ABSTRACT

Now in its third edition, Anthony Elliott’s comprehensive, stylish and accessible introduction continues to be the indispensable guide to social theory. Fully revised and updated, the book examines the major theoretical traditions from the Frankfurt School to posthumanism, and from feminism and post-structuralism to globalization theory and beyond.

Classical debates in social theory are given careful appraisal, as are the major contemporary theorists – including Jurgen Habermas, Judith Butler, Anthony Giddens, Pierre Bourdieu, Julia Kristeva, Slavoj Žižek, Manuel Castells, Ulrich Beck, Zygmunt Bauman, Shoshana Zuboff and Bernard Stiegler. This edition includes a new chapter on the digital revolution, with consideration of how digital technologies in general and artificial intelligence in particular are reshaping societies.

Like its predecessors, the third edition of Contemporary Social Theory combines stylish exposition with reflective social critique and original insights. This volume will prove a superb textbook with which to navigate the twists and turns of contemporary social theory as taught in the disciplines of sociology, politics, cultural and media studies and many more.

chapter chapter 1|19 pages

The textures of society

chapter chapter 2|23 pages

The contemporary relevance of the classics

chapter chapter 3|35 pages

The Frankfurt School

chapter chapter 4|37 pages

Structuralism

chapter chapter 5|33 pages

Post-structuralism

chapter chapter 6|34 pages

Theories of structuration

chapter chapter 7|31 pages

Contemporary critical theory

chapter chapter 8|46 pages

Feminism and post-feminist theory

chapter chapter 9|39 pages

Postmodernity

chapter chapter 10|41 pages

Networks, risks, liquids

chapter chapter 11|36 pages

Globalization

chapter chapter 12|31 pages

The digital revolution: posthumanism and beyond