This textbook introduction to social theory addresses key issues in sociological, political and cultural analysis through an examination of modern theories of social conflict, cohesion and consent. Chapters are structured to cover the major thinkers - Marx and Engels, Gramsci, Durkheim, Parsons, Weber, the Frankfurt School (Adorno, Horkheimer, Marcuse and Habermas) and Foucault - and offer a useful and accessible introduction to the main ideas of these important and widely studied theorists.