An Age of Limits Social Theory for the 21st Century [Hardcover]

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.1. From the Birth of the Modern World to the Age of Limits 2. Convergence and Divergence 3. The Paths towards Pluralist Democracy: Liberal versus Radical Interpretations 4. Free and Unfree Markets 5. The Paradoxes of Science, Technology and Social Change 6. The Limits to Transforming the Environment 7. Three Cultures 8. Modernization and the Politics of Development 9. Social Theory in the Face of the Future

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, based 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

This is the most thought-provoking piece of social theory I have encountered for years, suggesting as it does that our place in history has changed - with limits and constraints replacing dreams of progress. This is an elegant, high-powered, wide-ranging, and extremely disturbing book. It will cause a stir. - John A. Hall, Professor of Sociology, McGill University, Canada

Ralph Schroeder presents a masterful sociological projection of the next phase of modernity. Pluralist democracy, market capitalism, and rapid-discovery science have triumphed everywhere, or soon will. But all major institutions have now come up against limits. Utopian prospects are no longer feasible, whether lsˆ