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.
The Ultimate Sacrifice: Martyrdom, Sovereignty, and Secularization in the West
1st Edition
By Clayton Fordahl
September 30, 2021
This book presents an interpretive, macro-historical, and sociological account of martyrdom. Moving away from the notion of martyrdom as an object of individual behavior and seeing it instead as a significant cultural work performed by communities in the wake of a violent death, it provides a novel...
The Appeal of Art in Modernity
1st Edition
By Michael Symonds
August 02, 2021
This book explores the place of art in the modern world, but instead of asking what art is, it begins with the question of art’s appeal in modernity. Why is the appellation ‘art’ so desired for movies, food, and fashion, for example? Why is there the assumption of esteem when someone calls ...
David Riesman's Unpublished Writings and Continuing Legacy
1st Edition
Edited
By Keith Kerr, B. Garrick Harden, Marcus Aldredge
June 30, 2021
It has been over 60 years since David Riesman’s most famous work The Lonely Crowd brought him international acclaim. While this remains a best-selling sociology book, Riesman’s expertise and publications spanned far beyond the treatment of the American social character type offered there. This ...
Emotions through Literature: Fictional Narratives, Society and the Emotional Self
1st Edition
By Mariano Longo
March 31, 2021
Engaging with the wide sociological literature on emotions, this book explores the social representation of emotions, their management and their effects by making reference to creative sources. With a specific focus on literary narrative, including the works of figures such as Dante, Austen, ...
Writing the Body Politic: A John O’Neill Reader
1st Edition
Edited
By Mark Featherstone, Thomas Kemple
March 31, 2021
This book brings together key essays from the career of social theorist John O’Neill, including his uncollected later writings, focusing on embodiment to explore the different ways in which the body trope informs visions of familial, economic, personal, and communal life. Beginning with an ...
Critical and Cultural Interactionism: Insights from Sociology and Criminology
1st Edition
Edited
By Michael Hviid Jacobsen
December 18, 2020
One of the longest standing traditions in sociology, interactionism is concerned with studying human interaction and showing how society to a large part is constituted by patterns of interaction. In spite of the work of figures such as Robert E. Park, Everett C. Hughes, Erving Goffman, Herbert ...
Disembedded Markets: Economic Theology and Global Capitalism
1st Edition
By Christoph Deutschmann
September 30, 2020
This book offers a sociological analysis of globalised capitalist markets, advancing the notion of ‘disembedded markets’ to challenge the idea of ‘social embeddedness’ common in economic sociology. Avoiding an exclusive focus on institutions, networks and trust relationships surrounding markets, ...
From the Peaceable to the Barbaric: Thorstein Veblen and the Charro Cowboy
1st Edition
By Beatriz Aldana Marquez
September 30, 2020
This book applies Thorstein Veblen’s cultural theory to a qualitative study of the charro cowboy culture and community in Mexico. Drawing on Veblen’s arguments regarding cultural lag, the peaceable and the barbaric, predatory culture, vested interest, and pecuniary interest, it examines the ...
Morality Made Visible: Edward Westermarck’s Moral and Social Theory
1st Edition
By Otto Pipatti
September 30, 2020
While highly respected among evolutionary scholars, the sociologist, anthropologist and philosopher Edward Westermarck is now largely forgotten in the social sciences. This book is the first full study of his moral and social theory, focusing on the key elements of his theory of moral emotions as ...
Being Human in a Consumer Society
1st Edition
By Alejandro Néstor García Martínez
June 30, 2020
This book offers a new perspective on sociological studies of the consumer society, introducing neglected normative questions relating to the good life and human flourishing - subjects more commonly discussed in fields of moral, political, and social philosophy. With attention to a wide range of ...
Beyond Bauman: Critical engagements and creative excursions
1st Edition
Edited
By Michael Hviid Jacobsen
June 30, 2020
Bringing together leading interpreters of Zygmunt Bauman’s sociology, this volume thinks with and beyond Bauman’s work in order to show its continued relevance as a theory in its own right, as an object of criticism and as a stepping stone towards a fuller understanding of contemporary society. The...
Diagnostic Cultures: A Cultural Approach to the Pathologization of Modern Life
1st Edition
By Svend Brinkmann
June 30, 2020
Some studies estimate that each year, around a quarter of the population of Western countries will suffer from at least one mental disorder. Should this be interpreted as evidence for the progress of psychiatry, a discipline that is now able to identify and treat mental illnesses that have always ...