1. Introduction
What is Social Theory?
Concepts
Theories
Perspectives
What is Society?
The Past, Present, and Future of Social Theory
Classical Social Theory
Contemporary Social Theory
What about the Future?
Reading Social Theory Today
The Structure of This Book
Over to You
2. Karl Marx: Critique, Class Struggle, and Revolution
Key Concepts
Alienation
Class
Mode of Production
Commodity Fetishism
Historical Materialism
How did these concepts shape social theory?
Linking Theory and Praxis
What are the problems for their use in social research today?
Eurocentrism
Class Reductionism
How is this perspective used in social theory today?
Marxist Schools
Marxism in Action
International Relations
3. Émile Durkheim: Society Functions!
Key Concepts
Anomie
Collective Consciousness
Organic and Mechanical Solidarity
Division of Labour
Social Facts
How did these concepts shape social theory?
Functionalism
Positivism
What are the problems for their use in social research today?
Functionalism: Normalising conflict and exploitation
Positivism: Blind to Rationality and Depth-Psychology
How is this perspective used in social theory today?
Structuration Theory
4. Max Weber: Meaningful Social Action
Key Concepts
Verstehen
Ideal Types
The Iron Cage
Authority and Social Action
Disenchantment and the Protestant Work Ethics
How did these concepts shape social theory?
Interpretivism
Linking Economy, Society, Subjectivity
What are the problems for their use in social research today?
Was Weber racist?
How is this perspective used in social theory today?
The McDonaldization Thesis
Social Stratification
5. The Early Frankfurt School: What happened to the revolution?
Key Concepts
Traditional and Critical Theory
Reification
Instrumental Rationality
Culture Industry
Freudo-Marxism
How did these concepts shape social theory?
The idea of ‘Critical Theory’
What are the problems for their use in social research today?
Colonial Teleology
Androcentrism
How is this perspective used in social theory today?
Science and Technology
6. Pierre Bourdieu: Class meets Culture
Key Concepts
Capital
Habitus
Field
Homology and Structural Correspondence
Symbolic Violence
How did these concepts shape social theory?
Inequality and Cultural Sociology
Sociology as a Combat Sport
What are the problems for their use in social research today?
Forgetting the Mute Compulsion of Capital
Lacking Intersectionality
How is this perspective used in social theory today?
Capital
Practice Theory
7. The Frankfurt School Today: Modernity, Communication, and Recognition
Key Concepts
Modernity and Social Learning Processes
Post-Marxism
Post-Metaphysics
Communicative Action
Recognition
How did these concepts shape social theory?
The intersubjective turn
Fusing theoretical traditions
Modernity and Modernities
What are the problems for their use in social research today?
Forgetting Capitalism
Blind to Power
Eurocentrism
How is this perspective used in social theory today?
Communication and the public sphere
Recognition
8. Gender: Theorising Patriarchy
Key Concepts
Patriarchy
Sex and Gender
Queer Theory
Care Labour and Feminist Political Economy
Intersectionality
How did these concepts shape social theory?
Fluid Identities
Hegemonic Masculinity
Emphasized Femininity
What are the problems for their use in social research today?
Equality, Diversity, Inclusion
The Decay of Intersectionality
How is this perspective used in social theory today?
Political Urgency
9. Post-Structuralism and Post-Modernism: ‘It’s all so much more complicated than that!’
Key Concepts
Post-modernism
Deconstructionism
Discourse and Power/Knowledge
Biopolitics
Hyper-Reality
How did these concepts shape social theory?
Rejection of binaries
Subjectivity
What are the problems for their use in social research today?
Relativism
Obscurantism and Nonsense
How is this perspective used in social theory today?
Critical Discourse Analysis
10. Decolonial Social Theory: Confronting Coloniality
Key Concepts
Coloniality of Power
Eurocentrism
Epistemicide and Decolonising Knowledge
Subalternity
Modernity/Coloniality
How did these concepts shape social theory?
Epistemic Diversity
Normalising Global Social Research
What are the problems for their use in social research today?
Mute Symbolism and Co-Optation
Neo-nativism and Fetishises Indigenieties
11. Conclusion: Key Questions
Biography
Neal Harris is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Oxford Brookes University, UK. His most recent books include Critical Theory and Social Pathology: The Frankfurt School Beyond Recognition (Manchester University Press, 2022) and Capitalism and its Critics: Capitalism in Social and Political Theory (co-authored with Gerard Delanty, Routledge, 2022). He has taught social and political theory at the University of Sussex, University of Brighton, and Oxford Brookes University.
“This splendid book brilliantly succeeds in the difficult task of introducing social theory in a clear, comprehensive and exceptionally readable form. The author's range of references is enormously impressive.”
William Outhwaite, Emeritus Professor in Sociology, University of Newcastle, UK
“Neal Harris has produced a comprehensive, insightful, and original overview of the most important ideas and concepts in social theory from Marx to the present. Each chapter is meticulously researched, detailed, and accessible. The book will be of great interest to undergraduates, postgraduates, and academics in the social sciences and humanities.”
Darrow Schecter, Professor of Critical Theory at the University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
“Foundations of Social Theory: A Critical Introduction by Neal Harris is an excellent book which delivers exactly what the title promises - and then more. At a time when social theory, especially in its critical form, is under siege this is a very necessary book not only for students of social sciences who are beginners in social theory, but also for more established scholars. The very well presented introductory approach of Harris deals with essential thinkers, schools of thought, topics and controversies, making it a foundational read for everyone. On top of this, the particular style of thinking and writing of Harris also makes it highly valuable text for more experienced scholars – both as a challenge and as a starting point for rethinking and reassessing developed, and sometimes petrified, positions. I recommend this for all!”
Heinz Sünker, Rudolf-Carnap-Senior-Professor at the Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany and Honorary Professor at Aarhus University, Denmark
