Pragmatism is the golden thread running through American social thought and is often seen as the quintessential philosophical tradition of American liberal democracy. Whereas pragmatism was committed to clarity and simplicity of its ideas, European social theory has been seen by its critics as deliberately vague, abstract and obscure.
The essays collected in Pragmatism and European Social Theory question many of these assumptions by showing how pragmatism influenced both classical and modern social theory. It contains contributions from Jack Barbalet, Patrick Baert, Thora Margareta Bertilsson, Larry Ray, Matthew Festenstein, Véronique Mottier and Bryan S. Turner.
Pragmatism and European Social Theory is an indispensable text for understanding the history of social theory on both sides of the Atlantic, but it is also a volume that grapples with difficult issues facing American and European societies in the aftermath of 9/11.
