"Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory" is a "hybrid" between a core textbook and a secondary reader. This Second Edition, along with others in the same series, combines the major writings of sociology's core classical and contemporary theorists with a historical and theoretical framework for understanding them. It provides not just a biographical and theoretical summary of each theorist/reading, but an overarching scaffolding which students can use to examine, compare, and contrast each theorists' major themes and concepts. No other theory text combines such student-friendly explanation and analysis with original theoretical works.