{"product_id":"postmodernism-and-social-theory-9781557862846","title":"Postmodernism and Social Theory","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA new division has emerged in the social sciences between modernists and their post-modern critics. The former defend the project of a general theory with secure analytical foundations; the latter challenge the possibility and indeed the desirability of aspiring to create totalizing theories. Postmodernists contest the view of science as an autonomous sphere of knowledge and reflection.\u003cbr\u003e This volume brings together leading theorists in the social sciences and philosophy to debate the respective merits of modernism and postmodernism as paradigms of social inquiry. It examines the relation between science, critique and narrative, addressing questions about the moral and political meaning of science today.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eList of Contributors vii \u003cp\u003eIntroduction 1\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePart I Toward Postmodernism: Reconfiguring Theory and Politics\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1 General Social Theory, Irony, Postmodernism 17\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e2 Postmodern Social Theory as Narrative with a Moral Intent 47\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e3 On the Postmodern Barricades: Feminism, Politics, and Theory 82\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e4 The Strange Life and Hard Times of the Concept of General Theory in Sociology: A Short History of Hope 101\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePart II Critics of Postmodernism: In Defense of Scientific Theory\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e5 Defending Social Science against the Postmodern Doubt 137\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e6 The Promise of Positivism 156\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e7 The Confusion of the Modes of Sociology 179\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e8 Daring Modesty: On Metatheory, Observation, and Theory Growth 199\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePart III Between Modernism and Postmodernism: Toward a Contextualizing General Theory\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e9 Social Science and Society as Discourse: Toward a Sociology for Civic Competence 223\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10 Culture, History, and the Problem of Specificity in Social Theory 244\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e11 The Tensions of Critical Theory: Is Negative Dialectics All There Is? 289\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e12 General Theory in the Postpositivist Mode: The \"Epistemological Dilemma\" and the Search for Present Reason 322\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eName Index 369\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSubject Index 376\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"John Wiley and Sons Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49410192474455,"sku":"9781557862846","price":37.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781557862846.jpg?v=1730509274","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/postmodernism-and-social-theory-9781557862846","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}