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A History and Theory of the Social Sciences: Not All That Is Solid Melts into Air
Author(s): Peter Wagner (Author)
- Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
- Publication Date: 17 July 2001
- Edition: 1st
- Language: English
- Print length: 208 pages
- ISBN-10: 0761965688
- ISBN-13: 9780761965688
Book Description
Divided into two parts, this book examines the train of social theory from the 19th century, through to the ′organization of modernity′, in relation to ideas of social planning, and as contributors to the ′rationalistic revolution′ of the ′golden age′ of capitalism in the 1950s and 60s. Part two examines key concepts in the social sciences. It begins with some of the broadest concepts used by social scientists: choice, decision, action and institution and moves on to examine the ′collectivist alternative′: the concepts of society, culture and polity, which are often dismissed as untenable by postmodernists today. This is a major contribution to contemporary social theory and provides a host of essential insights into the task of social science today.
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Peter Wagner is Professor of Social and Political Theory in the Department of Political and Social Sciences, European University Institute, Florence
