This book provides a critical assessment of contemporary social theory for students in the social sciences. Delanty examines the writings of a number of key contemporary thinkers, including Habermas, Foucault, Bauman, Touraine, Giddens and Beck, and provides a clear account of the strengths and limitations of their work.
About the Author
Gerald Delanty is a Reader in Sociology at the University of Liverpool.
Features
* 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.
