Sociological Theory: Contemporary Theories

Norbert Elias has been described as a great sociologist and over recent years there has been a steady upsurge of interest in his work. Yet despite the fact that he was active for nearly sixty years from the 1920s to the 1960s it was only in the 1980s that English translations of his works became widely available and the importance of his contribution to the sociological endeavour was fully recognised in the English speaking world. This book provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the key aspects of Elias's work and then applies an Eliasian approach to key topics in contemporary sociology such as race, class, gender, religion, epistemology and nationalism. The editors have brought together a distinguished group of international sociologists and this book will not only change the course of Elias studies but be a valuable resource for both students and scholars alike.

This book brings a major new resource to organization studies: the work of Norbert Elias. By applying his ideas in a critical but sympathetic way, the authors provide a new perspective on the never-ending stream of management fads and fashions. Standing back and taking a more detached perspective, inspired by the work of Norbert Elias (1897-1990), it becomes clear that many 'new' types of organizations are often variations on an old theme. Elias gives us considerable purchase on current debates through his emphasis on long-term historical perspectives, his highlighting of issues of power, emotion and subjectivity, his interweaving of analysis at the level of the state, the organization, groups, and individuals, his alternative 'take' on issues of agency and structure, and his relevance to a wide range of current organization theories.The contributions show the current relevance of Elias's work in numerous fields of organizational analysis such as the sociology of finance and markets, the comparative and cross-cultural study of organization, comparative management development, organizational meetings, organizational boundaries, gossip and privacy in organizations, emotion in organizations, and the significance of humiliation within organizations. It is, indeed, time for Elias

This book presents Ulrich Beck, one of the world's leading sociologists and social thinkers, as a Pioneer in Cosmopolitan Sociology and Risk Society. His world risk society theory has been confirmed by recent disasters - events that have shaken modern society to the core, signaling the end of an era in which comprehensive insurance could keep us safe. Due to its own successes, modern society now faces failure: while in the past experiments were conducted in a lab, now the whole world is a test bed. Whether nuclear plants, genetically modified organisms, nanotechnology - if any of these experiments went wrong, the consequences would have a global impact and would be irreversible. Beck recommends ignoring the mathematical morality of expert opinions, which seek to identify the level of a given risk by calculating the probability of its occurrence. Instead, man's fear of collapse should offer an opportunity for international cooperation and a cosmopolitan turn in the social sciences.

Individualization argues that we are in the midst of a fundamental change in the nature of society and politics. This change hinges around two processes: globalization and individualization. The book demonstrates that individualization is a structural characteristic of highly differentiated societies, and does not imperil social cohesion, but actually makes it possible. Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim argue that it is vital to distinguish between the neo-liberal idea of the free-market individual and the concept of individualization. The result is the most complete discussion of individualization currently available, showing how individualization relates to basic social rights and also paid employment; and concluding that in