Product Description
by Philip Smith (Author), Alexander Riley (Author)
This second edition of Cultural Theory provides a concise introduction to cultural theory, placing major figures, traditional concepts, and contemporary themes within a sharp conceptual framework.
- Provides a student-friendly introduction to what can often be a complex field of study
- Updates the first edition in response to reader feedback and to the changing nature of the field
- Includes additional coverage of theorists from the classical period to include Nietzsche and DuBois
- Introduces entirely new chapters on race and gender theory, and the body
- Considers themes that have become more important in theoretical activity in recent years such as computers and virtual reality, cosmopolitanism, and performance theory
- Draws on theories and theorists from continental Europe as well as the English-speaking world
Back Jacket
This second edition of the renowned Cultural Theory provides a systematic and accessible introduction to cultural theory, encapsulating a usually complex field in a concise and balanced overview.
This fully revised and expanded second edition provides a comprehensive tour of the major figures, themes, and debates in cultural theory, from Durkheim and Weber through to Foucault and Butler, and from charisma to consumption, but also introduces entirely new chapters on race and gender theory, and the body. Other new material includes treatments of thinkers such as Nietzsche, DuBois, and Eagleton, and considers important contemporary themes, including virtual reality and cosmopolitanism.
Internationally respected by students and teachers alike, the first edition of Cultural Theory has been translated into several languages and became legendary on campuses worldwide. This new, restructured edition, packed with special features for students and accompanied by a website, promises to be the most authoritative text of its kind.
Author Biography
Philip Smith is Associate Professor of Sociology at Yale University and Deputy Director of the Yale Center for Cultural Sociology. His books include Cultural Theory: An Introduction (Blackwell, 2001), Why War? The Cultural Logic of Iraq, the Gulf War and Suez (2005), The Cambridge Companion to Durkheim (with Jeffrey C. Alexander) (2005), and Punishment and Culture (2008).
Alexander Riley is Associate Professor of Sociology at Bucknell University. He is the author of Godless Intellectuals?: How Durkheimian Sociology and Poststructuralism Reinvented the Intellectual Pursuit of the Sacred (2008).
