
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eLearning Editor: Gabrielle Piccininni
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Proofreader: Caryne Brown
Indexer: Kathy Paparchontis
Cover Designer: Candice Harman
Marketing Manager: Johanna Swenson
15 16 17 18 19 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Brief Contents
List of Illustrations and Photos
xiii
List of Figures and Tables
xv
About the Authors
xvii
Preface
xviii
Chapter 1: Introduction
1
Chapter 2: Structural Functionalism
25
Chapter 3: Critical Theory
81
Chapter 4: Exchange and Rational Choice Theories
179
Chapter 5: Symbolic Interactionism and Dramaturgy
235
Chapter 6: Phenomenology and Ethnomethodology
323
Chapter 7: Poststructuralism
391
Chapter 8: Postmodernism
481
Chapter 9: The Global Society
527
Glossary and Terminology
619
References
627
Index
637
Detailed Contents
List of Illustrations and Photos
xiii
List of Figures and Tables
xv
About the Authors
xvii
Preface
xviii
Chapter 1: Introduction
1
WHAT Is Sociological Theory?
WHY Read Original Works?
A Brief Historical Overview
The Enlightenment
Economic and Political Revolutions
The Ins and Outs of Classical Sociological Theory “Canon”
WHO Are Sociology’s Core Contemporary Theorists?
HOW Can We Navigate Sociological Theory?
The Questions of “Order” and “Action”
2
4
4
5
8
11
12
15
15
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
22
Chapter 2: Structural Functionalism
25
Significant Others—C. Wright Mills: An American Critic
Talcott C. Parsons: A Biographical Sketch
Parson’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Action Systems and Social Systems
The Pattern Variables
AGIL
Parsons’s Theoretical Orientation
READINGS
Introduction to “Categories of the Orientation and
Organization of Action”
From “Categories of the Orientation and
Organization of Action” (1951)
Introduction to “Sex Roles in the American Kinship System”
From “Sex Roles in the American Kinship System” (1943)
27
28
29
30
33
37
39
40
40
41
55
56
Robert K. Merton: A Biographical Sketch
Merton’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Merton’s Theoretical Orientation
READINGS
Introduction to “Manifest and Latent Functions”
From “Manifest and Latent Functions” (1949)
Introduction to “Social Structure and Anomie”
From “Social Structure and Anomie” (1967)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Chapter 3: Critical Theory
Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, and
Herbert Marcuse: Biographical Sketches
Max Horkheimer
Theodor Adorno
Herbert Marcuse
Horkheimer’s, Adorno’s, and Marcuse’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Marx, Weber, and the Revolution That Wasn’t
Significant Others—Antonio Gramsci: Hegemony and the Ruling Ideas
Significant Others—Walter Benjamin: Art in the Age of
Mechanical Reproduction
Freud and the “Unhappy Consciousness”
Horkheimer’s, Adorno’s, and Marcuse’s Theoretical Orientations
READINGS
59
60
63
64
65
65
71
71
79
81
83
83
84
84
88
88
95
97
100
104
105
Introduction to Max Horkheimer’s Eclipse of Reason
From Eclipse of Reason (1947)
Introduction to Theodor Adorno’s “The Culture
Industry Reconsidered”
From “The Culture Industry Reconsidered” (1975)
Introduction to Herbert Marcuse’s One-Dimensional Man
From One-Dimensional Man (1964)
113
113
118
119
Jürgen Habermas: A Biographical Sketch
Habermas’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Lifeworld and System
Habermas and Rational Action
Faith in Reason: The Public Sphere and “New” Social Movements
Habermas’s Theoretical Orientation
127
128
129
132
134
137
READINGS
Introduction to “Civil Society, Public Opinion,
and Communicative Power”
From “Civil Society, Public Opinion, and
Communicative Power” (1996)
106
106
139
139
141
Introduction to “The Tasks of Critical Theory of Society”
From “The Tasks of Critical Theory of Society” (1987)
Patricia Hill Collins: A Biographical Sketch
Collins’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Collins’s Theoretical Orientation
READING
Introduction to Black Feminist Thought
From Black Feminist Thought (1990)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
153
154
164
165
167
168
168
168
178
Chapter 4: Exchange and Rational Choice Theories
179
George C. Homans: A Biographical Sketch
Homans’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
B. F. Skinner and Behavioral Psychology
Classical Economics
Homans’s Theoretical Orientation
180
181
181
184
185
READING
Introduction to “Social Behavior as Exchange”
From “Social Behavior as Exchange” (1958)
Peter M. Blau: A Biographical Sketch
Blau’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Blau’s Theoretical Orientation
READING
187
187
187
195
196
198
201
Introduction to Exchange and Power in Social Life
From Exchange and Power in Social Life (1964)
201
202
James S. Coleman: A Biographical Sketch
Coleman’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Trust and Norms
The Free Rider
Significant Others—Michael Hechter: Rational Choice
and Group Solidarity
Coleman’s Theoretical Orientation
212
213
214
218
READING
Introduction to “Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital”
From “Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital” (1988)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
219
220
222
222
222
233
Chapter 5: Symbolic Interactionism and Dramaturgy
Herbert Blumer: A Biographical Sketch
Blumer’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Significant Others—Sheldon Stryker and Identity Theory
Blumer’s Theoretical Orientation
READING
Introduction to “The Methodological Position
of Symbolic Interactionism”
From “The Methodological Position of Symbolic
Interactionism” (1969)
Erving Goffman: A Biographical Sketch
Goffman’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Symbolic Interactionism: George Herbert Mead and
William I. Thomas
Social Anthropology: Émile Durkheim, A. R. Radcliffe-Brown,
and W. Lloyd Warner
Dramaturgy: A Synthesis
Goffman’s Theoretical Orientation
READINGS
Introduction to The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
From The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959)
Introduction to Asylums
From Asylums (1961)
Arlie Russell Hochschild: A Biographical Sketch
Hochschild’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
The Organismic Model
The Interactional Model
Goffman and Impression Management
Hochschild’s Emotion-Management Model
Hochschild’s Theoretical Orientation
READINGS
Introduction to “Working on Feeling”
From “Working on Feeling” (2003)
Introduction to The Managed Heart
From The Managed Heart (1983)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
235
237
237
238
241
243
243
244
255
256
256
259
262
265
268
268
269
283
284
294
295
295
296
297
298
301
302
303
303
312
313
322
Chapter 6: Phenomenology and Ethnomethodology
323
Alfred Schutz: A Biographical Sketch
Schutz’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Schutz’s Theoretical Orientation
325
326
331
READING
Introduction to The Phenomenology of the Social World
From The Phenomenology of the Social World (1967)
Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann: Biographical Sketches
Peter L. Berger
Thomas Luckmann
Berger and Luckmann’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Berger and Luckmann’s Theoretical Orientation
READING
Introduction to The Social Construction of Reality
From The Social Construction of Reality (1966)
Harold Garfinkel: A Biographical Sketch
Garfinkel’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Garfinkel’s Theoretical Orientation
READING
Introduction to Studies in Ethnomethodology
From Studies in Ethnomethodology (1967)
Dorothy E. Smith: A Biographical Sketch
Smith’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Smith’s Theoretical Orientation
READINGS
Introduction to Institutional Ethnography
From Institutional Ethnography (2005)
Introduction to The Everyday World as Problematic
From The Everyday World as Problematic (1987)
333
333
333
340
340
341
341
346
347
347
348
360
360
364
365
365
366
375
376
379
381
381
381
385
386
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
390
Chapter 7: Poststructuralism
391
393
395
397
400
READING
402
Introduction to Discipline and Punish
From Discipline and Punish (1975)
402
402
Pierre Bourdieu: A Biographical Sketch
Bourdieu’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Habitus
Symbolic Struggles
Bourdieu’s Theoretical Orientation
418
419
420
426
429
READINGS
Introduction to “Social Space and the Genesis of Groups”
From “Social Space and the Genesis of Groups” (1982)
Introduction to “Outline of a Sociological
Theory of Art Perception”
From “Outline of a Sociological Theory of Art Perception” (1968)
Edward Said: A Biographical Sketch
Said’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Significant Others—Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak:
Can the Subaltern Speak?
Significant Others—Frantz Fanon: The Father of Postcolonial Studies
Said’s Theoretical Orientation
READING
Introduction to Orientalism
From Orientalism (1978)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Chapter 8: Postmodernism
Defining Postmodernism
Jean Baudrillard: A Biographical Sketch
Baudrillard’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Baudrillard’s Theoretical Orientation
READING
Introduction to Simulacra and Simulations
From Simulacra and Simulations (1981)
Jean-François Lyotard: A Biographical Sketch
Lyotard’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Lyotard’s Theoretical Orientation
READING
Introduction to The Postmodern Condition
From The Postmodern Condition (1979)
Judith Butler: A Biographical Sketch
Butler’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Butler’s Theoretical Orientation
READING
Introduction to “Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire”
From “Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire” (1990)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
431
431
432
445
445
455
456
457
459
466
467
467
468
479
481
483
487
488
492
493
493
494
502
503
507
509
509
509
518
518
520
521
521
521
526
Chapter 9: The Global Society
Defining Globalization
When, What, and Where?
Immanuel Wallerstein: A Biographical Sketch
Wallerstein’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Wallerstein’s Theoretical Orientation
READING
Introduction to “The Modern World-System
as a Capitalist World-Economy”
From “The Modern World-System as a Capitalist World-Economy:
Production, Surplus, Value, and Polarization” (2004)
Leslie Sklair: A Biographical Sketch
Sklair’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Sklair’s Theoretical Orientation
READING
Introduction to Globalization: Capitalism and Its Alternatives
From Globalization: Capitalism and Its Alternatives (2002)
George Ritzer: A Biographical Sketch
Ritzer’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Ritzer’s Theoretical Orientation
READING
Introduction to “Rethinking Globalization”
From “Rethinking Globalization: Glocalization/Grobalization
and Something/Nothing” (2003)
Anthony Giddens: A Biographical Sketch
Giddens’s Intellectual Influences and Core Ideas
Structuration
Modernity and Globalization
Giddens’s Theoretical Orientation
READING
Introduction to The Consequences of Modernity
From The Consequences of Modernity (1990)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
527
530
531
537
538
545
546
546
547
558
558
561
562
562
562
575
575
578
580
580
580
592
593
593
596
598
600
600
600
617
Glossary and Terminology
619
References
627
Index
637
List of Illustrations
and Photos
Illustration 1.1 Alice in Wonderland
Illustration 1.2 Luddites
1
10
Talcott C. Parsons
Robert K. Merton
Photo 2.1a
Traditional Shaman (Affectivity)
Photo 2.1b
Modern Medicine (Affective-Neutrality)
Photo 2.2a
Small Farmer (Diffuseness)
Photo 2.2b
Fast-Food Restaurant Worker (Specificity)
Photo 2.3a
Hopi Rain Dance
Photo 2.3b
Business Lunch
Photo 2.4a
Teacher/Student
Photo 2.4b
Striking Teachers
25
25
36
36
37
37
62
62
63
63
Max Horkheimer
Theodor Adorno
Herbert Marcuse
Jürgen Habermas
Patricia Hill Collins
Photo 3.1
The Great Escape That Imprisons
Photo 3.2
Technological Rationality
Photo 3.3
“Cop Killer” to Cop: Ice-T Before and After
Photo 3.4
Freedom, Hope, and Cars
Photo 3.5
Advertising Happiness
Photo 3.6
Sex, Steaks, and “Everything” for Under a Buck
Photo 3.7
Protesting for Civil Rights
81
81
81
82
82
83
94
98
99
99
103
137
George C. Homans
Peter M. Blau
James S. Coleman
Photo 4.1
“Time Out”
179
179
179
182
Herbert Blumer
Erving Goffman
Arlie Russell Hochschild
Photo 5.1
May I Have This Dance? Jockeying for a Bus Seat
Photo 5.2a
Preparing for Guests
235
235
235
236
264
xiii
xiv SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY IN THE CONTEMPORARY ERA
Photo 5.2b
Photo 5.2c
Photo 5.3a
Photo 5.3b
The Dinner Party
The Cleanup
Factory Workers
Flight Attendant
264
264
299
299
Alfred Schutz
Peter L. Berger
Thomas Luckmann
Harold Garfinkel
Dorothy E. Smith
Photo 6.1
Woman Using Opera Glasses
Photo 6.2
Stephen Colbert
Photo 6.3
“Deviant” Elevator Riding
323
323
323
324
324
331
362
363
Michel Foucault
Pierre Bourdieu
Edward Said
Photo 7.1a
Foucault’s First Phase in Punishment: Public Torture
Photo 7.1b
The Second Phase: The Panopticon
Photo 7.1c
The Third Phase: Disciplinary Society—A Virtual Fortress
Photo 7.2
An Old Woman’s Hands
Photo 7.3
Nighttime Industrial Scene
Illustration 7.1 Visual Orientalism
391
391
391
399
399
399
424
424
464
Jean Baudrillard
Jean-François Lyotard
Judith Butler
Photo 8.1
The Matrix
Photo 8.2
Rauschenberg’s Monogram
Photo 8.3
Las Vegas
Photo 8.4
Picture Perfect: Downtown Celebration
Photo 8.5
Divine
481
481
481
483
485
487
492
519
Immanuel Wallerstein
Leslie Sklair
George Ritzer
Anthony Giddens
Photo 9.1a
Boys Working in the Cocoa Fields in the Ivory Coast
Photo 9.1b
Nestlé Headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland
Photo 9.2
Democracy, Iranian Style
Photo 9.3
Nike in Vietnam
Photo 9.4
Transnational Practices: Capitalism Without Borders
527
527
527
528
529
529
536
544
559
List of Figures and Tables
Figures
Figure 1.1
Figure 1.2
Figure 1.3
Figure 1.4
Figure 1.5
Figure 1.6
Figure 2.1
Figure 2.2
Figure 2.3
Figure 3.1
Figure 3.2
Figure 3.3
Figure 3.4
Figure 3.5
Figure 4.1
Figure 4.2
Figure 4.3
Figure 4.4a
Figure 4.4b
Figure 4.5
Figure 5.1
Figure 5.2
Figure 5.3
Figure 6.1
Figure 6.2
Figure 6.3
Figure 6.4
Figure 6.5
Figure 7.1
Figure 7.2
Figure 7.3
Figure 8.1
Figure 8.2
Figure 8.3
Historical Eras: A Partial Timeline
Population, London, United Kingdom (1600–1901)
Basic Theoretical Continuum as to the Nature of Social Order
Basic Theoretical Continuum as to the Nature of Social Action
Core Classical Theorists’ Basic Orientation
Basic Orientation of Core Perspectives in
Contemporary Sociological Theory
Parsons’s Model of Social Action
Parsons’s Model of the Interpenetration of Cultural,
Social, and Personality Systems
Merton’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Critical Theorists’ Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
The Domains of Lifeworld and System
The Consolidation of Corporate Media in the United States
Habermas’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Collins’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Homans’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Blau’s Model of Exchange and the Structure of Social Relations
Blau’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Open Social Networks
Closed Social Networks
Coleman’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Blumer’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Goffman’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Hochschild’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Schutz’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Berger and Luckmann’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Garfinkel’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Smith’s Concept of Institutional Ethnography: Walking the Dog
Smith’s Concepts of “Standpoint” and “Relations of Ruling”
Foucault’s Basic Concepts, Intellectual Influences,
and Theoretical Orientation
Bourdieu’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Said’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Baudrillard’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Lyotard’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Butler’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
6
9
16
16
17
18
30
32
64
104
129
136
139
168
186
198
199
217
217
221
241
266
302
332
345
365
379
380
401
430
466
493
508
521
xv
xvi SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY IN THE CONTEMPORARY ERA
Figure 9.1
Figure 9.2
Figure 9.3
Figure 9.4
Wallerstein’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Sklair’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Ritzer’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
Giddens’s Basic Concepts and Theoretical Orientation
546
562
579
599
Tables
Table 1.1
Table 2.1
Table 2.2
Table 2.3
Table 2.4
Table 3.1
Table 4.1
Table 4.2
Table 4.3
Table 5.1
Table 7.1
Table 8.1
Table 8.2
Table 9.1
Table 9.2
Why Do People Stop at Red Traffic Lights?
Basic Approaches to Order and Action
Parsons’s Pattern Variables
Parsons’s Pattern Variables and Tönnies’s Distinction
Between Gemeinschaft (Community) and Gesellschaft
(Purposive Association)
Four Functional Requirements of Action Systems: AGIL
Parsons’s AGIL Scheme at the Level of the Social System
Summary of Habermas’s Theory of Action
Homans’s Behaviorist Propositions
Exchange Relations and Interaction Options
Types of Norms
Thirty Leading Occupations for Women by Number of
Women Employed (2013 annual averages)
Foucault’s Three Phases of Punishment
Distinctions Between Modernism and Postmodernism
Baudrillard’s Theory of the “Orders of Simulacra”
Where Is Globalization Leading? Four Views on
the Consequences of Globalization
Comparing the Theories of Marx and
Wallerstein on Modern Society
19
34
35
38
38
133
183
199
215
300
400
486
490
533
545
About the Authors
Scott Appelrouth (PhD, New York University, 2000) is Professor at California State
University, Northridge. His interests include sociological theory, cultural sociology, and
social movements. He has taught classical and contemporary theory at both the graduate and
undergraduate levels, and has published several articles in research- and teaching-oriented
journals on social movements, theory, and the controversies over jazz during the 1920s and
rap during the 1980s. His current research focuses on political discourse in American party
platforms.
Laura Desfor Edles (PhD, University of California, Los Angeles, 1990) is Professor of
Sociology at California State University, Northridge. She is the author of Symbol and Ritual
in the New Spain: The Transition to Democracy after Franco (1998) and Cultural Sociology
in Practice (2002), as well as various articles on culture, theory, race/ethnicity, and social
movements.
xvii
Preface
E
very semester we begin our sociological theory courses by telling students that we
love sociological theory, and that one of our goals is to get each and every one of
them to love theory, too. This challenge we set for ourselves makes teaching sociological theory exciting. If you teach “sexy” topics like the sociology of drugs, crime, or sex,
students come into class expecting the course to be titillating. By contrast, when you teach
sociological theory, students tend to come into class expecting the course to be abstract, dry,
and irrelevant to their lives. The fun in teaching sociological theory is in proving students
wrong. The thrill in teaching sociological theory is in getting students to see that sociological theory is absolutely central to their everyday lives—and fascinating as well. What a
reward it is to have students who adamantly insisted that they “hated” theory at the beginning of the semester “converted” into theorists by the end!
In teaching sociological theory, we use original texts. We rely on original texts in part
because every time we read these works we derive new meaning. Core sociological works
tend to become “core” precisely for this reason. However, using original readings requires
that the professor spend lots of time and energy explaining issues and material that is unexplained or taken for granted by the theorist. This book was born of this process—teaching
from original works and explaining them to our students. Hence, this book includes the
original readings we use in our courses, as well as our interpretation and explanation of
them.
Thus, this book is distinct in that it is both a reader and a text. It is unlike existing readers in several ways, however. First and foremost, this book is not just a collection of seemingly disconnected readings. Rather, in this book we provide an overarching theoretical
framework with which to understand, compare, and contrast these selections. In our experience, this overarching theoretical framework is essential in explaining the relevance and
excitement of sociological theory. In addition, we discuss the social and intellectual milieus
in which the selections were written, as well as their contemporary relevance. Thus, we
connect these seemingly disparate works not only via theory, but also via concrete applications to today’s world.
Finally, this book is unique in that we provide a variety of visuals and pedagogical
devices—historical and contemporary photographs, and diagrams and charts illuminating
core theoretical concepts and comparing specific ideas—to enhance student understanding.
Our thinking is, Why should only introductory-level textbooks have visual images and
pedagogical aids? Almost everyone, and not just the youngest audiences, enjoys—and
learns from—visuals.
As is often the case in book projects, this turned out to be a much bigger and thornier
project than either of us first imagined. And, in the process of writing this book, we have
xviii
Preface xix
accrued many intellectual and social debts. First, we especially thank Jerry Westby of SAGE
for helping us get this project started. Jerry literally walked into our offices at California State
University, Northridge, and turned what had been a nebulous, long-standing idea into a concrete plan. In the several years since then, Jerry has been a continuously enthusiastic and
conscientious ally, and we are grateful for his hard work and unflagging support. At California
State University, Northridge, we are especially indebted to our friend and colleague David
Boyns, who helped us in writing the first edition of this book when things got tight. On the
production of this third edition, we especially thank Alexandra Croell, who organized and
collected the many copyright permissions essential to the production of this book; Pam
Suwinsky, who copyedited the book; and David Felts, who oversaw the production.
We thank the following reviewers for their comments:
For the First Edition
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xx SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY IN THE CONTEMPORARY ERA
Peter Venturelli
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For the Third Edition
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1I
ntroduction
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, by Lewis Carroll; illustration
by John Tenniel. (1960) New York: Penguin. Used by permission.
Key Concepts
11Theory
11Order
Collective/Individual
11Action
Rational/Nonrational
11European Enlightenment
11Counter-Enlightenment
Illustration 1.1 Alice in Wonderland
“But I’m not a serpent, I tell you!” said Alice. “I’m a—I’m a—”
“Well! What are you?” said the Pigeon. “I can see you’re trying to invent something!”
“I—I’m a little girl,” said Alice, rather doubtfully, as she remembered the number
of changes she had gone through that day.
“A likely story indeed!” said the Pigeon, in a tone of the deepest contempt. “I’ve
seen a good many little girls in my time, but never one with such a neck as that!
No, no! You’re a serpent; and there’s no use denying it. I suppose you’ll be telling
me next that you never tasted an egg!”
“I have tasted eggs, certainly,” said Alice, who was a very truthful child; “but
little girls eat eggs quite as much as serpents do, you know.”
“I don’t believe it,” said the Pigeon; “but if they do, why, then they’re a kind of
serpent: that’s all I can say.”
—Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
1
2 SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY IN THE CONTEMPORARY ERA
I
n the previous passage, the Pigeon had a theory—Alice is a serpent because she has a
long neck and eats eggs. Alice, however, had a different theory—that she was a little
girl. Yet, it was not the “facts” that were disputed in the above passage. Alice freely
admitted that she had a long neck and ate eggs. So why did Alice and the Pigeon come to
such different conclusions? Why didn’t the facts “speak for themselves”?
Alice and the Pigeon both interpreted the question (What is Alice?) using the categories,
concepts, and assumptions with which each was familiar. It was these unarticulated concepts,
assumptions, and categories that led the Pigeon and Alice to such different conclusions.
Likewise, social life can be perplexing and complex. It is hard enough to know “the
facts”—let alone to know why things are as they seem. In this regard, theory is vital to making sense of social life because it holds assorted observations and facts together (as it did for
Alice and the Pigeon). Facts make sense only because we interpret them using preexisting
categories and assumptions—that is, “theories.” The point is that even so-called facts are
based on implicit assumptions and unacknowledged presuppositions. Whether or not we are
consciously aware of them, our everyday lives are filled with theories as we seek to understand the world around us. The importance of formal sociological theorizing is that it makes
assumptions and categories explicit, hence open to examination, scrutiny, and reformulation.
To be sure, some students find sociological theory as befuddling as the conversation
between Alice and the Pigeon in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. They find it difficult to
understand and interpret what sociological theorists are saying. Some students consider
sociological theory abstract and dry, and insist, “It has nothing to do with my life.”
In this book, we seek to demonstrate the continuing relevance and necessity of sociological theory, with a focus on the contemporary era. We argue that the theorists whose work you
will read in this book are vital to comprehending, adapting to, and changing our complex
world. Yet the purpose of this book is to provide students not only with crucial readings from
prominent contemporary sociological theorists but also with a framework for comprehending them. To this end, in this introductory chapter we discuss (1) what sociological theory is,
(2) who the “core” contemporary sociological theorists are, and (3) how students can develop
a more critical and gratifying understanding of the ideas advanced by these theorists.
WHAT Is Sociological Theory?
Theory is a system of generalized statements or propositions about phenomena. There are
two additional features, however, that together distinguish scientific theories from other idea
systems, such as those found in religion or philosophy. “Scientific” theories
1. explain and predict the phenomena in question, and
2. produce testable and thus falsifiable hypotheses.
Universal laws are intended to explain and predict events occurring in the natural or
physical world. For instance, Isaac Newton established three laws of motion. The first law,
the law of inertia, states that objects in motion will remain in motion, while objects at rest
will remain at rest, unless either is acted on by another force. In its explanation and predictions regarding the movement of objects, this law extends beyond the boundaries of time
and space. For their part, sociologists seek to develop or refine general statements about
some aspect of social life. For example, a long-standing (although not uncontested) sociological theory predicts that as a society becomes more modern the salience of religion will
Introduction 3
decline. Like Newton’s law of inertia, the secularization theory, as it is called, is not
restricted in its scope to any one time or population. Instead, it is an abstract proposition that
can be tested in any society once the key concepts that make up the theory—“modern” and
“religion”—are defined and observable measures are specified.
Thus, sociological theories share certain characteristics with theories developed in other
branches of science. However, there are significant differences between social and other
scientific theories (i.e., theories in the social sciences as opposed to those in the natural sciences) as well. First, sociological theories tend to be more evaluative and critical than are
theories in the natural sciences. Sociological theories are often rooted in implicit moral
assumptions that contrast with traditional notions of scientific objectivity. In other words, it
is often supposed that the pursuit of scientific knowledge should be free from value judgments or moral assessments; that is, that the first and foremost concern of science is to
uncover what is, not what ought to be. Indeed, such objectivity is often cast as a defining
feature of science, one that separates it from other forms of knowledge based on tradition,
religion, or philosophy. But sociologists tend to be interested not only in understanding the
workings of society but also in realizing a more just or equitable social order. As you will
see, the work of many theorists is shaped in important respects by their own moral sensibilities regarding the condition of modern societies and what the future may bring. Thus,
sociological theorizing at times falls short of the “ideal” science practiced more closely
(although still imperfectly) by “hard” sciences like physics, biology, or chemistry. For some
observers, this failure to consistently conform consistently to the ideals of either science or
philosophy is a primary reason for the discipline’s troublesome identity crisis and “ugly
duckling” status within the academic world. For others, it represents the opportunity to
develop a unique understanding of social life.
A second difference between sociological theories and those found in other scientific
disciplines stems from the nature of their respective subjects. Societies are always in the
process of change; the changes themselves can be spurred by any number of causes, including internal conflicts, wars with other countries (whether ideological or through direct invasion), scientif
