Classical Sociological Theory

Bert N. Adams · R A Sydie

Jan 2002 · SAGE Publications

About this ebook

"This is an eminently lucid, readable, and comprehensive survey of classical sociological theory. Adams and Sydie provide thoughtful summaries and assessments of the works of dozens of social thinkers....By significantly broadening the cannon and devoting special attention to call, gender, and race, they bring theory up to date even as they take seriously the rich legacy of the past. I have never read a more exciting introduction to the theories of our discipline."
--Mustafa Emirbayer, University of Wisconsin, Madison

A concise, yet surprisingly comprehensive theory text, given the range of ideas, historical context, and theorists discussed. Unlike other books of the type, Classical Sociological Theory focuses on how the pivotal theories contributed not only to the development of the field, but also to the evolution of ideas concerning social life.

About the author

Bert N. Adams (Ph.D., University of North Carolina) is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He is a former President and currently a Fellow of the National Council on Family Relations. He has taught sociological theory extensively, both in East Africa and at the University of Wisconsin, and also teaches and writes on the sociology of the family. He is the author of several books, including the introductory textbook THE FAMILY: A SOCIOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION, 5TH EDITION (Harcourt Brace 1995) and SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY (Pine Forge Press 2001). With David M. Klein, he served as co-editor of the Understanding Families Series with Sage, which produced 20 books between 1995 and 2002. He is well connected with family sociologists throughout the world.

R. A. Sydie has been professor of sociology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton for the past 30 years and is the current chair of the department of sociology. Her research interests include sociological theory, art and culture, and gender studies. Professor Sydie is the author of Natural Women, Cultured Men. Her latest research project involves a historical examination of sociological work on love and eroticism.