Sociology category: 22581 books

Sociology has tackled some of the most formidable problems that confront contemporary society: inequality, homelessness, violence, gender, and many more. Sociologists assert that hypotheses can be formulated and tested against empirical evidence, that faulty viewpoints can be uncovered and discarded,...

'This is a superb book; beautifully written, lucid, and engaging, with illuminating critical discussions of the concept of reflexivity, psychoanalytic perspectives, and Foucaultian analysis, locating these theories in up-to-date research and discussions about class and gender. This book will be indispensable...

Erving Goffman is considered by many to have been one of the most important sociologists of the post-war era. His close observation of everyday life and his concern with the ways in which people play roles and manage the impressions they present to each other led to his pioneering creation of a new...

Although "thou shalt not kill" is perhaps the most fundamental legal and moral principle, Mark Cooney finds a remarkable lack of consistency in the handling of homicide not only between but within the whole range of human societies. Equality before the law doesn't exist, but not for the reasons, such...

Émile Durkheim is often referred to as the father of sociology. Along with Karl Marx and Max Weber he was a principal architect of modern social science and whose contribution helped established it as an academic discipline. “The Division of Labor in Society”, published in 1893, was his first...

Adopting a conversation analytic approach informed by ethnomethodology, this book examines the process of socialization as it takes place within everyday parent–child interactions. Based on a large audio-visual corpus featuring footage of families filmed extensively in their homes, the author focuses...

Organized around the discourses of modernity, democracy, and citizenship, A Primer in Social and Sociological Theory: Toward a Sociology of Citizenship helps readers to develop skills in critical thinking and theory analysis as they explore nine central ideas of thought: modernity, society, self,...

This book introduces social scientists to the ideas of George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) - one of the most original yet neglected thinkers of early twentieth century sociology. Mead is an exceptional case amongst sociological classics in that, until now, there has been no comprehensive reader...

This book examines the role of collective violence in the achievement of solidarity, shedding light on the difficulty faced by sociology in theorizing violence and warfare as a result of the discipline’s tendency to idealize society in an attempt to legitimize the idea of progressive social change....

This is a timely new edition of Sharyn L Roach Anleu's invaluable introduction to the sociology of law and its role as a social institution and social process. Discussing current theory and key empirical research from a diverse range of perspectives Law and Social Change gives relevant examples,...

"In his interdisciplinary review of material culture, Ian Woodward goes beyond synthesis to offer a theoretically innovative reconstruction of the field. It is filled with gems of conceptual insight and empirical discovery. A wonderful book." - Jeffrey C. Alexander, Yale University "A...

The impact of mass media on individuals and society is to a great extent based on human emotions. Emotions, in turn, are essential in understanding how media messages are processed as well as media’s impact on individual and social behavior and public social life. Adopting an interdisciplinary...

Sociological Theory and the Environment is a comprehensive survey and assessment of sociological theories of the relations between societies and their "natural" biophysical environment. This book touches on and addresses virtually all of the major perspectives, focal points, and debates...

Macrosociology—the study of large-scale social structures and the fundamental principles of social organization—was the style of sociology practiced by the founders of the discipline. Today, the social theories of Karl Marx, Max Weber, Émile Durkheim, and Herbert Spencer (among others) are commonly...