Anthony Giddens & Modern Social Theory

This study locates Giddens' work in the framework of modern social theory and research traditions. Giddens' work is compared and contrasted with that of Habermas, Foucault, Bourdieu, Elias and Parsons, and with schools of thought such as feminism, Marxism, ethnomethodology and postmodernism. Anthony Giddens is widely recognized as one of the most important sociologists of the post-war period. This is the first full-length work to examine Giddens′ social theory. It guides the reader through Giddens′ early attempt to overcome the duality of structure and agency. He saw this duality as a major failing of social theories of modernity. His attempt to resolve the problem can be regarded as the key to the development of his brandmark `structuration theory′. The book is the most complete and thorough assessment of Giddens′ work currently available. It incorporates insights from many different perspectives into his theory of structuration, his work on the formation of cultural identities and the fate of the nation-state. This far-reaching work also touches on issues such as the transformation of modern intimacy and sexuality, and the fate of politics in late modern society.