ABSTRACT
Social theory is in a state o f uncertainty at present. To begin with, it has a past but its practitioners seem unsure as to w hether that past is a dead hand or an opportunity. Then again, social theory now consists o f ‘a varied, often confusing, array o f approaches’ (Giddens & Turner 1987, p. 3), but its practitioners seem uncertain whether this diversity o f approaches is a good or a bad thing. Finally, the practitioners o f social theory seem uncertain whether to lay claim to constructing the base o f a social ‘science’, or o f a ‘critical reason’ which does w ithout some o f the claims o f science.
