Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
  • Cited by 86
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
December 2009
Print publication year:
1989
Online ISBN:
9780511570889
Subjects:
Social Theory, Organisational Sociology, Philosophy, Sociology, Political Philosophy

Book description

This book sets out a generative structuralist conception of general theoretical sociology; its philosophy, its problems, and its methods. The field is defined as a comprehensive research tradition with many intersecting subtraditions that share conceptual components. The focus is on formalization and unification as processes that can help advance the state of theory today. An integrative philosophy of the field is set out in terms of a process worldview, with a focus on generativity in explanation and a conception of the structure of theories as hierarchical meaning control systems. This philosophy is implemented in two phases. In the first phase, Professor Fararo defines the core problems of theoretical sociology in the context of setting out and illustrating the logic of a nonlinear dynamical social systems framework. A critical analysis of the outcome of this phase then leads, in the second phase, to formal treatments of action principles and structural analysis. A variety of traditions are drawn upon to treat theoretical problems of order and integration, as well as to examine searchingly problems of formalization and unification in theoritical sociology.

Reviews

"...a major work...thoughtful, provocative, and substantial...Fararo has demonstrated that he is the best formal theorist sociology now has." Lee Freese, Contemporary Sociology

"...an important and provocative book by a thoughtful, comprehensive, and powerful thinker...Theoretical sociologists will ignore it at their peril." |f Joseph Woelfel, Social Forces

"The combination of philosophical issues, sociological questions, and theoretical methods that characterizes Fararo's book makes it likely that the book will become a standard reference for working theorists." American Journal of Sociology

Refine List

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
×

Contents

Metrics

Altmetric attention score

Full text views

Total number of HTML views: 0
Total number of PDF views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

Book summary page views

Total views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

Usage data cannot currently be displayed.