"This is a robust text - challenging and provocative and one which students will benefit from reading. Layder guides the reader through a large body of relevant literature. He draws attention to the strengths and weaknesses of particular approaches as he sees them and he is not afraid to offer his own judgements on the issues and problems he addresses."
- Professor John Eldridge, University of Glasgow
"One of the most comprehensive, incisive and readable treatments of the macro-micro problem now available."
- Professor Paul Colomy, University of Denver
This is a revised, updated and enlarged version of the accessible, authoritative first edition - a jargon-free textbook that provides an introduction to the core issues in social theory. It includes:
Chapter previews, summaries and a glossary of key terms.
A 'problem focus' that encourages students to acquire skills of argument and discussion.
A concluding chapter relating theory to social domains.
Relevant examples from everyday life to illustrate key theoretical issues.
It is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of social and sociological theory.
A Map of the Terrain
PART ONE: THE VIEW FROM ON HIGH
The Legacy of Talcott Parsons
Varieties of Marxism
PART TWO: WHERE THE ACTION IS
Meanings, Situations and Experience
Perceiving and Accomplishing
PART THREE: BREAKING FREE AND BURNING BRIDGES
Foucault and the Postmodern Turn
Beyond Micro and Macro: Abandoning False Problems
Gidden's Structuration Theory
PART FOUR: ONLY CONNECT: FORGING LINKS
Linking Agency and Structure and Macro and Micro
Habermas's Lifeworld and System
Varieties of Dualism
New Directions: The Theory of Social Domains