| Description |
1 online resource (ix, 257 pages) : illustrations |
| Contents |
Cover; Contents; Tables and Figures; Acknowledgments; 1 From the Birth of the Modern World to the Age of Limits; Ages and labels; Disciplinary approaches to politics, economics and culture; The emergence of free markets, rapid-discovery science, and democratic states; Free markets; Three cultures, one structural; Politics: democratic states and citizens; Differentiation and macro-social orders; Stratification: elites and people; Global powers?; From the Age of Extremes to the Age of Limits; 2 Convergence and Divergence; Sweden versus America; Americanization or Globalization? |
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Individualism in Sweden and America3 Paths towards Pluralist Democracy: Liberal versus Radical Interpretations; Liberal and radical endpoints; The state and economic development; The state's fiscal growth and economic transfers; A radical account of the varieties of capitalism; Three types; Liberalism and the varieties of capitalism; Comparing the radical and liberal accounts; 4 Free and Unfree Markets; The emergence of disembedding; Markets and their mechanism; Financial markets; The economic order: embeddedness versus disembeddedness; Beyond disciplinary turf wars |
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5 The Paradoxes of Science, Technology and Social ChangeThe production of scientific knowledge and technological innovation; Technology in everyday life: the example of information and communication technologies; Globalization, science and technology, and social theory; 6 The Limits to Transforming the Environment; Disciplinary fragmentation and lack of realism; Accelerated transformations and an uncontrolled experiment; Technology, social change, and the environment; Energy infrastructures and developmental paths; Counteracting limits; 7 Three Cultures; Religion; Consumption |
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Science and technologyPatterns of culture; The limits of culture in everyday life; 8 Modernization and the Politics of Development; The puzzle of China; Openness to external influence; The pattern of the Chinese economy; Take-off and leap ahead; How capitalist?; Political domination and legitimacy; Nascent democracy?; Spectacle and predicament; India's fragmented populist democracy; Colonialism to independence; From successful to populist democracy; Economic development and social divides; Cultural conflict and diversity; A fragmented state?; India, China, and modernization |
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9 Social Theory in the Face of the FutureThe limits of markets; The limits of culture, and of science and technology; The limits of the state and politics; From comparative-historical sociology to political philosophy; Notes; References; Index |
| Summary |
An Age of Limits outlines a new social theory for understanding contemporary society. Providing an analysis of why political, economic and cultural powers face constraints across the global North and beyond, this bold book argues that forces which address current challenges must confront the limits of the interplay between dominant institutions. In this ambitious and bold book, Ralph Schroeder develops a new social theory centred on the notion of limits. The current era, from the 1970s onwards, has seen a departure from the three defining trends of the modern age: the struggle for social citizenship rights, the disembedding of markets, and the transformation of nature. Based on a comparative-historical analysis, the book argues that there are now similar constraints on social development throughout the global North and beyond. These constraints include the waning of conflicts driving the extension and deepening of rights, the instability of increasing financialization, and the progressive lack of control over the exploitation of natural resources. The key challenge for social theory therefore lies in identifying the cleavages between the dominant political, economic and cultural powers, and countervailing forces that can potentially overcome them. The book explores several advanced Western democracies in depth, as well as China and India. It will fundamentally challenge our theoretical understanding of contemporary societies and their dynamics |
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"The reader has come to expect brilliant sociological analysis from Ralph Schroeder, and his latest book is no exception. The scope is broad and what the author promises - and also delivers! - is a theory of modern society, centered on comparative-historical analysis. Recommended reading not only for sociologists, political scientists, and economists, but also for general readers who want to experience what really good social science is like."--Richard Swedberg, Professor of Sociology, Cornell University, USA |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-246) and index |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Social theory
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Social sciences -- Philosophy.
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Social theory -- 21st century.
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Social & political philosophy -- 21st century.
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Globalization -- 21st century.
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Political economy -- 21st century.
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POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Reference.
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POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Government -- National.
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POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Government -- General.
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POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Essays.
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Society.
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Social sciences -- Philosophy
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Social theory -- 21st century, c 2000 to c 2100.
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Social & political philosophy -- 21st century, c 2000 to c 2100.
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Globalization -- 21st century, c 2000 to c 2100.
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Political economy -- 21st century, c 2000 to c 2100.
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Child, developmental, and lifespan psychology -- 21st century, c 2000 to c 2100.
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Society.
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9781137314628 |
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1137314621 |
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1299717349 |
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9781299717343 |
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