French Social Theory

Mike Gane is Professor of Sociology at University of Loughborough

"Gane provides a sweeping summary of some of the central themes in French social theory over the last two centuries as he traces French social theory from the birth of the "social" in Saint-Simonianism to the "social′s" supposed demise in the recent writings of Jean Baudrillard. . . . overall he does a masterful job of weaving together social theory with French social and intellectual history."

• PART ONE: FIRST CYCLE: 1800-1880THE BIRTH SOCIAL THEORY: ALTRUISMThe Post-revolutionary Void Sacrificial Theory and the Sociology of ModernityTheory in CrisisReligion and the SubjectiveEnd of the First CycleScholasticismPART TWO: SECOND CYCLE: 1880-1940THE REBIRTH OF SOCIAL THEORY: ANOMIESocial Theory RebornFrench SocietyVanguard without a NormMethod in Crisis and the Resort to Theory in SuicideEnd of the Second CycleAnthropology and ReligionPART THREE: THIRD CYCLE: 1940-2000 THE SECOND BIRTH OF SOCIAL THEORY: HYPERTELIAExistential TheoryThe Algerian WarFrom Pathology to NormativityStructural TheoryRadical Theory and the End of the SocialFin-de-CycleTime of Counter-StrategiesConclusionSocial Theory at the End of the Social