A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL THEORY -- LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION -- USING THE „SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION‟: STUDYING SOCIAL THEORY AT MANY LEVELS -- MODERNITY: „THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE‟ -THEORY AND SOCIETY -- MODERNITY AND SOME IMPLICATIONS -- SUMMARY -- DISCUSSION POINTS -- Chapter 2: SOCIAL THEORY AND RATIONALITY: FROM WEBER TO THE MODERN „MCWORLD‟ -- AIMS OF CHAPTER -- WHAT IS RATIONALITY? -- WEBER AND RATIONALITY: WHY WESTERN SOCIETY? -- IRRATIONALITY AND PERSECUTION IN MODERNITY -- RITZER, RATIONALITY AND MCDONALDIZATION -- HOW ARE WE MCDONALDIZED? -- QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION -- Chapter 3: THE IRRESISTIBLE FORCE MEETS THE IMMOVABLE OBJECT: THE DIVISION OF LABOR THESIS VERSUS CAPITALISM -- AIMS OF CHAPTER -- IN THE BLUE CORNER … EMILE DURKHEIM: A SOCIETAL APPROACH -- THE "PROBLEM OF MODERNITY": THE LOSS OF COMMUNITY -- ANOMIE -- IN THE RED CORNER … KARL MARX: A SOCIETAL APPROACH -- CONCLUSION: TOWARDS A REVOLUTION OR COLLECTIVE CONSCIENCE … -- QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION -- Chapter 4: HISTORICAL SOCIAL THEORY:A CRITICAL GAZE - THE CASE OF GENDER AND FEMINISM -- AIMS OF CHAPTER -- INTRODUCTION -- DISCUSSION POINT: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEX AND GENDER? -- EARLY FEMINIST DISCOURSE -- DURKHEIM, MARX, AND WEBER - GENDER IMPLICATIONS -- THE RISE AND CONSOLIDATION OF FEMINIST SOCIAL THEORIES -- QUESTIONS FOR SEMINAR DISCUSSION -- Chapter 5: SOCIAL THEORY AND EUROCENTRICITY OF „WESTERN MODERNITY‟ -- AIMS OF CHAPTER -- INTRODUCTION: MARX, DURKHEIM, AND WEBER - EUROCENTRIC SOCIAL THEORISTS? -- SCIENCE, MODERNITY, AND RACISM -- OCCIDENTAL MODERNITY: THE GREAT DIVIDE - THE WEST V THE REST -- THE EUROCENTRICISM OF THE „GREAT DIVIDE‟ THESIS -- QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION -- Chapter 6: SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM -- MEAD -- GOFFMAN -- EVALUATION -- QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION.

Chapter 7: THE DOMINANCE OF AMERICAN STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM AND SOCIAL THEORY: A CRITICAL NARRATIVE -- INTRODUCTION -- HISTORICAL INFLUENCES OF FUNCTIONALISM -- THE CONTEMPORARY CONSOLIDATION OF PARSONIAN FUNCTIONALISM -- PARSONS, SOCIAL ACTION, AND SOCIAL SYSTEMS -- PARSONS AND THE FAMILY -- EVALUATION -- QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION -- Chapter 8: CRITICAL THEORY -- WHAT IS CRITICAL THEORY? FOUR GOALS -- CRITICAL THEORY: HISTORICAL INFLUENCES -- CRITICAL THEORY AND FRANKFURT SCHOOL -- THE DIALECTIC OF ENLIGHTENMENT: RECONSTRUCTING THE HUMANIST PROJECT -- THE REFLEXIVE THEORY: CRITICAL THEORY AS DEVELOPING CRITICAL THEORIES -- QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION -- Chapter 9: POST-STRUCTURALISM AND POST 9/11 SOCIAL THEORY -- WHAT IS STRUCTURALISM? -- HISTORICAL CONTEXT: NIETZSCHE - THE FORERUNNER OF THE POST-STRUCTURALISTS -- WHAT IS POST-STRUCTURALISM? -- FOUCAULT AND POST-STRUCTURALISM -- POST 9/11 SOCIAL THEORY: RISKS OF LATE MODERNITY -- QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION -- Chapter 10: ENTER THE POSTMODERN DEBATE … -- IS THE TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION? -- What is Postmodernity (Type of Society)? -- WHAT IS POSTMODERNISM (TYPE OF THEORY)? -- DEFENDERS OF PROJECT OF MODERNITY -- QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION -- REFERENCES -- INDEX.