Customer Reviews:
Post-Nuclear Philosophical Fallout.......2007-05-08
If, as William Barrett once remarked, existentialism is "philosophy for the atomic age," then the atomic age's look into the future - by way of Jean-Francois Lyotard's The Postmodern Condition - is nothing short of a nightmarish vision of what post-nuclear philosophy would be like. If the Cold War was ultimately the product of two totalizing visions - the two remaining totalizing visions of the modern age, namely liberal democracy and socialism - locked into prolonged, agonizing conflict behind facades such as international diplomacy, then the postmodern condition is the worldview of a world brought back from the brink of total annihilation. Postmodernism, claims Lyotard at the beginning of his book, is "incredulity towards metanarratives" (xxiv). Rather than seeking a new way of understanding the world en toto - a new totalizing vision/metanarrative - the postmodern condition backs away from the philosophical One and seeks what it seeks - itself or, rather, the disparate fragments that indicate the existence of itself - among the philosophical Many. As Lyotard also writes, postmodernism "refines our sensitivity to differences" - the exact opposite of the totalitarian visions that caused so much death in the 20th century.
The Postmodern Condition is a work that is as fascinating as it is complicated. Lyotard is heavily interested in the question of legitimation - specifically, how knowledge is made and validated. What defines knowledge? One could, in many ways, see this work as fundamentally epistemological, for he spends a considerable amount of time in this work focusing on how it is that the university system, in particular, can survive if knowledge is both under the sway of the forces of capital and no longer considered emancipatory. I am not entirely sure if Lyotard wants a return to a pre-postmodern world; the book is written in such a straight, matter-of-fact style that it is hard to tell whether or not he is for or against that which he writes of. Perhaps there is some irony in the fact that he appears so disinterested in describing a worldview - or, perhaps better, an anti-worldview - in which the notion of disinterested knowledge or unbiased reporting is conceived as being nothing more than a fiction. If there is any irony here, it is of the driest sort.
There is a certain Marxist hue, however, to many of the analyses contained in these pages. The ability of economic interests to determine the shape of research in a university with the subsequent result that some knowledge is found to sell and other kinds aren't - that which sells is therefore seen as more legitimate than that which doesn't - causes Lyotard considerable concern. Rather than philosophy or metaphysics being seen as capable of validating claims - truth, he notes, is no longer the main concern - science proves itself by way of its functionality. What it does and how that makes life on earth better becomes the sine qua non of our own material interests - and knowledge is therefore conceived as material, rather than ideal/metaphysical. There is no meta-language game that serves as the ground for other games: what matters is what you can *do* with a particular type of research, or a given object. Science is thus isolated from other fields, just as philosophy is. There is no longer a "queen of the sciences." Knowledge, in a holistic sense, is thus fragmented and all is placed under the final sway of capital - or, more specifically, market forces. Lyotard's analysis is nothing short of brilliant.
Included as an appendix to the present volume is one of Lyotard's most widely re-published essays: "Answering the Question: What is Postmodernism?" A short work - not quite 10 full pages in length - it is a perfect compliment to Lyotard's longer consideration of the matter. However, unlike the Report, the appendix deals little with the question of scientific knowledge, and much more with aesthetics. Whereas the Report is concerned with academia, the appendix turns towards popular culture, specifically fashion: "Eclecticism is the degree zero of contemporary general culture" (76). Thus, the appendix can be scene as something like the popular counterpart to the more densely argued Report - popular in its focus, and in terms of the audience that it is geared to. Whether or not this means that postmodern philosophy is ultimately intended to leave the academy - the philosophical-institutional One - where knowledge cannot be validated and live, instead, among the philosophical-cultural Many remains a point of debate still today. Perhaps this is good reason for believing, then, that we do live in a postmodern age - and Lyotard's The Postmodern Condition remains as prescient (future anterior) for understanding that age as ever.
One of the must read works on postmodernism.......2007-01-02
This work, by Jean Francois Lyotard, is one of the signature works of postmodern theory. Say what you will of this perspective, this book is necessary reading in understanding the subject. This is not an easy work; however, those who persevere will be rewarded with interesting insights, whether or not one agree with postmodern thinking.
Lyotard defines Postmodern thought in contrast to modernism. Modernism, he claims, is ". . .any science that legitimates itself with reference to a metadiscourse of this kind [i.e., philosophy] making an explicit appeal to some grand narrative, such as the dialectics of Spirit, the hermeneutics of meaning, the emancipation of the rational or working subject, or the creation of wealth." Postmodernism, in turn, is ". . .incredulity toward metanarratives."
Science and technology, especially information sciences based on computers, are increasingly an important commodity and the focus of worldwide competition. Knowledge and political power have become linked. Thus: ". . .[W]ho decides what knowledge is, and who knows what needs to be decided? In the computer age, the question of knowledge is now more than ever a question of government."
A central issue then becomes who has access to the information, since access will produce power. Lyotard sees it as inevitable that bureaucrats and technocrats will be the ones to master this basic resource of power, information. This will strengthen their hand in political circles. Research is expensive, and the pursuer of truth must purchase equipment to make the scientific process work. Thus, wealth begins to set the agenda for the scientist; scientists will go where the bucks are! The criterion for research becomes less the quest for truth and more "performativity," what is the immediate or intermediate payoff, performance value, of the scientific process and of technology. Power helps to shape what research gets funded.
Lyotard argues that the Postmodern moment should emphasize "paralogy," or dissensus. He argues: ". . .it is now dissension that must be emphasized. Consensus is a horizon that is never reached. Research that takes place under the aegis of a paradigm tends to stabilize; it is like the exploitation of a technology, economic, or artistic 'idea.'"
Postmodern science, in his view, encompasses: "The function of differential or imaginative or paralogical activity of the current pragmatics of science is to point out these. . .'presuppositions and to petition the players to accept different ones. The only legitimation that can make this kind of request admissible is that it will generate ideas, in other words, new statements." Thus, new statements, new presuppositions maintain science as an open system of discourse, characterized by paralogy (dissensus) as individuals strive to generate new knowledge, not imprisoned by existing consensus on what one should study and how one should study it.
This book is difficult reading, but to understand postmodernism, this is one of the works that demands that readers confront its arguments, whether in agreement or not.
Challenging and relevant.......2006-09-19
The basic analysis is correct. For some time the conditions of information-overload, de-legitimation of authoritative sources, lack of acceptibility of grand stories about reality or human history, has resulted in a condition of dislocation/disorientation, reaction, and disempowerment that is very confusing, and very bound up in abusive power structures, the confusions of language and over-loaded symbols and games of language, and struggle to communicate.
The text is very difficult to process, it is a translation from French, and his use of very large conglomerate terms makes it difficult to join together the meanings contained within some of his terms, reading it often is an experience of information overload built into his language.
The challenge he presents is relevant whatever one may think about 'postmodernISM' itself. There is great value in the descriptiveness of his explorations and speculations. He saw years ago how the coming information overload and delegitimation of authoritative sources was coming, and now in the internet age he is as relevant as ever, particularly with the challenge faced between the dis-communication between Islamic culture and the West.
I do not affirm or endorse 'postmodernISM' or the sort of radical relativism or extreme focus upon language games that are associated with postmodernISM -- I find these troubling. But I also find the conservative reactions to postmodernism to be extremely troubling. The condition of information overload, delegitimation of what was once considered authoritative information, the erosion of confidence in grand metanarratives of human nature or history, the symbolic overload resulting from contact between cultures and symbol systems, all of these conditions are very real, and the internet age has made the crisis more acute. There is no hiding from it, yet it is not pleasant to behold, to affirm it/endorse it as good, or to try to deny it as if one can return to some past simplicity, is equally problematic/impossible to maintain.
I think this work is very important to sorting out the problems of our times, albeit the answer is not clear, and reading Lyotard makes clarity seem yet more distant. Yet read Lyotard we must, if we wish to deal with these issues.
Provacative and significant work.......2005-10-18
I'm mostly taking it upon myself to write this review in response to much of the negative criticism it's been getting here. First, Lyotard's claim that metanarratives have been dismantled is an observation of the world he sees around him, NOT a political tactic that he's endorsing. The elements of specialization and performativity that function as tiny legitmating narratives are what have done this, and Lyotard feels that something should be done IN RESPONSE to it. In fact, what he says we should use as the major political touchstone in the somewhat fractured environment is in some sense a metanarrative: justice.
Second, it's simply disingenuos to say that the actions of science don't derive their legitimacy from the government or big business. Lyotard doesn't mean that empiricism as an epistemological framework comes from governmental authority, but scientists' opportunities to use it come from such authority. Evidence for this? The National Science Foundation, governmental grants to research universities--the evidence is all around us.
Finally, Lytoard doesn't exactly say all this is bad. There are negative consequences to it--dislocation due to specialization is one of the major ones--but he's not an ignorant man and isn't saying that we should destroy the methods of science or try to go back to the way things were in the sixteenth century.
And though there is some element of practical advice in this essay, it's not wise to come to it as if it were a manual for how to lead the revolution. That's not what it's intended to be; it was, after all, funded by the university system.
nice!.......2004-09-03
A fine book that espouses a Post-Modern philosophy, akin to Baudrillard, Derrida and others.
Most people who come to this book, so do because they would like to know what Post-Modernism is.
Well, a definition would require some sort of truth, some sort of objective character (rather than agreement between the speakers), and, well, according to Post-Modernism, there probably isn't any (so long as we have an understanding of time, and the translation of the perceptual into the conceptual, and how mistranslation is at any time possible, and without guarantee.) However, you can still get your own idea, your own truth, to use Nietzsche's expression, of what Post-Modernism is. That, I suppose, would be the main reason to read this book, rather than to appear chic and cultured, and to know about everything that is in vogue intellectually, which can motivate many people to read many a book.
"To be edified without ostentation."
Also recommended: Toilet: The Novel by Michael Szymczyk (A Tribute to the Literary Works of Franz Kafka)
Book Description
Situational Analysis: Grounded Theory After the Postmodern Turn provides an innovative approach to grounded theory useful in a wide array of qualitative research projects. Extending Anselm Strauss’s ecological social worlds/arenas/discourses framework, situational analysis offers researchers three kinds of maps that place emphasis on the range of differences rather than commonalities, as found via the traditional grounded theory approach:
* Situational maps lay out the major human, nonhuman, discursive, and material elements in the research situation of concern and provoke analysis of relations among them
* Social worlds/arenas maps lay out the collective actors and their arenas of commitment, framing mesolevel interpretations of the situation
* Positional maps examine the major positions taken (and not taken) in the discourses
Using extensive examples, author Adele E. Clarke covers why and how to do these maps with traditional qualitative data such as interviews and ethnographic materials. The book then follows in Foucault’s footsteps, offering ambitious chapters on mapping and analyzing discourse materials—narrative, visual, and historical. Situational analysis helps researchers examine variations, differences, silences in data, conditionality, and complexity. It is also very useful for multi-site research projects, which are increasingly common not only in the social sciences but also in the humanities and related professional fields.
Situational Analysis can be used in a wide array of research projects that draw on interview, ethnographic, historical, visual, and other discursive materials including multi-site research. It is a perfect supplement to any graduate-level qualitative research course, and will also support professional researchers and consultants from diverse backgrounds pursuing qualitative projects.
“Through this book, grounded theory has been thoroughly remodeled. Pulling together diverse traditions in social theory and providing a coherent methodological translation for them, this renovation is both scholarly and practical. The text is as an exemplar for updating and reinterpreting research approaches in light of contemporary philosophical and methodological sensibilities.â€
—Karen D. Locke,
College of William and Mary
Â
“A timely and erudite critique of grounded theory, clearly favoring the Straussian line, and none the worse for that.â€
—Antony Bryant,
Leeds Metropolitan University, U.K.
“With passion and bravura
Situational Analysis
maps the structures, discourses, and silences hidden in qualitative research. Adele Clarke offers the best of both worlds: a theoretically grounded methodology and a methodologically useful theory. This book is a must read for every researcher contemplating a study of people doing things together.â€
—Stefan Timmermans,
Brandeis University
Customer Reviews:
Useful for Dissertations.......2006-04-05
For the graphically-oriented person interested in grounded theory (or to some extent, Actor-Network-Theory ANT), this book offers a solid guide to the necessary mechanics for a dissertation. On the other hand, it's not a manual. There are no A-B-C or 1-2-3 steps for doing situational analysis a la Cresswell or other more hand-holding method texts. I view this as an advantage. Method ought to be a guide, not a script for performing research--especially qualitative research, but that is of course up to the researcher.
If one combines this book with Charvaz (2006) and Strauss and Corbin (1998) the necessary pieces are there for passing any level of methodological rigor related to grounded theory.
This is not ANT, but it is quite related. ANT comes from different intellectual antecedents and has a few different emphases that link contextually to Latour's project. Still, Latourians will see obvious similarities.
Overall, Clarke wants to add Foucauldian genealogy to Straussian grounded theory, in order to broaden the data sources considered as discourse, and to make some of the description and theorizing tools graphical. I do not downplay the reworking of grounded theory, but it is a refined branch within grounded theory--not something altogether new, I'd argue. And I think it is not excessively modest for Clarke to describe it this way, too. Strauss was a giant and deserves more acclaim.
I do not mean to detract from this important work. Situational analysis represents the state of the art of a symbolic interactionist methodology broadened out from where Strauss ended his work. Yet method isn't quite the right term--as Clarke discusses at some length in the book. Situational analysis is a way of thinking about research problems along with some tools for investigating the sort of approach that has built up from interactionists since Mead.
If advisors or reviewers aren't sypathetic to ethnographic or interpretive approaches, there is nothing here that will overcome that hurdle in all probability. On the other hand, if you can do a rigorous qualitative project, this is an interesting way to go for someone interested in developing theory while investigating facts. I think it is particularly relevant to areas where little has been written or developed.
There is a lot to be done with refining and extending the method, but the book nevertheless constitutes an exciting advance. Highly recommended.
Average customer rating:
- Dry, but informative
- Doctoral research material
- How to look at organizations?
- Very interesting, i have learned a lot!
- Excellent!
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Organization Theory: Modern, Symbolic, and Postmodern Perspectives
Mary Jo Hatch
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ASIN: 0198774907 |
Book Description
This text offers a comprehensive and original introduction to organization theory and is designed to provide an even handed, balanced appreciation of the different perspectives that have contributed to our knowledge about organizations. The text's approach is pluralist, reflecting the diverse nature of organizational theory as a field of study influenced by thinkers from a variety of academic disciplines. Specifically, perspectives described as `modern', `symbolic-interpretive' and `postmodern' frame the analysis. Students are encouraged to `adopt' these perspectives to expand their own view and to enhance their understanding. A key question addressed throughout the text is the nature of the relationship between organizational theories and the reality these theories describe. Organization Theory is in three parts: * Part 1 introduces the multi-perspective approach * Part 2 explores the ways in which organizations are analysed - as entities within an environment; as subjects of strategic action; as technologies; as social structures; as cultures; and as physical structures * Part 3 covers topics of central importance in organizational theory including decision-making, power, conflict, control and change within organizations. To aid learning the text offers many diagrammatical and conceptual models and each chapter includes a summary, a list of key terms and pointers to further reading.
Customer Reviews:
Dry, but informative.......2006-03-13
I'm not sure how attention grabbing org theory can be, but this book was very informative and understandable. The chapters are a nice size, and the summaries are useful.
Doctoral research material.......2001-08-29
Hatch writes in a consise and informative manner. It is not the type of writing that you wonder what you just read. Her writing holds the reader's interest by keeping her style uncomplicated in word and thought. The breath of orgainzational information is outstanding and the depth of each topic seems to be at a level to keep you reading but not overloaded and bored. Highly recommended for org research.
How to look at organizations?.......2000-10-24
The book is an academic level state-of-the-art of organization theory. Definitely the best contemporary book in the field - suitable for all the students, but also for academics and practitioners. It covers both historical and current issues. Though pretty comprehesive, still comprehendable. In lay man language Hatch writes about most difficult issues of organization theory - structure, environment, culture, etc. are all covered, usually with some alternative perspectives (e.g. 'organizational culture' is described also from postmodern and symbolic perspectives, current books and papers are referred etc.).
Very interesting, i have learned a lot!.......1999-09-21
Very interesting, i have learned a lot
Excellent!.......1999-09-20
This is a wonderful textbook and much more than a textboo
Book Description
Marvin Harris is arguably the most influential, prolific anthropological theorist of our time. This book brings together many of the strands of his work of the past two decades into a unified, contemporary statement on anthropological theory and practice. In this book, he presents his current views on the nature of culture addressing such issues as the mental/behavioral debate, emics and etics, and anthropological holism. He resoundly critiques many current theoretical trends-from sociobiology to postmodernism to Afrocentrism. And he offers a cultural materialist perspective on diverse contemporary issues such as the IQ question and the fall of communism. Harris' thought-provoking and controversial theoretical views will be required reading for all anthropologists, social theorists, and their students.
Customer Reviews:
a good update.......2005-07-12
This is a great update and companion to the classic, The Rise of Anthropological Theory. Harris builds on the arguments he first laid out in the previous work. Harris's cultural materialist critiques of other anthropological research strategies have stood the test of time and only need to be updated to include some of the newer trends that arose in the intervening thirty years.
In the first part of the book Harris clarifies some of the theoretical and epistemological principles underlying cultural materialism. He defines culture, discusses the emics/etics debate, discusses holism and individualism and defends science. The second part stands out as the strongest part of the book. He thoroughly critiques sociobiology and biological reductionism. His critique is scathing and pointed yet wide ranging. An interesting note is how some evolutionary biologists seem to agree with his critiques of those who would, at first glance, seem to be their comrades.
The third part of the book is mostly a short explaination of the heart of cultural materialism that answers some questions left from his previous works. The end of this section is a much too short critique of postmodernism. Seeing as how this is the title one would have hoped Harris would have written more. The fourth part discusses some more "recent" cultural topics. In a chapter inappropriately titled Origins of Capitalism Harris explores an excellent cultural materialist explaination of the rise of feudalism in Europe and Japan which was, as he says, the basis for the rise of capitalism. The last chapter wonderfully explains the collapse of the Soviet Union and Stalinist style communism.
All in all this is an excellent update to some of Dr. Harris's earlier books. As with all Marvin Harris's books it includes a wonderful bibliography and index. It is a shame that he did not live long enough to do a complete rewrite and update of The Rise of Anthropological Theory.
A partial account of theories of culture.......2001-03-13
I found Harris' account of theories of culture not only partial but also misleading. I accept that the author presents and defends his own theory of cultural materialism and his positivist understanding of science. However, I had expected more objective presentations of the various schools of thought and a constructive critic with strengths and limitations of the different contributions in anthropological theory. It is no use to say that Harris does not provide the reader with a clear picture of theories of culture. The interesting aspect of the book however is the range of theories it approaches (even if it is misleading, for example the account of the post-modernists). I would recommend to somebody in search for a more objective and even more complete review of theories of culture in anthropology the book of Paul A. Erickson "A History of Anthropological Theory" and to somebody in search for positivist critics to the recent developments of the post-modern movement the book of Keith Windschuttle "The killing of History".
Theories of Culture in Postmodern Times.......2000-09-23
This man is the top social scientist of his generation. He is still near the top of his form. His critiques of postmodernism and sociobiology, are compelling. The chapter on the fall of the Soviet Union is fascinating (and consistent with his theory of cultural materialism). The book is well worth the read.
Anything by Harris is 5 stars.......1999-10-20
The book seems slightly skimpy, but it's great nevertheless. Harris knows his subject - human culture from the perspective of cultural materialism - inside out. His critique of the Bell Curve is especially astute.
Book Description
Organization Theory offers a clear and comprehensive introduction to the study of organizations and organizing processes. It encourages an even-handed appreciation of the different perspectives contributing to our knowledge of organizations and challenges readers to broaden their intellectual reach. Organization Theory is in three parts: BL Part I introduces the multi-perspective approach. BL Part II presents many ways in which organizations can be analyzed - as entities within an environment, as social structures, technologies, cultures and physical structures, and as the products of power and political processes. BL Part III explores applications of organization theory to the practical matters of organizational design and change, and introduces the latest perspectives on the horizons of organization theory, including complex adaptive systems, organizational identity theory, critical realism, network theory, aesthetics, and organizational learning. Online Resource Centre For lecturers: PowerPoint slides, exam questions, teachig suggestions, a discussion forum, case studies and exercises with instructor's notes. For Students: annotated web links, and discussion questions.
Customer Reviews:
MUCH less painful than others on this subject.......2007-09-09
This book is very readable. Some of the books and papers on organizational theory are so dense that they are practically unreadable. This one effectively conveys the information the author wants you to understand. This is not a pointless book. I can't say that about most of the others I've had to read on organizational theory.
Organization Theory Resource.......2007-07-21
This book is required reading for a graduate OD course I completed this summer. Using the organizational theory perspectives of modernist, symbolic and post modernist, the author carefully guides and builds on theories that support these perspectives. In the end, it give professional change experts a foundation for recommendations. I will continue to use this book as a reference for my internal and external OD/OT work.
Book Description
Literature today is a very different concept from that of only a generation ago, and this difference is attributed usually to 'postmodernism' as a powerful signifier of the radically new and challenging. Most radical of all is the possibility that the very notion of literature is rendered untenable by postmodernism. How did this possibility arise? Who are the key figures responsible for its emergence; which are the key texts of its expression? This Anthology provides ways of responding to such questions and at the same time to show that postmodern literary theory cannot be understood in terms of an archive or a method. Its defining feature is an attitude of questioning, which neither derives from a manifesto nor constitutes a movement. Yet postmodern literary theory hasn't come from nowhere. Its beginnings lie in certain ideas associated with the likes of Barthes and Foucault in the 1970s, and in the disavowal of values and the questioning of literature associated with the eighteenth-century Romantics. Although postmodern literary theory does have some foundational texts and founding figures, these work to undo the very notion of 'foundations' - including the very notion of literature itself. It is this work (rather than some archive) which Postmodern Literary Theory: An Anthology is designed to show. What is anthologized here, in short, are concepts, arguments, practices and debates. Without careful guidance, students cannot be expected to understand many of the terms, claims, concepts and arguments of postmodern literary theory. Postmodern writing is often notoriously difficult and experimental, and postmodern theorizing is often conceptually dense and presumes a certain knowledge of philosophy. Students will be guided to read each chapter as a particular response to a specific problem or concept relating to the overall theme: that postmodernism is concerned with only one thing - the question of literature.
Book Description
Gianni Vattimo reexamines the roots of modernism and postmodernism in Nietzsche, Benjamin, and Heidegger. Exploring the links between concepts of nihilism and destiny in nineteenth-century humanism, Vattimo follows these trends in aesthetic and scientific theory from Benjamin to Bloch, Ricoeur, and Kuhn.
Customer Reviews:
Vattimo's hard to accept tesis about a weak thinking........1998-10-14
This book is important to understand postmodernism. However, i don't image american readers accepting Vattimo's tesis about weak subjet right to have a place in world. Why modern civilization has impossed to us the obligation of being strong and the first in every action as the only way to be allowed as a member of this society?
Book Description
This is an accessible and stimulating summary of the often over-complex theories that have transformed the study of narrative in recent decades. Mark Currie establishes direct links between the workings of fictional narratives and those of the non-fictional world, arguing that it is their inseparability which characterizes postmodern fiction, criticism and culture. The book charts the transition in narrative theory from its formalist beginnings, through deconstruction, various new historicisms and psychoanalysis, towards its current concerns with the social and cultural function of narrative. Through its two principal themes--the relationship of narrative to identity and the role of time in experience--the book plots the connections between fiction, criticism and ideology that represent the contribution of narrative theory to an understanding of postmodern culture.
Customer Reviews:
Slightly less modern geographies .......2005-06-09
Please forgive the cheesy title of this review. I choose it because while I found Mr. Soja's book educational and somewhat enjoyable, I also found a lack of incorporation (which might imply a lack of understanding) of many aspects of postmodern innovations. I do not claim to grasp the genre/concept entirely, but I think that many readers will find that Soja stops his thinking short of where it might be expected to go.
There is a feeble, and seemingly ad hoc, literary structure that the introduction explains as isomorphic of the fragmented spatiality of postmodern geography. I don't buy that explanation. I read the book from beginning to end and did not feel like I was passing through mini-paradigms or multiple perspectives. The first three chapters are exceedingly repetitive and the rest of the book only moderately so; it is perhaps for this reason that the author suggests picking up at any point in the book. Again and again the legacy of traditional academic Marxism is critiqued for ignoring spatiality, yet Soja only asserts the necessity of a fundamental incorporation of space into social theory in a brief portion of the first chapter. What's more, this brief argument is based entirely on the scholarship of other theorists and does not even consider possible objections. As such this book will not, if you are reading it thoroughly, convince you to equally incorporate space and time but only that "everybody else" in geography is doing it.
A summary of recent trends in geography is by no means a poor basis for a book. I was very unfamiliar with (what used to be) contemporary issues in geography, and after reading Soja's work I feel familiar with many theorists as well as the discipline's terminology. Brief aside: Soja absolutely loves academic jargon, so be prepared with a dictionary at hand if you are not a serious academic. But a summary of trends is not what the author makes out his book to be. He calls it a "reassertion of space in critical social theory", yet his rhetorical structure assumes the truth of his position and subsequently presents facts that correlate with this assumed truth. This does not mean that I think the author is wrong about space, simply that he makes a pretty weak assertion.
I learned about a lot of things from this book: Marx's writings and Marxism, Henri Lefibvre, existentialism and its contingence upon the constructed mental space that seperates the individual from the rest of the world, social theorists and geographers in the 70s and 80s that began to incorporate the socio-spatial dialectic into their work, and (unfortunately) that "postmodern" geography is just an equally social, spatial, and chronological form of Marxian analysis. If postmodernism is a rejection of the metanarratives of modernism (as it is in part according to Lyotard) then the type of geography that Soja is describing is not very postmodern. "Postmodern Geographies" questions but ultimately deifies Marx, and in doing so celebrates the inter-era significance of one of the most rigid and deterministic metanaritives.
Crucially important work.......2004-06-07
This is an extremely important book not only for geographers, who will undoubtedly know Soja very well, but also for those in other fields of the social sciences. Space, and the reassertion of it within academic discourse, is seen by many to be a critical component of contemporary social theory. In this book, Soja covers a broad range of perspectives, placing these within the realm of postmodernism. While in some areas I believe he glosses over some concepts and dismisses others too quickly, he manages to weave an intricate story of space from many corners of social theory. It is not a difficult read and is easy to pick up in any spot. I would highly recommend this book to other graduate students (in whatever field) considering space, and spatial analysis, as a component of their research.
Handling the ignored spaces of Geography?.......2000-06-11
Edward Soja is concerned in his book with what I would call the revival of the geographical discourse identity:after decades in which geographers focused on the understanding of Earth,nowadays we realise that there are a few geographical notions(space,place,territory,limits,borders,margins,periphery etc.)which are able to generate a major contribution to the raising of the new critical social discourse.Soja is one of those who enters this new challenging game.However,as I wrote in my book"Postmodern Geography and the Revival of Theory",this new direction in geography runs some risks,among which the neglecting of the status of Geography itself.Edward Soja doesn't seem to pay proper atttention to this issue...
Book Description
Written by one of the foremost American authorities on sociological theory, this market-leading text gives readers a comprehensive overview of the major classical theorists and contemporary schools of sociological thought. Arranged chronologically, it spans the history of sociological theory from its inception to the present. Key theories are integrated with biographical and autobiographical sketches of the lives of theorists to place readings in their personal and historical context for students. The fifth edition has been thoroughly updated and revised to include a number of sections on new developments in the field, such as theories of consumption and the new means of consumption, multiculturalism, and criticisms and applications of postmodernism and post-post modernism.
Customer Reviews:
For Advanced Students Only.......2005-11-27
I'm not majoring in sociology, but I'm taking sociology to fulfill an interest. I understand that Ritzer is an expert and well respected, but, unless you are serious about sociology and have an advanced background, you will have a very hard time understanding or getting much of anything out of this book, as the language and vocabulary used is very advanced. I have to read paragraphs over again just to try to grasp what Ritzer is trying to get across. I could learn more by renting a simple book on sociology at the library that is written in laymens terms than by trying to understand Ritzer's language. Most professors write in a rather "pompous" language and would highly benefit from reading "On Writing Well" by William Zinnsser, which speaks of using simple language that people can actually understand instead of all of this over-inflated, look at how educated I am type of language. I'm not saying that was Ritzer's goal, as he may have just written in the style easiest for him, but I will say that his book is a very advanced read, and sadly, only those highly familiar with sociology can benefit from it. I'm an honors society student - and this book is hard for me to read.
An excellent introductory text.......2004-04-19
Ritzer and Goodman's simply-titled Sociological Theory is an excellent introductory text for that field. At nearly 800 pages, it offers a very good overview of both European and American sociological theory, without being overlong and cumbersome. The authors give a broad overview of the origins of sociological theory in the early classical theorists -- Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Simmel -- all of whom have an entire chapter devoted to them. They also devote chapters that give a broad overview of the rise of sociological theory in both Europe and America. After that, they devote a chapter to each of the major schools of sociological theory. They also address various other issues important to the field, such as macro-micro integration, agency-structure issues, and modernism vs. postmodernism. The book is very well-written and even manages to be entertaining as well as informative. It is also quite comprehensive, covering all of the subjects mentioned above, among others, quite well: a nice, broad overview is given of almost all of the things important to sociological theory. Concise biographical portraits of major theorists are also offered, which often serve to add a distinct and charming personal touch to the sometimes abstract narratives. Of course, the book is not comprehensive: that is beyond the scope of the book. Within it, the authors continually stress the importance of reading the original sources as well as other overviews in order to get a balanced and complete view of each theorist, theory, and idea. Anyone looking for a great general overview of sociological theory, however, need look no further than this.
Excellent as a standard book for theory.......2002-01-18
I used this book in its 4th edition as an undergraduate and I am very glad I kept it, because I used it extensively in my graduate theory class last semester. Ritzer makes it easy to understand and appreciate the classical theorists and I would highly recommend it as a good general book for students.
Excellent Textbook.......2000-05-23
It is never an easy task to condense theory into a single, comprehensive textbook. Nevertheless, George Ritzer offers one of the best, if not THE best, options available. To say that this book is for "dabblers" only is misleading to those looking for an overview of sociological theory.
Ritzer's Sociological Theory - Is it Worthwhile?.......2000-02-18
Ritzer gives brief synoses of major theorists in this work. While his treatments are concise they are by no means complete. This study shoudl serve as a "jumping off" place for more in-depth studies on major theorists.
While this study may satisfy the "dabbler" in sociology, it is not highly recommended for serious scholarly study.
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