Social Theory in a Changing World

This book provides a critical assessment of contemporary social theory for students in the social sciences. Delanty examines the writings of a number of key contemporary thinkers, including Habermas, Foucault, Bauman, Touraine, Giddens and Beck, and provides a clear account of the strengths and limitations of their work.

This book provides a critical assessment of contemporary social theory for students in the social sciences. Delanty examines the writings of a number of key contemporary thinkers, including Habermas, Foucault, Bauman, Touraine, Giddens and Beck, and provides a clear account of the strengths and limitations of their work.

Acknowledgements.Introduction.The central Conflict of Modernity.Knowledge and Culture.Towards a Cognitive Approach..1. Defining Modernity: The Quest for Autonomy.Introduction.Modernity's Three Logics of Development.Integration and Differentiation.Conclusion: The Time-Consciousness of Modernity.2. The Limits of Modernity: From Autonomy toFragmentation.Introduction.Rethinking Modernity.Autonomy versus Fragmentation: The Loss of Unity.Beyond the Classical Tradition: Contemporary Theories of theSocial. Conclusion: Towards a New Time-Consciousness.3. Discourse and Democracy: Habermas's Theory ofModernity. .Introduction.The Problem of Democracy.The Formation of Habermas's Social Theory.Rescuing Discourse: The Mediation of Democracy and Law.Discursive Democracy in the Global Public Sphere.The Question of Culture and Identity. Conclusion: Culture andDiscourse.4. Creativity and the Rise of Social Postmodernism: FoucaultLyotard and Bauman. .Introduction.From Deconstructionism to Constructivism. Bauman: Ethics andPostmodernity.Conclusion: Beyond Postmodernism.5. The Return of Agency: Touraine and Melucci.Introduction.Touraine: From Historicity to the End of the Social. Melucci:Culture, Identity and Change.Conclusion: Reflexivity and Democracy.6. Reflexive Modernization: Beck and Giddens. .Introduction.Beck and the Risk Society. Giddens: Modernity, Reflexivity andTrust.Assessing Reflexive Modernization: The Question of Culture.Conclusion: Reflexivity and Discourse.Conclusion: Knowledge, Democracy and DiscursiveInstitutionalization.Notes.Bibliography.Index.