Austin Harrington Book order

Harrington draws on neglected sources in early twentieth-century German social thought to address core questions in current social science.

The book critically analyzes the perspectives of Gadamer and Habermas on interpretive theory, presenting a bold challenge to their concept of 'dialogue' between researchers and subjects. It delves into the implications of their ideas, questioning traditional notions of understanding and interaction in research contexts. Through this examination, it seeks to redefine the relationship between researchers and their subjects, offering fresh insights into interpretive practices.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the core topics, theories and debates in modern social theory.Fourteen chapters have been written by leading specialists in the field, providing up-to-date guidance on the full sweep of the modern sociological imagination, from the legacies of the classical figures of Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Simmel and Parsons to the work of cutting-edge contemporary theorists. Separate chapters discuss functionalism and its critics, interpretive and interactionist theory, historical social theory, western Marxism, psychoanalytic social theory, structuralism and post-structuralism, structure and agency theory, feminist social theory, postmodernism and its critics, and theories about globalization.All chapters are supplied with questions for discussion, study boxes, guidance on further reading and useful website addresses. It is ideal for students of sociology and cultural studies pursuing foundational courses in the history and theory of social analysis, and is also accessible for the general reader.

Art and Social Theory offers a thorough introduction to the sociology of art, exploring debates on its societal role and aesthetic significance. It addresses cultural institutions, socio-economic structures, aesthetic value, cultural politics, and modernism versus postmodernism, featuring insights from key social theorists like Weber and Foucault.

This book explores the writings of Gadamer and Habermas on hermeneutics and the methodology of the social sciences. By re-examining their views of earlier interpretive theorists, from Wilhelm Dilthey to Max Weber and Alfred Schutz, it offers a radical challenge to their idea of the 'dialogue' between researchers and their subjects.