Modern Social Theory. From Parsons to Habermas

272 Pages·1992·32.975 MB·English

by  Ian Craib

IDERN SOCIAL
THEORY
From Parsons to Haberwzas
no
Sew edition
IAN CRAIB
of
University E55cx
WHEATSHEAF
New York London Toronto Sydney Tokyo Singapore
First published 1992 by
Harvester Wheatsheaf
Campus 400, Maylands Avenue
Hemes Hempstead
Hertfordshire, HP2 FEZ.
A division of
Simon & Schuster International Group
© 1992 Ian Craib
_
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may he
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in and form, or by any means, electronic, mec hanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
permission. in writing, from the publisher.
Typeset in 10/12pt Ehrhardt by
Keyser Composition, Colchester
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Biddies Ltd, Guildford and Kings Lynn
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library
ISBN 0-7450-1.87-3 (hack)
ISBN 0-7450-1038-1 (pack)
2345 96959493
For Benji
Theory is good be! it d0e5n't prevent things from existing
(Reported comment by Charcot to Freud, quoted in Roazen, P. (1970)
Freud and His Followers, Allen Lane, London, p. 91.)

CONTENTS
Preface to the Second Edition ix
PART I INTRODUCTION 1
1 Wkaz's wrong wzkh I/zeory and why we steel!
need if 3
2 Curing a path through I/zejzmgle 15
PART II THEORIES OF SOCSAL ACTION 33
INTRODUCTION 35
3 Parsons: Theory is co filing system 37
I: Structuroi-func'£z'onothl5m 37
II: Noofunctioraalism and conflict theory 56
4 Rational choice theogl: 'The price of everything 69
5 Symbolic z`nzeroctiorzz'5m.° Sooz'e1§y as conversation 85
6 Socfkgl as FL .consfNrafyf Phenomenological
sociology and et/znomet/zodology 97
7 Structuration fheovyf There :Qc no such .thing as
sooz'e{y,' More is wok o thing as society HI
PART Ill FROM ACTION TO STRUCTURE 125
INTRODUCTION 127
8 The world as a logzi'alpattern.' An introduction
to sirucfurafism 131
viii Contents
9 Structuralist Marxzkm: The world as a puppet
theatre . /49
10 Post-slructuralism and postmodernism:
The world gone mad 177
PART IV FROM STRUCTURE OR ACTION TO
STRUCTURE AND ACTION 197
INTRODUCTION 199
1 I The Frankfurt School: There must he some may
of
out here 203
12 j/zirgen Habermas: Back to thej'ilzlng cabinet 231
Conclusion- Playing with ideas 247
Index 259
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
During one of my more irritable moments when revising this book,
my wife, Fiona Grant, suggested that it must be like altering a kilt:
multiple pleats have to be carefully undone and sown in again. This
seemed the perfect metaphor, with the added difficulty that this
particular kilt has to fit a body growing in strange directions. Some
pleats have almost disappeared: conflict theory and the work of
Lukacs are now small parts of larger pleats, while new pleats ....
-
rational choice theory and structuration theory have appeared.
-
Others ethnomethodology, symbolic interactionism, structuralism,
structuralist Marxism, and critical theory - have been 'let out' a little,
while yet others - functionalism, post-structuralism, Habermas -
have required larger alterations.
I do not spend as much of my time as I used to teaching social
theory, but, to my delight, I found that the discussions and arguments
that I had with my students ten years ago have continued in my head,
taking in new material as it arrives. I hope the same is true for them.
Discussions with my colleagues continue in the outside world, and I
am especially grateful to David Lee, Lidia Morris, Rob Stones and
Tony \Voodiwiss, f the Sociology Department at Essex Universi-
Hg, for reading and commenting on various chapters. Finally, many
tanks to iifarion lid be rhauer, who knitted the first edition onto disc
and made my needlework a lot easier, and to the Fuller Bequest
Fund, administered by the Essex Sociology Department, for financ-
ing the exercise.

PART I
INTRODUCTION