Read more
In an era of human genome research, environmental challenges, new reproductive technologies, and more, students can benefit from introductory sociology text that is biologically informed. This innovative text integrates mainstream sociological research in all areas of sociology with a scientifically informed model of an evolved, biological human actor. This text allows students to better understand their emotional, social, and institutional worlds. It also illustrates how biological understanding naturally enhances the sociological approach.
This grounding of sociology in a biosocial conception of the individual actor is coupled with a comparative approach, as human biology is universal and often reveals itself as variations on themes across human cultures. Tables, figures, and photos, and the author's concise and remarkably lively style make this a truly enjoyable book to read and teach.
List of contents
List of Photos. List of Figures. List of Tables. List of Boxes. Preface for Students and Teachers. About the Author. Part I. Introduction to Sociology. Chapter 1. What Do Sociologists Do? Part II. Fundamentals of Sociology. Chapter 2. One Human Nature. Chapter 3. Culture. Chapter 4. Culture and Subsistence Technology. Chapter 5. Social Groups and Networks. Chapter 6. Institutions. Chapter 7. Demography. Part III. Topics in Sociology. Chapter 8. Microsociology. Chapter 9. Sociology of the Family. Chapter 10. Social Stratification. Chapter 11. Global Inequality. Chapter 12. Contemporary Gender Inequality. Chapter 13. Race and Ethnicity. Chapter 14. Sociology of Religion. Chapter 15. Crime and Violence. Chapter 16. Biosociology of Health. Chapter 17. Economic Sociology. Chapter 18. Sociology of the Environment. Chapter 19. Political Sociology and Social Movements Human Polities Throughout History. Name Index. Subject Index.
About the author
Rosemary L. Hopcroft is Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has published widely in the areas of comparative and historical sociology and evolution, biology, and society in journals that include the
American Sociological Review,
American Journal of Sociology, and
Social Forces. She is the author of
Evolution and Gender: Why It Matters for Contemporary Life, which received the 2018 Award for Best Book by the Evolution, Biology, & Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association.
Summary
The second edition of this innovative text integrates mainstream sociological research in all areas of sociology with a scientifically-informed model of an evolved, biological human actor.
Report
Hopcroft's introductory sociology textbook is one of the very few that takes seriously the necessity for developing genuinely scientific explanations of human social behavior and that strives to do so by forging explicit linkage with the basic principles of the evolutionary behavioral sciences. The effort is laudable, and it is in keeping with the longstanding, but as yet not fully realized, promise of a truly scientific sociology.
Timothy Crippen, Professor Emeritus, University of Mary Washington
