Handbook of Contemporary Sociological Theory

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This book presents sociologists with new ways of conceptualizing the organization and presentation of sociological theory. At the heart of this Handbook's vision is the twin goals of making theory a viable enterprise by reconceptualizing how we teach theory and keeping theory closely tied to its empirical applications. Three strategies are offered: (1) Elucidating how classic issues are interrogated today; (2) Presenting a coherent vision of the social levels of reality that theorists work on and, (3) Theorizing the social world rather than celebrating theorists or theories. Hence, in the second decade of the 21st century, it has become clear that sociology is at a crossroads as the number of theorists and amount of theory available is increasingly unmanageable and unknowable by the vast majority of professionals and students. As such, this handbook presents the novice and the expert with the a roadmap for traversing this crossroad and building a more coherent, robust, and cumulative sociology