Table of Contents

Preface. List Of Contributors. Introduction: Metatheorizing Contemporary Social Theorists: Todd Stillman. 1. Robert K. Merton: Piotr Sztompka. 2. Erving Goffman: Gary Alan Fine And Philip Manning. 3. Richard M. Emerson: Karen S. Cook And Joseph Whitmeyer. 4. James Coleman: Siegwart Lindenberg. 5. Harold Garfinkel: Anne Rawls. 6. Daniel Bell: Malcolm Waters. 7. Norbert Elias: Richard Kilminster And Stephen Mennell. 8. Michael Foucault: Barry Smart. 9. Jurgen Habermas: William Outhwaite. 10. Anthony Giddens: Christopher G. A. Bryant And David Jary. 11. Pierre Bourdieu: Craig Calhoun. 12. Jean Baudrillard: Douglas Kellner. 13. Judith Butler: Patricia T. Clough. Index.

About the Author

George Ritzer is Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland. He has chaired both the Theoretical and the Organizations and Occupations sections of the American Sociological Association, and authored more than 25 books, including Expressing America: A Critique of the Global Credit Card Society (1995), The McDonaldization of Society: An Investigation into the Changing Character of Contemporary Social Life (1995), Classical Sociological Theory (second edition, 1995), and The McDonaldization Thesis: Explorations and Extensions (1998).