About this ebook
The Encyclopedia of Social Theory is an indispensable reference source for anyone interested in the roots of contemporary social theory. It examines the global landscape of all the key theories and the theorists behind them, presenting them in the context needed to understand their strengths and weaknesses.
Theories covered include
• Critical Theory
• Enlightenment
• Ethnomethodology
• Exchange Theory
• Feminism
• Marxist Theory
• Multiculturalism
• Phenomenology
• Postmodernism
• Rational Choice
• Structural Fundamentalism
Led by internationally renowned scholar George Ritzer, the Encyclopedia of Social Theory draws together a team of more than 200 international scholars covering the developments, achievements, and prospects of social theory from its inception in the 18th century to the present. Understanding that social theory can both explain and alter the social world, this two-volume set serves as not only a foundation for learning, but also an inspiration for creative and reflexive engagement with the rich range of ideas it contains.
Key Themes
• American Social Theory
• British Social Theory
• Comparative and Historical Theory
• Cultural Theory
• Economic Sociology
• Feminist Theory
• French Social Theory
• German Social Theory
• Macrosociological Theories
• Marxist and Neo-Marxist Approaches
• Method and Metatheory
• Network and Exchange Theories
• Other/Multiple National Traditions
• Politics and Government
• Postmodern Theory
• Psychoanalytic Theory
• Schools and Theoretical Approaches
• Symbolic Interaction and Microsociology
• Theorists
• Topics and Concepts in Social Theory
Key Features
• More than 300 entries from fourteen countries
• Master Bibliography
• Reader′s Guide
• Extensive biographical coverage of major theorists
• Extensive cross-referencing
About the author
George Ritzer is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, where he has also been a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and won a Teaching Excellence Award. He was awarded the Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award by the American Sociological Association, an honorary doctorate from LaTrobe University in Australia, and the Robin Williams Lectureship from the Eastern Sociological Society. His best-known work, The McDonaldization of Society (8th ed.), has been read by hundreds of thousands of students over two decades and translated into over a dozen languages. Ritzer is also the editor of McDonaldization: The Reader; and author of other works of critical sociology related to the McDonaldization thesis, including Enchanting a Disenchanted World, The Globalization of Nothing, Expressing America: A Critique of the Global Credit Card Society, as well as a series best-selling social theory textbooks and Globalization: A Basic Text. He is the Editor of the Encyclopedia of Social Theory (2 vols.), the Encyclopedia of Sociology (11 vols.; 2nd edition forthcoming), the Encyclopedia of Globalization (5 vols.), and is Founding Editor of the Journal of Consumer Culture. In 2016 he will publish the second edition of Essentials of Sociology with SAGE.
