Social Theory

* Introduction *1. The Enlightenment *1. 1 Prehistory *1. 2 The concept of modernity *1. 3 A moral science *1. 4 The development of social theory *1. 5 Inner strains *2. Hegel *2. 1 Reconciling modernity *2. 2 The labour of the negative *2. 3 The debate over modernity *3. Liberals and Reactionaries *3. 1 Post-revolutionary debates *3. 2 Agonistic liberalism: Tocqueville and Mill *3. 3 Providence and race: Maistre and Gobineau *4. Marx *4. 1 The adventures of the dialectic *4. 2 History and capitalism *4. 3 Class struggle and revolution *5. Life and Power *5. 1 Evolution before and after Darwin *5. 2 Two evolutionists: Spencer and Kautsky *5. 3 Nature as the will to power: Nietzsche *6. Durkheim *6. 1 Social evolution and scientific objectivity *6. 2 Society as a moral reality *6. 3 Meaning and belief *7. Weber *7. 1 Prussian agriculture and the German state *7. 2 Science and the warring gods *7. 3 History and rationalization *7. 4 Liberal imperialism and democratic politics *8. The Illusions of Progress *8. 1 The strange death of liberal Europe *8. 2 Objectivity and estrangement: Simmel *8. 3 The self dissected: Freud *8. 4 Memories of underdevelopment: Russian intellectuals and capitalism *9. Revolution and Counter-Revolution *9. 1 Hegelian Marxism: Lukacs and Gramsci *9. 2 Heidegger and the conservative revolution *10. The Golden Age *10. 1 Theories of capitalism: Keynes and Hayek *10. 2 Functionalist sociology: Talcott Parsons *10. 3 Despairing critique: the Frankfurt school *11. Crack-Up? *11. 1 The 1960s and after *11. 2 Structure and subject: Levi-Strauss and Althusser *11. 3 Nietzsche's revenge: Foucault and poststructuralism *11. 4 Carrying on the tradition: Habermas and Bourdieu *12. Debating modernity and postmodernity *12. 1 Postmodernity? *12. 2 Modernity and capitalism *12. 3 Reason and nature *12. 4 Theory and practice *12. 5 Universal and particular *12. 6 Beyond capitalism? *13. Changing the subject: globalization, capitalism, and imperialism *13. 1

Alex Callinicos is Professor of European Studies at Kings College, London.

"The best of its kind on the market." Steve Fuller, Times Higher Education "Alex Callincos has written one of the best historical introductions to sociological theory. His book also does a nice job of connecting sociological theory to broader intellectual trends and movements. This new edition sustains the quality and improves the coverage." Craig Calhoun, New York University "The second edition of Alex Callincos' Social Theory reads in the same beautifully clear, reliable and accessible way as the first edition. The new material adds a further dimension to this splendid book, bringing it fully up to date with debates in which Callinicos has himself played a part." William Outhwaite, University of Sussex