Profiles in Contemporary Social Theory

This book provides an indispensable introduction to the most significant figures in contemporary social theory. It provides detailed accounts of the development of the work of major social theorists and charts the relationship between different traditions of social, cultural and political thought.

This comprehensive book provides an indispensable introduction to the most significant figures in contemporary social theory. Grounded strongly in the European tradition, the profiles include Michel Foucault, J[um]urgen Habermas, Roland Barthes, Jean Baudrillard, Pierre Bourdieu, Zygmunt Bauman, Martin Heidegger, Fredric Jameson, Richard Rorty, Nancy Chodorow, Anthony Giddens, Stuart Hall, Luce Irigaray and Donna Haraway. In guiding students through the key figures in an accessible and authoritative fashion, the book provides detailed accounts of the development of the work of major social theorists and charts the relationship between different traditions of social, cultural and political thought.

Profiles in Contemporary Social Theory will become a major reference work in the field of social theory because it offers in-depth commentaries that comprehensively examine the contents, contexts and critical evaluation of key theorists of the day.

Editors′ Introduction - Anthony Elliott and Bryan S Turner
Martin Heidegger - Richard Polt
Georges Bataille - Michael Richardson
Maurice Merleau-Ponty - Nick Crossley
Herbert Marcuse - Douglas Kellner
Theodor Adorno - Andrew Bowie
Walter Benjamin - Graeme Gilloch
J[um]urgen Habermas - Patrick Baert
Erving Goffman - Ann Branaman
Peter Berger - Bryan S Turner
Michel Foucault - Stephen Katz
Jean-Fran[ce]cois Lyotard - Victor J Seidler
Jacques Lacan - Anthony Elliott
Jacques Derrida - Christina Howells
Roland Barthes - Chris Rojek
Julia Kristeva - Kelly Oliver
Luce Irigaray - Caroline Bainbridge
Jean Baudrillard - Mike Gane
Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guatarri - Paul Patton
Paul Virilio - John Armitage
Henri Lefebvre - Rob Shields
Paul Ricoeur - Kathleen Blamey
Niklas Luhmann - Jakob Arnoldi
Charles Taylor - Marcos Ancelovici and Francis Dupuis-Deri
Richard Rorty - Bryan S Turner
Nancy Chodorow - Geoffrey Gershenson and Michelle Williams
Anthony Giddens - Anthony Elliott
Ulrich Beck - Nick Stevenson
Pierre Bourdieu - Bridget Fowler
Zygmunt Bauman - Barry Smart
Donna J Haraway - Patricia Ticineto Clough and Joseph Schneider
Fredric Jameson - Sean Homer
Stuart Hall - Chris Rojek
Juliet Mitchell - Sarah Wright
Edward Said - Bryan S Turner