* This book is designed as an upper-level textbook in social theory. It offers clear and concise appraisals of the work of a number of key contemporary thinkers, including Habermas, Foucault, Giddens and Beck.
* The author focuses on ways in which contemporary social thinkers have conceptualised modernity - that is, how they understand the distinctive features and developmental trends of modern societies.
* He also offers his own distinctive account of modernity, arguing that modernity involves a central conflict between autonomy and fragmentation. Hence, this book also makes an original contribution to contemporary debates.