Designed as a short text to be used in one-semester courses in sociological theory, this book stems from the need of some instructors for a brief text to be used in one-semester courses in contemporary sociological theory, or sociological theory more generally. At least some students (and their instructors) have found other texts too long, too dense, and too complex. This volume is not only short, but less technical, written in a highly accessible fashion, and includes pedagogy found in an introductory sociology text.