This comprehensive collection of contemporary sociological theory is the definitive guide to current perspectives and approaches in the field, examining key topics and debates in the field. * Collects the most representative material available on topics such as symbolic interactionism, phenomenology, structuralism, network theory, critical theory, feminist theory, and the debates over modernity and postmodernity * Includes examinations of the work of Foucault, Giddens, and Bourdieu * A new section for this edition opens up the debate on power and inequality * Thematically organized