Sociology - Introductory Readings 4th Edition - Introductory Readings

The fourth edition of this best-selling introductory reader has been thoroughly revised and updated to offer a stimulating and wide-ranging set of readings for anyone who wishes to engage with the scope of sociological thought and practice today.
 
The book delivers a productive mix of classic, contemporary and provocative readings that are highly readable and lively, while retaining their critical bite. Ideal as a companion to the ninth edition of Giddens and Sutton's Sociology, the reader can equally be used independently or alongside other textbooks.
 
Readings are grouped around ten key sociological themes, with a sustained emphasis on comparative, globally and historically informed work. The carefully curated collection ranges from studies of face-to-face interaction through to the analysis of large-scale global systems, covering both the theory and the practice of sociology. Among the new selections in this volume are readings on the decolonial turn; the persistence of racism and its consequences; global health issues and the social impact of COVID-19; digital sociology and the digitization of social life; feminist research and shifting forms of misogyny; climate change and the emerging Anthropocene era; income and wealth inequalities, national populist movements and the spread of 'fake news'. Each of the thematic sections is preceded by a discussion and followed by further reading to facilitate students' comprehension and critical reflection.
 
The result is an exciting new companion that encompasses the major themes and debates in both classical and contemporary sociology. Sociology: Introductory Readings will be an essential resource for all students of sociology.

List of contents

Introduction: The Sociological Perspective
 
1. Sociology as the Science of Social Life - W.E.B. Du Bois
 
2. The Promise of Sociology - C. Wright Mills
 
3. Sociology as the Study of Figurations: Beyond Individual and Society? - Norbert Elias
 
4. Decolonizing Sociology - Raewyn Connell
 
5. Understanding Ourselves and Others - Zygmunt Bauman & Tim May
 
Further Reading
 

PART 1 Thinking Sociologically
 
6. The Capitalist Revolution - Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels
 
7. Tastes, Distinctions and Social Structure - Pierre Bourdieu
 
8. Learning from the Outsiders Within - Patricia Hill Collins
 
9. The Consequences of Modernity - Anthony Giddens
 
10. Sociology after the Postcolonial Turn - Gurminder K. Bhambra
 
Further Reading
 

PART 2 Doing Sociology
 
11. Treat Social Facts as Things - Émile Durkheim
 
12. Sociology's Historical Imagination - Philip Abrams
 
13. Mixing Methods in Empirical Research - Emma Pullen, Daniel Jackson & Michael Silk
 
14. Digital Sociology: Opportunities and Dangers - Noortje Marres
 
15. What is Feminist Research? - Patricia Leavy & Anne Harris
 
Further Reading
 

PART 3 Environment and Urbanism
 
16. The Metropolis and Mental Life - Georg Simmel
 
17. A Sociology of Climate Change - John Urry
 
18. Navigating the 'White Space' - Elijah Anderson
 
19. Urban Transitions in the Global South - AbdouMaliq Simone & Edgar Pieterse
 
20. Entering an Anthropocene Era? - Rolf Lidskog & Claire Waterton
 
Further Reading
 

PART 4 Structures of Society
 
21. Religion and the Origins of Capitalism - Max Weber
 
22. The Feminization of Work - Teri L. Caraway
 
23. Families and Personal Life - Deborah Chambers & Pablo Gracia
 
24. Schools: Challenging or Reproducing Social Inequalities? - Christy Kulz
 
25. Capitalism and the Digital Revolution - Shoshana Zuboff
 
Further Reading
 

PART 5 Social Inequalities
 
26. Intersectionality: Structural and Political - Kimberlé Crenshaw
 
27. Producing Disability and Abledness - Fiona Kumari Campbell
 
28. Wealth Concentration and Inequality - Thomas Piketty
 
29. Racial Distinctions and Social Structures - Michael Banton
 
30. 'Doing Gender' via Domestic Labour - Clare Lyonette & Rosemary Crompton
 
Further Reading
 

PART 6 Relationships and the Life Course
 
31. I, Me and the Social Self - George Herbert Mead
 
32. Towards a Sociology of Personal Life - Carol Smart
 
33. Love as a Sociological Problem - Eva Illouz
 
34. From the Life Cycle to the Life Course - Stephen J. Hunt
 
35. The Significance of Generational Experience - Lorraine Green
 
Further Reading
 

PART 7 Interaction and Communication
 
36. Self Presentation and Impression Management - Erving Goffman
 
37. Violence in Sociological Perspective - Randall Collins
 
38. Misogyny, Beauty and Body Modification - Sheila Jeffreys
 
39. Constructing and Negotiating Social Identity - Susie Scott
 
40. Knowledge Production in a Post-Truth World - Dominic Malcolm
 
Further Reading
 

PART 8 Health, Illness and the Body
 
41. The Medical Re-definition of Social Life - Peter Conrad
 
42. Does Inequality Cause Poor Health Outcomes? - Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett
 
43. Challenging the Dominance of Biomedicine - Sarah Nettleton
 
44. Health and Illness in Sociological Perspective - William C. Cockerham
 
45. The Exceptional and the

About the author

Anthony Giddens is the former Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science and is now a member of the UK House of Lords.
Philip W. Sutton is an independent researcher, formerly of the University of Leeds and Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.

Summary

The fourth edition of this best-selling introductory reader has been thoroughly revised and updated to offer a stimulating and wide-ranging set of readings for anyone who wishes to engage with the scope of sociological thought and practice today.

The book delivers a productive mix of classic, contemporary and provocative readings that are highly readable and lively, while retaining their critical bite. Ideal as a companion to the ninth edition of Giddens and Sutton's Sociology, the reader can equally be used independently or alongside other textbooks.

Readings are grouped around ten key sociological themes, with a sustained emphasis on comparative, globally and historically informed work. The carefully curated collection ranges from studies of face-to-face interaction through to the analysis of large-scale global systems, covering both the theory and the practice of sociology. Among the new selections in this volume are readings on the decolonial turn; the persistence of racism and its consequences; global health issues and the social impact of COVID-19; digital sociology and the digitization of social life; feminist research and shifting forms of misogyny; climate change and the emerging Anthropocene era; income and wealth inequalities, national populist movements and the spread of 'fake news'. Each of the thematic sections is preceded by a discussion and followed by further reading to facilitate students' comprehension and critical reflection.

The result is an exciting new companion that encompasses the major themes and debates in both classical and contemporary sociology. Sociology: Introductory Readings will be an essential resource for all students of sociology.

Product details

• Authors: a Giddens, Anthony Giddens, Anthony Sutton Giddens, Philip W. Sutton
• Assisted by: Anthon Giddens (Editor), Anthony Giddens (Editor), Anthony (London School of Economics and Political Science) Giddens (Editor), Philip W. Sutton (Editor), Philip W. (Robert Gordon University Sutton (Editor), W Sutton (Editor), W Sutton (Editor)
• Publisher: Polity Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.12.2021
• EAN: 9781509549139
• ISBN: 978-1-5095-4913-9
• No. of pages: 360
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > General, dictionaries; Soziologie, Gesellschaftstheorie, Sociology, Social Theory, Einführung in die Soziologie, Allg. Soziologie, Introduction to Sociology