Books in the Classical and Contemporary Social Theory series

Exploring his unique and interdisciplinary approach to the critical interpretation of modern metropolitan society and culture, this book emphasises David Frisby's legacy in highlighting the role of the social researcher as a collector, reader, observer, detective and archivist of the phenomena and ideas that exemplify the modern metropolis.

The Orient was central to the work of Marx and Weber, both figures building their theories around the question of why modernity appeared to emerge only in the West. Extending recent work comparing the social theories of Marx and Weber, this book examines their approaches to oriental societies, showing how.

Challenging the mainstream orthodoxy of social scientific methodology, which closely guards the boundaries between the social sciences and the arts and humanities, this volume reveals that authors and artists are often engaged in projects parallel to those of the social sciences and vice versa.

This book examines the communication battles of the Bush and Blair political administrations (and those of their successors) over their use of torture to gain intelligence for the War on Terror. Exploring the agenda-building drivers that exposed the torture-intelligence nexus and presenting case studies of key media events from the UK and USA.

Examining the mimetic theory of Rene Girard, this book investigates the development of society as a result of an original crime (a murder) that shaped the way the earliest humans organized the social structures we live with today - an analysis that reveals the dangerous structure of the most basic social relationships.

Shedding light on the relationship between violence and contemporary society, this volume explores the distinctive but little-known theories of violence in the work of Georges Bataille and Jean Baudrillard.

This book explores Puritanism and its continuing influence on US and military law in the Global War on Terror, exploring connections between Puritanism and notions of responsibility in relation to military crimes, superstitious practices within the military, and urges for revenge.

Provides an analysis of the abuses that took place at Abu Ghraib in terms of social theory, gender and power, based on first-hand participant-observations of the courts-martials of Lynndie England and Sabrina Harman. This book examines the trials themselves, including interactions with soldiers and defense teams.

Bringing social theory and philosophy to bear on popular movies, novels, myths, and fairy tales, The Gift and its Paradoxes explores the ambiguity of the gift: it is at once both a relation and a thing, alienable and inalienable, present and poison. Challenging the nature of giving as reciprocal.

This collection invites inquiry into the complexities of the social life of walls, observing urban spaces as veritable laboratories of wall-making - places where their consequences become most visible.

This volume explores the emotions that are intricately woven into the texture of everyday life and experience. It focuses on the role of emotions as being integral to daily life, broadening our understanding by examining both `core¿ emotions and those that are often overlooked or omitted from more conventional studies.

This volume examines the question of how the incessant demand for improved performance and efficiency, the pursuit of self-improvement and everyday multitasking affect not only relationships with others, but also with body and self.

This book explores the place of art in the modern world. Engaging with a broad range of theory, the author draws on the thought of Max Weber to offer an account of art¿s widespread appeal in terms of its constituting a self-contained value-sphere of meaning, which provides a feeling of salvation from the senseless routines of modern life.

This book is the first full study of Edward Westermarck¿s moral and social theory, focusing on the key elements of his theory of moral emotions as presented in The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas and summarized in Ethical Relativity.