Expert on Europe

Occasional radio & press interviews

William Outhwaite, FAcSS, taught at the universities of Sussex and Newcastle. Interests include philosophy of social science (especially realism), social theory (especially critical theory), political sociology and the sociology of knowledge. Author of Understanding Social Life: The Method Called Verstehen (1975, 2nd edn 1986), Concept Formation in Social Science (1983), New Philosophies of Social Science: Realism, Hermeneutics and Critical Theory (1987), Jurgen Habermas: A Critical Introduction (1994), The Future of Society (2006), European Society (2008), Critical Theory and Contemporary Europe (2012), Social Theory (2015), Europe since 1989: Transitions and Transformations (2016), Contemporary Europe (2017), Transregional Europe (2020) and (with Larry Ray) Social Theory and Postcommunism (2005). He edited The Habermas Reader (1996), Brexit: Sociological Responses (2017) and co-edited The Blackwell Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Social Thought (1993, 2nd edn 2004), The Sociology of Politics (1998), the Sage Handbook of Social Science Methodology (2007) and Sage Handbook of Political Sociology (2018) and (with Larry Ray) Teaching Political Sociology (2023).