Classical and Contemporary Social Theory
About the Book Series
Classical and Contemporary Social Theory publishes rigorous scholarly work that re-discovers the relevance of social theory for contemporary times, demonstrating the enduring importance of theory for modern social issues. The series covers social theory in a broad sense, inviting contributions on both 'classical' and modern theory, thus encompassing sociology, without being confined to a single discipline. As such, work from across the social sciences is welcome, provided that volumes address the social context of particular issues, subjects, or figures and offer new understandings of social reality and the contribution of a theorist or school to our understanding of it. The series considers significant new appraisals of established thinkers or schools, comparative works or contributions that discuss a particular social issue or phenomenon in relation to the work of specific theorists or theoretical approaches. Contributions are welcome that assess broad strands of thought within certain schools or across the work of a number of thinkers, but always with an eye toward contributing to contemporary understandings of social issues and contexts.
Styling the Self: Ethics and Aesthetics in Absolute Capitalism
1st Edition
By Sam Han
July 28, 2026
This volume examines the turn inwards, towards matters of the self, in an era characterised by suffering, destruction and death resulting from large-scale structural problems including global pandemics, economic inequality and climate change. As uncertainty on a large scale has begotten attempts at...
The Roots of Sociology: Scottish Enlightenment and the Civilising Process
1st Edition
By Alex Law
March 23, 2026
This book argues that of today’s ‘core’ social scientific disciplines, it is sociology that has inherited the capacious ambitions of the Scottish Enlightenment. Departing from the practice of classifying thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment using modern disciplinary categories that they ...
Corporate Totalitarianism: Freedom, Power and Technology in the Modern Era
1st Edition
By Rowena Slope
January 30, 2026
Corporate Totalitarianism reflects on the changing nature of economic, political, and social power in the global context and the ways in which this affects both individual and society. Inspired by the thought of Hannah Arendt and informed by Weber's work on rationalisation and bureaucracy, the...
Love and Sexuality in Social Theory
1st Edition
Edited
By Emiliano Bevilacqua, Mariano Longo, Michael Hviid Jacobsen
January 30, 2026
Love and Sexuality in Social Theory considers the role that love and sexuality play in private and public life. Drawing on both classical and contemporary social theory, this book presents both theoretical and empirical studies of love and sexuality as social factors, from the earliest ...
Dark Emotions: Difficult Emotional Experiences in Social and Everyday Life
1st Edition
Edited
By Michael Hviid Jacobsen
September 29, 2025
Dark Emotions is a book about a range of emotional experiences that are often regarded or characterized as ‘negative’, ‘disturbing’ or ‘dark’ as contrasted with emotions that are ‘positive’, ‘pleasant’ or ‘light’. Each chapter in the book is devoted to introducing different ‘dark emotions’ such as ...
A Weberian Perspective on Home, Nature and Sport: Disenchantment and Salvation
1st Edition
By Michael Symonds
August 29, 2025
This book extends Max Weber’s theory of the value-spheres of modernity into wholly new areas, showing that the addition of home, nature and sport to Weber’s own list of five spheres (economic, scientific/intellectual, political/legal, erotic and aesthetic) yields original insights into these ...
Bronisław Malinowski and His Legacy in Contemporary Social Sciences and Humanities: On the Centenary of Argonauts of the Western Pacific
1st Edition
Edited
By Grażyna Kubica, Dariusz Brzeziński
August 29, 2025
As one of the most renowned figures in the history of anthropology, Bronisław Malinowski is recognised as having been central to the development of the discipline, with interpretations of his thought usually drawing attention to his work in founding the approach of functionalism and his innovative ...
Reading Talcott Parsons: A Re-Assessment of His Legacy
1st Edition
By Helmut Staubmann
May 27, 2025
Addressing the neglect of the work of Talcott Parsons, the complexity of whose thought and the opacity of whose writing style can prove daunting, this book provides a comprehensible account of the major theoretical accomplishments in his work and the reasons for which his legacy remains important ...
Creativity and Sociology: Doing Social Research with and on Artistic Sources
1st Edition
Edited
By Mariano Longo, Corrado Punzi, Matteo Jacopo Zaterini
May 26, 2025
Creativity and Sociology: Doing Social Research with and on Artistic Sources explores the relationship between artistic and sociological narratives, considering the ways in which artistic narratives in their different forms can be both subjects of sociological observation and tools for the ...
Norbert Elias and Sigmund Freud: The Psychoanalytic Foundations of the Civilizing Process
1st Edition
By André Oliveira Costa
May 06, 2025
This book explores the influence of Freudian psychoanalysis on Norbert Elias’ theory of the civilizing process – an influence acknowledged by Elias himself – conducting a dialogue with a view to analyzing points of contact and distance between them. Examining the development of Elias’ work, it ...
Pluralizing Humanism: Religions and Secularisms Beyond Power
1st Edition
By Slavica Jakelić
February 28, 2025
Humanism is appealed to today whenever we want to tackle the conditions of dehumanization in the contemporary world. But for humanism to be viable in the twenty first century, this book argues, it needs to be pluralized. Employing theoretical, historical, and sociological arguments, this book moves...
Vilfredo Pareto’s Contributions to Modern Social Theory: A Centennial Appraisal
1st Edition
Edited
By Christopher Adair-Toteff
January 30, 2025
This volume seeks to restore Vilfredo Pareto to his rightful place in the history of social and economic thought, bringing together studies by leading scholars to mark the centenary of his death in 1923. Assessing Pareto’s many contributions to the social sciences and his unique integration of the ...