New Rules of Sociological Method: A Constructive Critique of Interpretive Sociology

Author: Anthony Giddens
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2003-12-01
Features: A foundational textbook in social theory. This book clearly reconstructs the basic principles of structuration theory and includes a new preface with substantial content. In this preface, Giddens responds to some of the ongoing criticisms of the book's first edition and re-elaborates on important topics previously only briefly discussed. For a long time, this book has been widely welcomed by undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers in relevant fields in the West as a foundational textbook. This is a new revised edition of a foundational textbook in social theory. In this edition, Giddens presents a concise critical analysis of some major schools of thought in social philosophy, particularly phenomenology, ethnomethodology, and Wittgenstein's ideas. Giddens focuses primarily on the implications of these differing perspectives for the understanding of human action and its intelligibility. However, "the pathway of action" cannot function in isolation; in the social life of human societies, action and structure are mutually constitutive. Therefore, the author provides a series of concepts related to understanding social production and reproduction. In the conclusion, the book offers a concise summary of some "new rules of sociological methodology." This revised edition clearly reconstructs the basic principles of structuration theory, in addition to which it includes a new preface with substantial content. In this preface, Giddens responds to some of the ongoing criticisms of the book's first edition and re-elaborates on important topics previously only briefly discussed. To understand the mysteries of Giddens' theoretical edifice, this book is a necessary threshold to cross. For a long time, this book has been widely welcomed by undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers in relevant fields in the West as a foundational textbook.