In this issue of Perspectives 36(2), Stefan Bargheer's essay The Use(Fulness) of Theory builds the interesting distinction between theories by use and theories by design. We asked Stefan to kick off a conversation on great works in each tradition, and we invite you to join in through the comments, offering your own suggestions for favorite works that are theories by use or design. 

We will compile the suggestions into a resource for teaching theory, which will be listed in the Resources section of the website.

Stefan's Favorite Theories:

Theories by Use

Karl Polanyi: The Great Transformation 
Thomas Kuhn: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Erving Goffman: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life 
Norbert Elias: The Court Society
Michel Foucault: Discipline and Punish

Theories by Design

Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann: The Social Construction of Reality
Anthony Giddens: The Constitution of Society
Ralf Dahrendorf: Class and Class Conflict in Industrial Society
Hans Joas: The Creativity of Action
Charles Taylor: Sources of the Self


Please join the conversation and add your own suggestions below...

All of this year's JTS afterpanelists engage the central question of "what is theory" often reflecting that question through empirical observations about what we as scholars identify as theory in practice, and unpacking the assumptions that undergird those attributions. For example, Maggie Frye's essay examines why some sections think of themselves as more engaged with "theory" than others. Maggie draws on ASA section membership overlaps with the Theory Section for data, as an expression of self identification with "theory."

In this interactive feature we give you the opportunity engage the question from another angle: what are the ascriptive identifications for the extent to which other sections have a reputation for being "theoretical"?