Author: Douglas V. Porpora Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 131639042X Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 253
Book Description
Critical realism is a philosophy of science that positions itself against the major alternative philosophies underlying contemporary sociology. This book offers a general critique of sociology, particularly sociology in the United States, from a critical realist perspective. It also acts as an introduction to critical realism for students and scholars of sociology. Written in a lively, accessible style, Douglas V. Porpora argues that sociology currently operates with deficient accounts of truth, culture, structure, agency, and causality that are all better served by a critical realist perspective. This approach argues against the alternative sociological perspectives, in particular the dominant positivism which privileges statistical techniques and experimental design over ethnographic and historical approaches. However, the book also compares critical realism favourably with a range of other approaches, including poststructuralism, pragmatism, interpretivism, practice theory, and relational sociology. Numerous sociological examples are included, and each chapter addresses well-known and current work in sociology.
Author: Pamela Brandwein Publisher: Duke University Press ISBN: 9780822323167 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 292
Book Description
Looks at the contest to construct history, focusing on competing versions of Reconstruction history supported by different factions after the Civil War. The author analyzes how the ultimately dominant version of the history won credence and how that in
Author: Jan Lin Publisher: U of Minnesota Press ISBN: 9781452903569 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 274
Book Description
In the American popular imagination, Chinatown is a mysterious and dangerous place, clannish and dilapidated, filled with sweatshops, vice, and organizational crime. This volume presents a real-world picture of New York City's Chinatown, countering the "orientalist" view by looking at the human dimensions and the larger forces of globalization that make this neighbourhood both unique and broadly instructive.
Author: Gail Landsman Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1135963789 Category : Family & Relationships Languages : en Pages : 289
Book Description
Examining mothers of newly diagnosed disabled children within the context of new reproductive technologies and the discourse of choice, this book uses anthropology and disability studies to revise the concept of "normal" and to establish a social environment in which the expression of full lives will prevail.
Author: Paula M. McNutt Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press ISBN: 9780664222659 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 304
Book Description
In this volume Paula McNutt provides a synthesis of recent research on the nature and development of the society of ancient Israel. Focusing on Israelite history from the tribal period through the time of Persian domination, McNutt employs a social-scientific perspective to examine recent reconstructions of the social and cultural contexts that nurtured the literature of the Hebrew Bible. She also offers a helpful overview of the components and dynamics of ancient Israelite society. By investigating the intricate social processes that sustained the society of ancient Israel, McNutt enables the reader to discern the forces at work during key periods of transition and transformation in early Israelite history.
Author: William K. Tabb Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1134621647 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 296
Book Description
This volume offers an original perspective on the questions the great economists have asked and looks at their significance for todays world. Written in a provocative and accessible style, it examines how the diverse traditions of political economy have conceptualised economic issues, events and theory. Going beyond the orthodoxies of mainstream economics it shows the relevance of political economy to the debates on the economic meaning of our times. Reconstructing Political Economy is a timely and thought-provoking contribution to a political economy for our time. In this light it offers fresh insights into such issues as modern theories of growth, the historic relations between state and market and the significance of globalisation for modern societies.
Author: Cedric de Leon Publisher: John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 0745659845 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 257
Book Description
Political parties are central to democratic life, yet there is no standard definition to describe them or the role they occupy. "Voter-centered" theoretical approaches suggest that parties are the mere recipients of voter interests and loyalties. "Party-centered" approaches, by contrast, envision parties that polarize, democratize, or dominate society. In addition to offering isolated and competing notions of democratic politics, such approaches are also silent on the role of the state and are unable to account for organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the African National Congress, which exhibit characteristics of parties, states, and social movements simultaneously. In this timely book, Cedric de Leon examines the ways in which social scientists and other observers have imagined the relationship between parties and society. He introduces and critiques the full range of approaches, using enlivening comparative examples from across the globe. Cutting through a vast body of research, de Leon offers a succinct and lively analysis that outlines the key thinking in the field, placing it in historical and contemporary context. The resulting book will appeal to students of sociology, political science, social psychology, and related fields.
Author: Peter L. Berger Publisher: Open Road Media ISBN: 1453215468 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 313
Book Description
A watershed event in the field of sociology, this text introduced “a major breakthrough in the sociology of knowledge and sociological theory generally” (George Simpson, American Sociological Review). In this seminal book, Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann examine how knowledge forms and how it is preserved and altered within a society. Unlike earlier theorists and philosophers, Berger and Luckmann go beyond intellectual history and focus on commonsense, everyday knowledge—the proverbs, morals, values, and beliefs shared among ordinary people. When first published in 1966, this systematic, theoretical treatise introduced the term social construction,effectively creating a new thought and transforming Western philosophy.
Author: Douglas V. Porpora
Author: Pamela Brandwein
Author: Jan Lin
Author: Douglas V. Porpora
Author: Gail Landsman
Author: Allison James
Author: Paula M. McNutt
Author: William K. Tabb
Author: Cedric de Leon
Author: Peter L. Berger