ABSTRACT
This innovative publication maps out the broad and interdisciplinary field of contemporary European social theory. It covers sociological theory, the wider theoretical traditions in the social sciences including cultural and political theory, anthropological theory, social philosophy and social thought in the broadest sense of the term.
This volume surveys the classical heritage, the major national traditions and the fate of social theory in a post-national and post-disciplinary era. It also identifies what is distinctive about European social theory in terms of themes and traditions. It is divided into five parts: disciplinary traditions, national traditions, major schools, key themes and the reception of European social theory in American and Asia.
Thirty-five contributors from nineteen countries across Europe, Russia, the Americas and Asian Pacific have been commissioned to utilize the most up-to-date research available to provide a critical, international analysis of their area of expertise. Overall, this is an indispensable book for students, teachers and researchers in sociology, cultural studies, politics, philosophy and human geography and will set the tone for future research in the social sciences.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |2 pages
Part 1: Disciplinary traditions
chapter |11 pages
Founders, classics, and canons in the formation of social theory
chapter |11 pages
Social theory and the social sciences
chapter |12 pages
Social theory and political philosophy
chapter |12 pages
Social theory and theology
part |2 pages
Part 2: National traditions
chapter |18 pages
Contemporary German social theory
chapter |13 pages
The age of epigones: Post-Bourdieusian social theory in France
chapter |15 pages
Contemporary Spanish social theory
chapter |15 pages
Nordic social theory: between social philosophy and grounded theory
chapter |15 pages
Contemporary East Central European social theory
chapter |16 pages
Contemporary Russian social theory
part |2 pages
Part 3: Intellectual traditions
chapter |15 pages
Hermeneutics, phenomenology and philosophical anthropology
chapter |12 pages
Contemporary European cognitive social theory
chapter |12 pages
Civilizational analysis, social theory and comparative history
chapter |13 pages
Cosmopolitanism: A social science research agenda
part |2 pages
Part 4: Themes and Narratives
chapter |9 pages
European master narratives about freedom
chapter |13 pages
Modernity and the escape from Eurocentrism
chapter |10 pages
European transformations
chapter |9 pages
The politics of commemoration: The Holocaust, memory and trauma
chapter |12 pages
Cultural identities
chapter |13 pages
Nations, belonging and community
chapter |10 pages
Theorizing the European city
chapter |14 pages
Making sense of the public sphere
chapter |12 pages
Nature, embodiment and social theory
part |2 pages
Part 5: Global perspectives