This is a collaboratively produced text that documents and synthesizes several paradigms of social research and theory. The authors propose an outline for understanding the proliferation of social theories that they loosely dub "conflict constructionism." Conflict constructionism has eight elements: attention to the micro-or capillary-level, deeply concerned with discourse, a constructionist and relational model of difference and dominance, interest in regimes of regulation and punishment, a penchant for hybridity and transculturation, a fascination with the body, concerned with the state, and of course conflict. They also argue for rethinking conventional "paradigmatic" accounts of what social theories are. Organization is in two parts, the first laying out the outline for conflict constructionism and more generally reflecting on the nature of sociological theory and the politically ambiguous nature of sociologists. The second section focuses on selected influence by conflict constructionism with chapters on gender and race, globalization, media studies, political sociology and collective action, urban sociology and spatial analysis, class and inequality, family life, and medical sociology. A concluding chapter suggests conflict constructionism may have already run its course. An extensive glossary of both conventional and unique terms appears in the back. The contributors are mostly Chicago-area sociology professors, students, or researchers. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Rethinking Contemporary Social Theory outlines a new theoretical paradigm emerging from out of social construction theory, conflict theory, Marxism and critical theory and argues that these insights are redefining social theory as a whole. The authors select ten fields within sociology and in each one trace the reception and impact of the new paradigm. The fields include gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity, media and the sociology of family life. Drawing on Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, the authors identify causes for this paradigm shift, which include the contributions of specific individuals, the general intellectual climate and various social changes such as globalisation and neoliberalism.
