Table 4 Main social science theories

Closed theories

1. Positivism (Comte)

2. Empirism (Durkheim)

3. Circulation of elites (Pareto)

4. Hermeneutics (Weber)

5. Functional-structural (Parsons)

6. Systems theory (Luhmann)

7. Reflexive modernisation (Beck)

Open theories

1. Critique of political economy (Marx)

2. Critical Rationalism (Popper)

3. Life-world (Lefebvre, Habermas)

4. Social/symbolic capital (Bourdieu)