This volume is designed as a basic text for upper level and graduate courses in contemporary sociological theory. Most sociology programs require their majors to take at least one course in sociological theory, sometimes two. A typical breakdown is between classical and contemporary theory. Theory is perhaps one of the bro- est areas of sociological inquiry and serves as a foundation or framework for more specialized study in specific substantive areas of the field. In addition, the study of sociological theory can readily be related to various aspects of other social science disciplines as well. From the very beginning sociology has been characterized by alternative theoretical perspectives. Classical theory includes the European founding figures of the dis- pline whose works were produced during the later half of the nineteenth century and the first couple of decades of the twentieth century plus early American th- rists. For most of the second half of the twentieth century, a fairly high consensus has developed among American sociologists regarding these major founders, p- ticularly with regard to the works of Durkheim and Weber in analyzing the overall society and of Simmel in analyzing social interaction processes. Since the late 1960s and early 1970s the influence of Marx has also been recognized. Recent decades have also witnessed an increased emphasis on the important contributions of several pioneering feminist perspectives in the early years of sociology.

D. Paul Johnson is a Professor and the former Chair of the Department of Sociology at Texas Tech University. 

PART I SETTING THE STAGE FOR CONTEMPORARY THEORY Chapter 1 Introduction: From Implicit to Explicit Theories Chapter 2 Classical Stage European Sources of Sociological Theory Chapter 3 The Development of American Sociology: A Brief Historical Overview Chapter 4 Formal Theory Construction: Developing Sociological Theory as Part of a Scientific Enterprise PART II MOVING FROM MICRO TO MESO TO MACRO LEVELS Chapter 5 Symbolic Interaction: Constructing the Social World ¿ Plus the Identities of Its Participants Chapter 6 Phenomenological Sociology and Ethnomethodology: The Everyday Life World of Common Sense Chapter 7 Social Exchange and Rational Choice at the Micro Level: Looking out for #1 Chapter 8 Networking and Belonging: Opportunity Structures, Rational Choice Transactions, and the Sociology of Emotions Chapter 9 From Micro Level Exchanges to Meso and Macro Level Organizations and Institutions Chapter 10 Meso-level Structures: Communities and Organizations Chapter 11 Meso Level Structures: Markets and Socioeconomic Classes Chapter 12 Integration and Social Order at the Macro Level: The Functional Approach Chapter 13 Functional Analysis Continued: Middle-range Functional Analysis and Neofunctionalism Chapter 14 Conflict and Competition: Analytical Macro Level Theories of Conflict in Social Life Chapter 15 Critical Theory: Changing Priorities From Macro Level Functional Requirements to Fulfillment of Basic Human Needs PART III EXPLORING MULTI-LEVEL THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES Chapter 16 Feminist Theory at Multiple Levels: Analytical and Critical Chapter 17 Human Agency, the Structuration Process, and the Dynamics of Social Systems Chapter 18 Biological Versus Cultural Influences on Human Behavior Chapter 19 The Dynamics of Cultural Systems and Their Fragmentation in the PostmodernWorld Chapter 20 Summary