Sociological Theory | George Ritzer | Excellent as a standard book for theory

Sociological Theory | George Ritzer | An excellent introductory text

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Sociological Theory

	Sociological Theory George Ritzer McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2007 - 840 pages average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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The seventh edition of Sociological Theory by George Ritzer, one of the foremost authorities on sociological theory, gives readers a comprehensive overview of the major theorists and schools of sociological thought. Key theories are integrated with biographical sketches of theorists, and theories are placed in their historical and intellectual context. This helps students to better understand the original works of classical and modern theorists as well as to compare and contrast the latest substantive theories.

Excellent as a standard book for theory

I used this book in its 4th edition as an undergraduate and I am very glad I kept it, because I used it extensively in my graduate theory class last semester. Ritzer makes it easy to understand and appreciate the classical theorists and I would highly recommend it as a good general book for students.

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An excellent introductory text

Ritzer and Goodman's simply-titled Sociological Theory is an excellent introductory text for that field. At nearly 800 pages, it offers a very good overview of both European and American sociological theory, without being overlong and cumbersome. The authors give a broad overview of the origins of sociological theory in the early classical theorists -- Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Simmel -- all of whom have an entire chapter devoted to them. They also devote chapters that give a broad overview of the rise of sociological theory in both Europe and America. After that, they devote a chapter to each of the major schools of sociological theory. They also address various other issues important to the field, such as macro-micro integration, agency-structure issues, and modernism vs. postmodernism. The book is very well-written and even manages to be entertaining as well as informative. It is also quite comprehensive, covering all of the subjects mentioned above, among others, quite well: a nice, broad overview is given of almost all of the things important to sociological theory. Concise biographical portraits of major theorists are also offered, which often serve to add a distinct and charming personal touch to the sometimes abstract narratives. Of course, the book is not comprehensive: that is beyond the scope of the book. Within it, the authors continually stress the importance of reading the original sources as well as other overviews in order to get a balanced and complete view of each theorist, theory, and idea. Anyone looking for a great general overview of sociological theory, however, need look no further than this.

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Excellent Textbook

It is never an easy task to condense theory into a single, comprehensive textbook. Nevertheless, George Ritzer offers one of the best, if not THE best, options available. To say that this book is for "dabblers" only is misleading to those looking for an overview of sociological theory.

For Advanced Students Only

I'm not majoring in sociology, but I'm taking sociology to fulfill an interest. I understand that Ritzer is an expert and well respected, but, unless you are serious about sociology and have an advanced background, you will have a very hard time understanding or getting much of anything out of this book, as the language and vocabulary used is very advanced.

I have to read paragraphs over again just to try to grasp what Ritzer is trying to get across. My professor revealed to me that the class I took that used this book was by far the hardest sociology class offered (wish I had known!). This book is a very advanced read, and sadly, only those highly familiar with sociology can benefit from it. I'm an honors society student - and this book is hard for me to read.

I could learn more by renting a simple book on sociology at the library that is written in laymens terms than by trying to understand Ritzer's language. Most professors write with "big language" and would highly benefit from reading "On Writing Well" by William Zinnsser, which speaks of using simple language that people can actually understand.

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