John Scott 
British Social Theory 
Recovering Lost Traditions before 1950

A unique contribution to discussions of social theory, this book counters the argument that no social theory was ever produced in Britain before the late twentieth century. Reviewing a period of 300 years from the seventeenth century to the mid-twentieth century, it sets out a number of innovative strands in theory that culminated in powerful contributions in the classical period of sociology. The book discusses how these traditions of theory were lost and forgotten and sets out why they are important today.

Table of Content

Chapter 1 Was There a Failure of British Social Theory?

Foundations of Social Thought

Chapter 2 Social Thought in Mainstream Philosophy: Towards a Science of Social Structure

Chapter 3 Difference, Diversity, and Development in the Social Organism

Chapter 4 The Romantic Critique and Social Idealism

Chapter 5 The Socialist Critique and Cultural Materialism

Classical Social Theories

Chapter 6 Patrick Geddes: Towards a Professional Sociology

Chapter 7 Robert Mac Iver: Building an Intellectual Base

Chapter 8 Leonard Hobhouse: Building Disciplinary Sociology

Development and Decay

Chapter 9 Social Theory After the Classics

Chapter 10 Rediscovering Theory and Theorists

Appendix: Principal Social Theorists

Bibliography

About the author

John Scott is an Honorary Professor at the Universities of Essex, Exeter, and Copenhagen. He was formerly a professor of sociology at the Universities of Essex and Leicester, and pro-vice-chancellor for research at the University of Plymouth. He has been president of the British Sociological Association, Chair of the Sociology Section of the British Academy, and in 2013 was awarded the CBE for Services to Social Science. His work covers theoretical sociology, the history of sociology, elites and social stratification, and social network analysis. His most recent books include British Social Theory: Recovering Lost Traditions before 1950 (SAGE, 2018), Envisioning Sociology. Victor Branford, Patrick Geddes, and the Quest for Social Reconstruction (with Ray Bromley, SUNY Press, 2013), Objectivity and Subjectivity in Social Research (with Gayle Letherby and Malcolm Williams, SAGE, 2011).