Description
Book SynopsisStephen Lyng and David Franks posit that contemporary sociology has lost its connection to human realities and address the conceptual underpinnings of sociological practice.
Trade ReviewAn ambitious theoretical undertaking worthy of serious attention. Among the book's scholarly contributions is the sustained effort by Lyng and Franks to establish John Dewey's transactional perspective (clothed in modern garb) as a central feature of sociological investigation. -- Gideon Sjoberg, Professor of Sociology at University of Texas at Austin
In this carefully reasoned and passionately argued theoretical essay, Stephen Lyng and David D. Franks reclaim ideas - reality, objectivity, truth - that have become the "dirty words" of social thought. Drawing upon sources as diverse as postmodern theory, pragmatism, and neuroscience, they refuse to abandon these ideas to those who would put them to mindless rhetorical use in defense of a discredited positivism. Rather, they reconstruct the meaning of reality, objectivity, and truth in ways that will usefully reconnect sociology with the world it wants to study and influence. This is fresh, insightful theorizing outside the boxes in which so much contemporary social thought is confined. -- John P. Hewitt, Professor of Sociology at University of Massachusetts at Amherst
This is a useful and thoughtful book. * American Journal of Sociology *
This book should be read by all sociologists and social scientists who are serious about understanding human group behavior, and who know full well that most questions invite 'it depends' kinds of answers. * Contemporary Sociology *
Lyng and Franks bring us back from the brink of postmodernist nihilism and through the murky temptations of formula sociology with the eternal promise of pragmatism. By focusing on transactions, the authors brilliantly show us a way to think about truth, objectivity, and reality that is both interesting and consistent with what we know about the human species. This fine volume will help us all in the move toward pragmatism that general sociology already displays. -- David R. Maines, Professor and Chair of Sociology at Oakland University
Table of ContentsPart 1 Introduction Part 2 I: Breaking Down Dualities but Keeping the Tension: Sociology and Reality Chapter 3 The Collapse of Word and Deed Chapter 4 Thought, Word, and Deed: Towards a Transactional Typology of Action Chapter 5 A Relational View of Subjectivity and Objectivity Chapter 6 Cognition and Linguistically Given Distance Part 7 II: Applications to Selected Sociological Fields: An Embodied Approach Chapter 8 Toward a Transactional Sociology of the Body Chapter 9 Transaction and a Sociological Method for Social Problems Part 10 Conclusion
