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  3. The Myth of Social Action
  • Cited by 70
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    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      07 May 2010
      23 February 1996
      ISBN:
      9780511583384
      9780521646369
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511583384
      Dimensions:
      Weight & Pages:
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.34kg, 208 Pages
      • Subjects:
      Social Theory, Philosophy, Sociology, Political Philosophy
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    Subjects:
    Social Theory, Philosophy, Sociology, Political Philosophy
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    Book description

    The Myth of Social Action, first published in 1996, is a powerful critique of the sociology of the time and a call to reject the prevailing orthodoxy. Arguing that sociological theory had lost its way, Colin Campbell mounts a case for a new 'dynamic interpretivism' a perspective on human conduct which is more inkeeping with the spirit of traditional Weberian action theory. Discussing and dismissing one by one the main arguments of those who reject individualistic action theory, he demonstrates that this has been wrongly rejected in favour of the interactional, social situationalist approach now dominating sociological thought.

    Reviews

    ‘… a beautifully sustained, clearly written, and multifaceted critique … Campbell has issued a challenging text and, indeed, an open call for immanent disciplinary reformation. Such a text would be of considerable interest, I should think, to sociologists of any stripe, but especially to those who fancy themselves as reflexive and historically minded social theorists.'

    Steven P. Dandaneau Source: Sociological Inquiry

    ‘… a tightly argued volume marked by that rare level of analytical rigor and thoroughness to which Campbell has already accustomed us … We may view The Myth of Social Action as a contribution not only to the re-assertion of a Weberian perspective on action, but also to the grand, but seldom followed, tradition of general sociological theorizing’.

    Ilan Friedrich Silber Source: Contemporary Sociology

    ‘Campbell’s argument that contemporary sociology is hobbled by ‘situationalism’ represents an extraordinarily original rethinking of the field as it has vome to be commonly accepted and understood. His theoretical broom sweeps the way clear for a new, fundamentally cultural understanding of even the most highly rationalized and individualized societies. The Myth of Social Action is a must read.’

    Jeffrey C. Alexander - University of California, Los Angeles

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