Author John Holmwood: John Holmwood is Professor of Sociology at the University of Nottingham, UK. He is President of the British Sociological Association and is co-editor (with Stephen Turner) of the Palgrave Pivot series Sociology Transformed, which explores national histories of sociology. John Scott is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Plymouth University, UK. He is a former President of the British Sociological Association and Honorary Professor in Sociology at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He is author of Envisioning Sociology: Victor Branford, Patrick Geddes, and the Quest for Social Reconstruction.

• List of Figures - List of Tables - Acknowledgements - Preface - Introduction - Positivism - Relativism - Vertical and Horizontal Fallacies - Rationality and Action - Action and Structure - Power and Normative Order - Structure, Function and Contradiction - False Consciousness and Ontological Alienation - Conclusion - Notes - Bibliography - Index