'John Holmwood has produced a book which is bold if not foolhardy, but also timely. A distinguished quality of scholarship is manifest throughout the text. Many conceptually complex ideas are expressed clearly and directly...Without doubt, this will be a useful source of access both to Parsonian theory and to contemporary arguments in sociology. Hence, in these terms, Holmwood's book is at the cutting edge of current sociological debate.'British Educational Research Journal 1997'In sum, this is a provocative..contribution to the debate about Parsons and general theory that serves as a prolegomenon to a revived explanatory sociology.'Sociological Research Online

• Acknowledgements.Introduction.1. The Age of Sociology? 2. The Theoretical Impasse. 3. The Idea of General Theory. 4. The Action Frame of Reference. 5. Structural-Functionalism, Theoretical Breakdown and the Embrace of contradiction. 6. A Marxist alternative? 7. Action and Explanation. Conclusion.

'John Holmwood has produced a book which is bold if not foolhardy, but also timely. A distinguished quality of scholarship is manifest throughout the text. Many conceptually complex ideas are expressed clearly and directly...Without doubt, this will be a useful source of access both to Parsonian theory and to contemporary arguments in sociology. Hence, in these terms, Holmwood's book is at the cutting edge of current sociological debate.'British Educational Research Journal 1997'In sum, this is a provocative..contribution to the debate about Parsons and general theory that serves as a prolegomenon to a revived explanatory sociology.'Sociological Research Online

• Acknowledgements.Introduction.1. The Age of Sociology? 2. The Theoretical Impasse. 3. The Idea of General Theory. 4. The Action Frame of Reference. 5. Structural-Functionalism, Theoretical Breakdown and the Embrace of contradiction. 6. A Marxist alternative? 7. Action and Explanation. Conclusion.

'John Holmwood has produced a book which is bold if not foolhardy, but also timely. A distinguished quality of scholarship is manifest throughout the text. Many conceptually complex ideas are expressed clearly and directly...Without doubt, this will be a useful source of access both to Parsonian theory and to contemporary arguments in sociology. Hence, in these terms, Holmwood's book is at the cutting edge of current sociological debate.'British Educational Research Journal 1997'In sum, this is a provocative..contribution to the debate about Parsons and general theory that serves as a prolegomenon to a revived explanatory sociology.'Sociological Research Online

• Acknowledgements.Introduction.1. The Age of Sociology? 2. The Theoretical Impasse. 3. The Idea of General Theory. 4. The Action Frame of Reference. 5. Structural-Functionalism, Theoretical Breakdown and the Embrace of contradiction. 6. A Marxist alternative? 7. Action and Explanation. Conclusion.