About the Book
The publication of the sixth edition of Classical Sociological Theory is characterized by both continuity and change. The book continues to do what it has always done—offer a comprehensive overview of classical sociological theory in a single volume. As in previous editions, the in-depth discussion of theories (often enlivened with examples) in the text narrative is accompanied by informative and engaging biographical sketches of many of the most important thinkers in the history of sociology.
Classical Sociological Theory continues to include two historical chapters covering the early history of the field (Chapter 1) as well as its most recent developments (Chapter 2). These chapters give students an overview that allows them to put the work of each theorist in its historical, social, and political context. In one convenient volume, this book offers students a handy overview of most of what they need to know about classical sociological theory.
The social world is a complex and difficult subject; so are many of the theories about it. I have striven to make theory interesting, relevant, and as clear and accessible as possible.
Contents
PART I: Introduction to Classical Sociological Theory
1 A Historical Sketch of Sociological Theory: The Early Years
2 A Historical Sketch of Sociological Theory: The Later Years
PART II: Classical Sociological Theory
3 Alexis de Tocqueville
4 Auguste Comte
5 Herbert Spencer
6 Karl Marx
7 Emile Durkheim
8 Max Weber
9 Georg Simmel
10 Early Women Sociologists and Classical Sociological Theory: 1830–1930
11 W.E.B. Du Bois
12 Thorstein Veblen
13 Joseph Schumpeter
14 Karl Mannheim
15 George Herbert Mead
16 Alfred Schutz
17 Talcott Parsons
About the Author / Editor
George Ritzer is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, where he has also been a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and received a Teaching Excellence Award. In 2000, he received the Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award of the American Sociological Association, and in 2004, he received an honorary doctorate from LaTrobe University in Melbourne, Australia.
Dr. Ritzer served as Chair of the American Sociological Associations Sections on Theoretical Sociology and Organizations and Occupations. He held the UNESCO Chair in Social Theory at the Russian Academy of Sciences and a Fulbright- Hays Chair at York University in Canada, and he received a Fulbright-Hays award to the Netherlands. He was Scholar-in- Residence at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study and at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences.
