Widely praised on its first publication, this second edition directly reflects new developments in the areas of philosophy and method.

Method in Social Science

Politics & Social Sciences

Sayer, Andrew

Social Sciences

Routledge

In its second edition, Method in Social Science was widely praised for its penetrating analysis of central questions in social science discourse. This revised edition comes with a new preface and a full bibliography. The book is intended for students and researchers familiar with social science but having little or no previous experiences of philosophical and methodological discussion, and for those who are interested in realism and method.

Method in Social Science: Revised 2nd Edition

Reference

Andrew Sayer undertakes a fundamental critique of social science's difficulties in acknowledging that people's relation to the world is one of concern. As sentient beings, capable of flourishing and suffering, and particularly vulnerable to how others treat us, our view of the world is substantially evaluative. Yet modernist ways of thinking encourage the common but extraordinary belief that values are beyond reason, and merely subjective or matters of convention, with little or nothing to do with the kind of beings people are, the quality of their social relations, their material circumstances or well-being. The author shows how social theory and philosophy need to change to reflect the complexity of everyday ethical concerns and the importance people attach to dignity. He argues for a robustly critical social science that explains and evaluates social life from the standpoint of human flourishing.

Why Things Matter to People: Social Science, Values and Ethical Life

Philosophy

Cambridge University Press

Class affects not only our material wealth but our access to relationships and practices which we have reason to value, including the esteem or respect of others and hence our sense of self-worth. It determines the kind of people we become and our chances of living a fulfilling life. Applying concepts from moral philosophy and social theory to empirical studies of class, this accessible study demonstrates how people are valued in a context of the lottery of birth class, or forces having little to do with moral qualities or other merits.

The Moral Significance of Class

Sociology

Class affects not only our material wealth but our access to relationships and practices which we have reason to value, including the esteem or respect of others and hence our sense of self-worth. It determines the kind of people we become and our chances of living a fulfilling life. Applying concepts from moral philosophy and social theory to empirical studies of class, this accessible study demonstrates how people are valued in a context of the lottery of birth class, or forces having little to do with moral qualities or other merits.

The Moral Significance of Class (Secondary Course)

With the rise of the New Right, the demise of state socialism, and the development of concerns over the nature of modernity, the reception of Marxist and radical theories of capitalist society has become, to say the least, skeptical. In this book Andrew Sayer rethinks and reformulates radical political economy. The author argues that Marxist theories of capitalism must learn both from the problems of socialism and, more controversially, from liberalism. In a major critique of Marxist and post-Marxist political economy he argues that one of its central problems may be traced to its treatment of the apparently innocuous concept of division of labor. This has led, he shows, to a confusion of the effects of markets and property relations. In consequence explanations of uneven development and of the distribution of power in advanced economies are flawed. The author illustrates the argument by reference to the study of uneven spatial development. He concludes by outlining the constructive potential for a dialoge between radical political economy and liberal thought, and between critical social science and normative political philosophy. Written in the author's characteristically direct and accessible style, this book will be widely read by students of contemporary capitalism and political economy in many disciplines.

Radical Political Economy

Business & Money

Economics

Wiley/Blackwell

With the rise of the New Right, the demise of state socialism, and the development of concerns over the nature of modernity, the reception of Marxist and radical theories of capitalist society has become, to say the least, skeptical. In this book Andrew Sayer rethinks and reformulates radical political economy. 
The author argues that Marxist theories of capitalism must learn both from the problems of socialism and, more controversially, from liberalism. In a major critique of Marxist and post-Marxist political economy he argues that one of its central problems may be traced to its treatment of the apparently innocuous concept of division of labor. This has led, he shows, to a confusion of the effects of markets and property relations. In consequence explanations of uneven development and of the distribution of power in advanced economies are flawed. The author illustrates the argument by reference to the study of uneven spatial development. He concludes by outlining the constructive potential for a dialoge between radical political economy and liberal thought, and between critical social science and normative political philosophy. Written in the author's characteristically direct and accessible style, this book will be widely read by students of contemporary capitalism and political economy in many disciplines.

Radical Political Economy: Critique and Reformulation

Realism and Social Science

Realism and Social Science offers the reader an authoritative and compelling guide to critical realism and its implications for social theory and for the practice of social science. It offers an alternative both to approaches which are overly confident about the possibility of a successful social science and those which are defeatist about any possibility of progress in understanding the social world. Written by one of the leading social theorists in the field, it demonstrates the virtues of critical realism for theory and empirical research in social science, and provides a critical engagement with leading non-realist approaches.

Sage Publications Ltd.

Realism and Social Science offers the reader an authoritative and compelling guide to critical realism and its implications for social theory and for the practice of social science. It offers an alternative both to approaches which are overly confident about the possibility of a successful social science and those which are defeatist about any possibility of progress in understanding the social world. Written by one of the leading social theorists in the field, it demonstrates the virtues of critical realism for theory and empirical research in social science, and provides a critical engagement with leading non-realist approaches.

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Books by Sayer, Andrew

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Sayer, Andrew. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Method in Social Science

Method in Social Science: Revised 2nd Edition

Method in Social Science

Why Things Matter to People: Social Science, Values and Ethical Life

The Moral Significance of Class

The Moral Significance of Class (Secondary Course)

Radical Political Economy

Radical Political Economy: Critique and Reformulation

Realism and Social Science

Realism and Social Science