A contemporary introduction to sociology
Subtitle: culture and society in transition
By: Jeffrey C. Alexander and Kenneth Thompson.
Contributors: Thompson, Kenneth, 1937-
Series: Yale cultural sociology series
Publisher: Paradigm Publishers
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Boulder
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9781594512704
Subjects: Sociology -- Philosophy; Sociology -- United States -- History; Culture
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Sociological stories; title: The individual and the social; title: The sociological imagination; title: Society today: so what's new?; title: How do we understand today's social world?; title: Avoiding easy answers: theory and evidence?; title: Conclusion; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading; title: Research methods; title: Introduction; title: Some key research terms; title: Concepts and theories; title: Methodology and methods; title: Postmodernism, relativism, and research methods; title: Research in the future; title: Conclusion; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading; title: Culture; title: Introduction; title: An individual or a social story?; title: Thinking sociologically about culture; title: Postmodernity, globalization, and the cultural turn; title: Conclusion; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading.; title: Media and communication; title: Introduction; title: An individual or a social story?; title: The importance of the mass media; title: The mass media-concepts and history; title: Conclusion; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading; title: Socialization and the life cycle; title: Introduction; title: An individual or a sociological story?; title: The paradox of socialization; title: The "self" in history; title: Creating the self; title: Primary socialization: the family; title: Secondary socialization; title: Life stages and the life cycle; title: Emotion work in postmodern life; title: Conclusion; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading; title: Sexuality; title: An individual or a social story?; title: Naturalism versus constructivism; title: Sexuality before modernity; title: Modern sexuality; title: Polluting non-procreative sex; title: Underground sexual practices; title: Sexuality in the postmodern transition; title: Historical developments; title: Sex today; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading.; title: Marriage and the family; title: Introduction; title: An individual or a sociological story?; title: Marriage and family: the social forces of change; title: Marriage from modern to postmodern society; title: The modern family; title: The postmodern family: emerging possibilities; title: The conservative backlash; title: A new consanguinity?; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading; title: Inequality; title: Introduction; title: An individual or a social story?; title: Social stratification; title: Social mobility; title: Beliefs and attitudes; title: Inequality: past, present and future; title: Conclusion; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading; title: Gender; title: Introduction; title: An individual or sociological story?; title: Gender at work; title: Exploitation and violence; title: Everyday culture and mass media; title: Looking to the future - changing times; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading.; title: Race and ethnicity; title: Introduction; title: An individual or a social story?; title: The social construction of ?race? and ?ethnicity?; title: Minority group theory; title: The great debate: origins of the racial underclass in america; title: Conclusion; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading; title: Crime and deviance; title: Introduction; title: An individual or a social story?; title: Defining and describing deviance and crime; title: Theories of crime and deviance; title: The future of crime and deviance in postmodern society; title: Conclusion; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading; title: Work and the economy; title: Introduction; title: An individual or a social story?; title: Structural and cultural dimensions of work and the economy; title: Organization of work; title: Conflict and control; title: From modernity to postmodernity; title: Conclusion; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading; title: Education; title: Introduction; title: An individual or a social story?; title: Education and modernity; title: Different perspectives on education; title: Education in a multicultural, postmodern society; title: Conclusion; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading.; title: Health and medicine; title: Introduction; title: An individual or a social story?; title: Medicine, structure, and organization; title: Social and cultural construction of health and medicine; title: Social structure and inequalities; title: Race, ethnicity, and gender; title: Health and medicine in the twenty-first century; title: Conclusion; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading; title: Religion; title: Introduction; title: An individual or a social story?; title: What is religion?; title: Religion, modernity and the secularization thesis; title: Religion and cultural change; title: Personal stories and ethnographies; title: New age; title: Public religion; title: Cassie's story and the future of religion; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading; title: Urbanism and population; title: Introduction; title: An individual or a social story?; title: The growth of cities; title: Urban sociology in the twentieth century; title: The city of the future-postmodern urbanism; title: Population trends and the future; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading; title: Politics, publics, and the state; title: An individual or a social story?; title: States and impersonal power; title: Pre-political societies; title: Personal rule in traditional societies; title: The origins of impersonal authority in modernity; title: The rise of absolutist states; title: States as bureaucracies; title: States as servants of the collectivity; title: States and domination; title: The autonomy of the state; title: Politics and personal power; title: What is politics?; title: Authority and legitimation; title: Postmodern authority: charisma and culture; title: Social power and politics; title: The power behind the throne: the power elite?; title: Does the economic elite control politics?; title: Citizenship, publics, and the civil sphere; title: Solidarity and public life; title: Presidents and publics; title: The struggle for full citizenship; title: Political parties; title: The discourse of decline; title: The deepening of the civil sphere; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading; title: Social change, collective action and social movements; title: Introduction; title: An individual or a social story?; title: Analyzing social change; title: Defining and analyzing social change; title: Industrial society; title: Post-industrial society; title: Information society, globalization, and social movements; title: Globalization; title: Conclusion; title: Exercises; title: Study questions; title: Further reading; title: Bibliography; title: Index.