Sociology: Making Sense of Society 9781408269541, 9781408269565, 9780273781998, 4984995025, 1408269546

Table of contents :
Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 8
Case studies......Page 12
World in focus......Page 14
Contributors......Page 15
Preface......Page 17
Guided tour......Page 19
How to use this book......Page 21
Acknowledgements......Page 22
Part 1 Introduction to the sociological imagination......Page 26
Introduction......Page 28
The sociological perspective......Page 33
The sociological perspective in practice......Page 35
Using sociology......Page 37
The origins of sociology......Page 41
Contemporary sociology......Page 42
The individual and society......Page 45
The power of culture......Page 49
A sociological look at celebrity culture......Page 57
Further reading......Page 62
Websites......Page 63
Activities......Page 64
Introduction......Page 67
Sociological perspectives......Page 69
Classical sociological theories......Page 70
Contemporary sociological theories......Page 92
Summary......Page 120
Websites......Page 121
Activities......Page 122
Introduction......Page 123
Why do sociologists do research?......Page 124
Defining sociological research......Page 125
The foundations of sociological research......Page 126
Methodologies: how to produce sociological knowledge......Page 132
Methods of research......Page 137
A multi-method approach......Page 155
Feminist research......Page 156
Further reading......Page 162
Websites......Page 163
Activities......Page 164
Part 2 Introduction to socialdivisions......Page 168
Chapter 4 Social stratification and class......Page 170
Systems of stratification......Page 171
Explanations of stratification......Page 175
Theoretical concepts of class......Page 183
Operationalizing the concept of class......Page 190
The class structure in modern society......Page 193
‘Class is dead; long live class’......Page 233
Links......Page 235
Key journal and journal articles......Page 236
Activities......Page 237
Chapter 5 Gender......Page 239
Introduction......Page 240
Explaining gender differences......Page 242
Sex and sexuality......Page 250
Representing gender: mass media and popular culture......Page 254
Gender and the body......Page 258
Gendered labour......Page 261
Further reading......Page 270
Activities......Page 271
Introduction......Page 272
Unpacking ‘race’, ethnicity and nationalism......Page 273
Concepts and theories......Page 280
From theory to the ‘real world’......Page 287
Nationalism......Page 292
Migration, settlement and multiculturalism......Page 302
Conclusion......Page 318
Links......Page 319
Websites......Page 320
Activities......Page 321
Key issues......Page 323
Age and social relationships......Page 324
Ways of understanding age......Page 326
The life course perspective......Page 328
Age as a cultural construction......Page 333
Social construction of childhood......Page 335
Cultural construction of childhood......Page 342
Social construction of old age......Page 345
Cultural construction of old age......Page 350
Old age and childhood in Britain......Page 352
Further reading......Page 354
Key journal and journal articles......Page 355
Activities......Page 356
Chapter 8 Disability......Page 359
Introduction......Page 360
Explanations for our views......Page 362
Identity and disability......Page 373
Disability and social exclusion......Page 374
Understanding disability in the context of welfare policy......Page 378
Links......Page 381
Key journal and journal articles......Page 382
Activities......Page 383
Introduction......Page 385
Definitions: the majority and minority worlds......Page 387
Global inequalities......Page 388
Sociology of development......Page 398
Globalization......Page 407
Gender relations in the majority world......Page 419
Childhoods in the majority world......Page 423
Summary......Page 430
Further reading......Page 431
Websites......Page 432
Activities......Page 433
Part 3 Introduction to understanding social life......Page 434
Key issues......Page 436
Introduction......Page 437
What is environmental sociology?......Page 438
Historical views of nature......Page 439
Modern environmentalism......Page 443
Climate change......Page 447
Environmental sociology: an ‘absent presence’?......Page 449
Environmental sociology: new beginnings......Page 451
Risk society......Page 453
Ecological modernization......Page 454
The social construction of environmental issues......Page 455
Challenges from the grass roots......Page 459
The way forward? Sustainable development and environmental justice......Page 463
Environmental sociology: beyond an ‘absent presence’......Page 468
Mobilities and the environment......Page 469
Summary......Page 474
Key journal and journal articles......Page 475
Activities......Page 476
Introduction......Page 478
Defining families and households......Page 480
Changes in family structure......Page 484
Intimate relationships......Page 494
Families and social problems......Page 509
Summary......Page 517
Further reading......Page 518
Websites......Page 519
Activities......Page 520
Introduction......Page 522
Marx and the labour process within capitalism......Page 523
Braverman and Labour and Monopoly Capital......Page 524
The organization of work......Page 527
Industrialism and de-industrialization......Page 529
The coming of post-industrial society?......Page 531
Fordism and mass production......Page 534
Post-Fordism and flexibility......Page 535
The labour market......Page 537
Unemployment......Page 538
Trade unions......Page 540
The globalization of economic life......Page 543
Summary......Page 545
Key journal and journal articles......Page 546
Activities......Page 547
Introduction......Page 549
The social construction of medical knowledge......Page 551
Sectors of health care......Page 557
Experiencing illness......Page 571
The body, technology and change......Page 583
Further reading......Page 588
Activities......Page 589
Introduction......Page 591
The sociology of crime......Page 592
The sociology of punishment......Page 617
Summary......Page 633
Further reading......Page 634
Activities......Page 635
Part 4 Introduction to knowledge and power......Page 638
Introduction......Page 640
Education systems......Page 642
Sociological explanations and theories about education......Page 646
Sociological approaches to education policy......Page 653
Social groups and education......Page 661
Gender inequalities ineducation......Page 665
Ethnicity and education......Page 670
Multiple disadvantages in education......Page 677
Summary......Page 679
Further reading......Page 680
Key journal and journal articles......Page 681
Activities......Page 682
Introduction......Page 685
Religion today: back on the agenda......Page 687
Methods for studying religion......Page 689
Religion in classical sociology......Page 692
Secularization......Page 698
Understanding religious organizations......Page 707
Fundamentalism......Page 713
Alternative New Age spiritualities......Page 715
Gender and religion......Page 717
Summary......Page 719
Key journal and journal articles......Page 720
Activities......Page 721
Key issues......Page 722
Introduction......Page 723
The development of the mass media......Page 726
External influences on media content......Page 739
Internal influences on media content......Page 750
Perspectives on the mass media......Page 751
Effects of the mass media......Page 765
Further reading......Page 782
Websites......Page 783
Activities......Page 784
Glossary......Page 785
References......Page 800
Index......Page 847