Anthony Giddens is Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

"In this generation no one has contributed more than he to both our understanding of the history of social thought and the development of social theory. The pieces republished in Politics, Sociology and Social Theory are worth reading again, for they offer critically informed engagements with diverse figures from the history of social theory." Times Higher Education Supplement "A valuable collection of papers ... Giddens's own work is a striking exception to the sterility of post-socialist social thought. The present volume shows Giddens at his refreshingly iconoclastic best ... These are all profoundly instructive contributions, which confirm Giddens's standing as the pre-eminent social theorist of his generation." John Gray, Times Literary Supplement

• Preface. Introduction.1. Politics and Sociology in the Thought of Max Weber.2. Marx, Weber and the Development of Capitalism.3. Durkheim's Political Sociology.4. Durkheim and the Question of Individualism.5. Comte, Popper and Positivism.6. 'Power' in the Writings of Talcott Parsons.7. The Improbable Guru: Re-reading Marcuse.8. Garfinkel, Ethnomethodology and Hermeneutics.9. Habermas on Labour and Interaction.10. Foucault, Nietzsche and Marx.Notes.Index.

Anthony Giddens is Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

"In this generation no one has contributed more than he to both our understanding of the history of social thought and the development of social theory. The pieces republished in Politics, Sociology and Social Theory are worth reading again, for they offer critically informed engagements with diverse figures from the history of social theory." Times Higher Education Supplement "A valuable collection of papers ... Giddens's own work is a striking exception to the sterility of post-socialist social thought. The present volume shows Giddens at his refreshingly iconoclastic best ... These are all profoundly instructive contributions, which confirm Giddens's standing as the pre-eminent social theorist of his generation." John Gray, Times Literary Supplement

• Preface. Introduction.1. Politics and Sociology in the Thought of Max Weber.2. Marx, Weber and the Development of Capitalism.3. Durkheim's Political Sociology.4. Durkheim and the Question of Individualism.5. Comte, Popper and Positivism.6. 'Power' in the Writings of Talcott Parsons.7. The Improbable Guru: Re-reading Marcuse.8. Garfinkel, Ethnomethodology and Hermeneutics.9. Habermas on Labour and Interaction.10. Foucault, Nietzsche and Marx.Notes.Index.

Anthony Giddens is Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

"In this generation no one has contributed more than he to both our understanding of the history of social thought and the development of social theory. The pieces republished in Politics, Sociology and Social Theory are worth reading again, for they offer critically informed engagements with diverse figures from the history of social theory." Times Higher Education Supplement "A valuable collection of papers ... Giddens's own work is a striking exception to the sterility of post-socialist social thought. The present volume shows Giddens at his refreshingly iconoclastic best ... These are all profoundly instructive contributions, which confirm Giddens's standing as the pre-eminent social theorist of his generation." John Gray, Times Literary Supplement

• Preface. Introduction.1. Politics and Sociology in the Thought of Max Weber.2. Marx, Weber and the Development of Capitalism.3. Durkheim's Political Sociology.4. Durkheim and the Question of Individualism.5. Comte, Popper and Positivism.6. 'Power' in the Writings of Talcott Parsons.7. The Improbable Guru: Re-reading Marcuse.8. Garfinkel, Ethnomethodology and Hermeneutics.9. Habermas on Labour and Interaction.10. Foucault, Nietzsche and Marx.Notes.Index.