Abstract
We have now come to the end of our tale. By way of an afterword, let us take stock of our efforts. I think the first thing to note is that this book is a tale. By this I do not mean that I simply made it all up. What I do mean is that the book provides just one of many possible stories that could have been written about social theory. Now, I happen to think that the approach that I have taken was a reasonably coherent way of ordering my subject matter. It started with an examination of the foundations of social theory, moved on to a strand of theory that is becoming increasingly dominant in research of nursing practice, then looked at attempts to synthesise social theory and finally considered attempts to construct entirely new theoretical projects. However, as I have said, the book could have been completely different in form and just as coherent. For example, rather than concentrating on different schools, I could have looked at social theory through the substantive areas that it addresses, with chapters on such topics as power, progress, gender, class and bureaucracy. In many ways, it is simply a matter of taste, and this was my taste.
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© 1998 Sam Porter
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Porter, S. (1998). Afterword. In: Social Theory and Nursing Practice. Sociology and Nursing Practice Series. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14441-9_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14441-9_11
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
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