Profiles and Critiques in Social Theory

by Anthony Giddens

Leader in the field presents an overview of theory in the social sciences.

Genres: Sociology

239 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Anthony Giddens, Baron Giddens (born 18 January 1938) is a British sociologist who is renowned for his theory of structuration and his holistic view of modern societies. He is considered to be one of the most prominent modern contributors in the field of sociology, the author of at least 34 books, published in at least 29 languages, issuing on average more than one book every year. In 2007, Giddens was listed as the fifth most-referenced author of books in the humanities.

Three notable stages can be identified in his academic life. The first one involved outlining a new vision of what sociology is, presenting a theoretical and methodological understanding of that field, based on a critical reinterpretation of the classics. His major publications of that era include Capitalism and Modern Social Theory (1971) and New Rules of Sociological Method (1976). In the second stage Giddens developed the theory of structuration, an analysis of agency and structure, in which primacy is granted to neither. His works of that period, such as Central Problems in Social Theory (1979) and The Constitution of Society (1984), brought him international fame on the sociological arena.

The most recent stage concerns modernity, globalization and politics, especially the impact of modernity on social and personal life. This stage is reflected by his critique of postmodernity, and discussions of a new "utopian-realist"[3] third way in politics, visible in the Consequence of Modernity (1990), Modernity and Self-Identity (1991), The Transformation of Intimacy (1992), Beyond Left and Right (1994) and The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy (1998). Giddens' ambition is both to recast social theory and to re-examine our understanding of the development and trajectory of modernity.

Currently Giddens serves as Emeritus Professor at the London School of Economics.

Reviews

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short book—really a series of thematically connected essays—written by Giddens in the early 80s. The 80s as we all know were, among other things, a decade of ascendant neoliberalism, social retrenchment, and an intellectual interregnum. Giddens attempts to navigate this landscape by engaging with and critiquing leading figures of fading functionalism including Durkheim and Parsons, the quickly ascendant and descending structuralism, the Frankfurt school by way of Marcuse and Habermas, the influences of hermeneutics and phenomenology, western Marxism, and Weber and neo-Weberians. In so doing, Giddens attempts to cut a path through the subjectivist and objectivist approaches prevalent at the time. For better, or more likely worse, our intellectual landscape in the 2020s has not really changed profoundly since the time of this book. Rather there has been a proliferation of approaches, primarily on the subjectivist side. Giddens is more or less successful in laying out the framework for such a path. The main criticisms may be that even in the 80s it was too late and what was really needed was an approach in reality and practice and not one in theory. His theoretical approach laid out in greater detail in other works really got lost in the mix with the torrent of other momentarily sexier works that were in vogue at the time and continue to attract acolytes to this day. Regardless, this was an enjoyable foray through the social theory limelight of the not too distant past.