Contemporary Introduction to Sociology: Culture and Society in Transition

by Alexander,Jeffrey C.

• ISBN13: 9781594512704
• ISBN10: 1594512701
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2008-01-30
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

It has been decades since a truly new introduction to sociology has appeared-let alone one from two leading sociologists at the cutting edge of theory and research. Alexander and Thompson's is such a text-the first that takes its lead from the cultural turn in social science and how it transforms the recent practice of sociology. Jargon-free, the text reflects the idioms and interests of contemporary American life and global social issues. It invites students to come to terms with their lives within the current world transition-a combustible leap from modern to postmodern life. It shows how culture is central to understanding many world problems as it challenges readers to confront the risks and potentialities of a postmodern era in which the futures of both the physical and social environment seem uncertain.

Author Biography

Jeffrey C. Alexander is the Lillian Chavenson Saden Professor of Sociology at Yale University.

Table of Contents

List of Boxes, Tables, and Figures	p. x
Preface	p. xvi
What is Sociology?
Sociological Stories and Key Concepts	p. 2
The Individual and the Social	p. 4
The Sociological Imagination	p. 7
Society Today: So What's New?	p. 11
How Do We Understand Today's Social World?	p. 21
Conclusion	p. 23
Exercises	p. 26
Study Questions	p. 26
Further Reading	p. 27
Sociological Methods	p. 28
Some Key Research Terms	p. 36
Concepts and Theories	p. 38
Methodology and Methods	p. 43
Postmodernism, Relativism, and Research Methods	p. 53
Research in the Future	p. 55
Conclusion	p. 56
Exercises	p. 60
Study Questions	p. 60
Further Reading	p. 61
Meanings and Media
Cultural Structures	p. 62
An Individual or a Social Story?	p. 66
Thinking Sociologically about Culture	p. 68
Postmodernity, Globalization, and the Cultural Turn	p. 79
Are Cultures Wholes or Parts?	p. 80
Conclusion	p. 88
Exercises	p. 88
Study Questions	p. 89
Further Reading	p. 89
Media and Communication	p. 90
An Individual or a Social Story?	p. 93
The Importance of the Mass Media	p. 94
Keeping Informed: U.S. Public News Habits	p. 98
The Mass Media: Concepts and History	p. 101
Conclusion	p. 117
Exercises	p. 117
Study Questions	p. 118
Further Reading	p. 118
Personal Worlds and Identity
Socialization and the Life Cycle	p. 120
An Individual or a Social Story?	p. 122
The Paradox of Socialization	p. 124
The "Self" in History	p. 125
Creating the Self	p. 131
Primary Socialization: The Family	p. 133
Secondary Socialization	p. 141
Life Stages and the Life Cycle	p. 147
Emotion Work in Postmodern Life	p. 161
Conclusion	p. 163
Exercises	p. 164
Study Questions	p. 164
Further Reading	p. 165
Sexuality	p. 166
An Individual or a Social Story?	p. 170
Naturalism versus Constructivism	p. 171
Beyond Essentialism	p. 172
Sexuality before Modernity	p. 174
Modern Sexuality	p. 176
Polluting Nonprocreative Sex	p. 178
Sexualizing Nonwhite Races	p. 179
Underground Sexual Practices	p. 180
Sexuality in the Postmodern Transition	p. 184
Historical Developments	p. 189
The Women's Movement	p. 196
Conclusion	p. 198
Exercises	p. 202
Study Questions	p. 202
Further Reading	p. 203
Marriage and the Family	p. 204
An Individual or a Social Story?	p. 207
Marriage and Family: The Social Forces of Change	p. 208
Marriage and the Transition from Modern to Postmodern Society	p. 211
The Modern Family	p. 219
The Postmodern Family: Emerging Possibilities	p. 226
The Conservative Backlash	p. 233
Conclusion	p. 234
Exercises	p. 235
Study Questions	p. 236
Further Reading	p. 236
Inequalities and Identities
Inequality	p. 238
An Individual or a Social Story?	p. 240
Social Stratification	p. 241
Social Mobility	p. 249
Beliefs and Attitudes	p. 253
Inequality: Past, Present and Future	p. 255
Conclusion	p. 264
Exercises	p. 266
Study Questions	p. 266
Further Reading	p. 267
Gender	p. 268
An Individual or Social Story?	p. 270
Hardly Fair Play: Gender and Sports	p. 274
Gender at Work	p. 278
A Universal Problem: Exploitation and Violence	p. 286
Everyday Culture and Mass Media	p. 289
Conclusion	p. 293
Exercises	p. 295
Study Questions	p. 296
Further Reading	p. 297
Race and Ethnicity	p. 298
An Individual or a Social Story?	p. 300
The Social Construction of "Race" and "Ethnicity"	p. 300
Minority Group Theory	p. 311
The Great Debate: Origins of the Racial Underclass in America	p. 314
Conclusion	p. 326
Exercises	p. 327
Study Questions	p. 328
Further Reading	p. 328
Crime and Deviance	p. 330
An Individual or a Social Story?	p. 332
Defining and Describing Deviance and Crime	p. 335
Theories of Crime and Deviance	p. 348
The Future of Crime and Deviance in Postmodern Society	p. 358
Conclusion	p. 360
Exercises	p. 362
Study Questions	p. 362
Further Reading	p. 363
Institutions
Work and the Economy	p. 364
An Individual or a Social Story?	p. 366
Structural and Cultural Dimensions of Work and the Economy	p. 369
Structure of the Economy: Economic Systems	p. 372
Organization of Work	p. 374
Conflict and Control	p. 377
The Cultural Dimension: Values and Attitudes at Work	p. 381
The Future of Work, Organization, and the Economy	p. 383
From Modernity to Postmodernity	p. 390
Conclusion	p. 392
Exercises	p. 392
Study Questions	p. 392
Further Reading	p. 393
Education	p. 394
An Individual or a Social Story?	p. 398
Education and Modernity	p. 399
Different Perspectives on Education	p. 408
Education in a Multicultural, Postmodern Society	p. 411
Conclusion	p. 422
Exercises	p. 423
Study Questions	p. 424
Further Reading	p. 424
Health and Medicine	p. 426
An Individual or a Social Story?	p. 428
Medicine, Structure, and Organization	p. 430
Social and Cultural Constructions of Health and Medicine	p. 432
Social Structure and Health Care Inequalities	p. 442
Race, Ethnicity, and Gender	p. 445
Health and Medicine in the Twenty-First Century	p. 450
Conclusion	p. 453
Exercises	p. 453
Study Questions	p. 454
Further Reading	p. 454
Religion	p. 456
An Individual or a Social Story?	p. 458
What Is Religion?	p. 460
Religion, Modernity, and the Secularization Thesis	p. 463
The American Christian Mosaic	p. 470
Religion and Cultural Change	p. 472
Personal Stories and Ethnographies	p. 475
New Age	p. 476
Public Religion	p. 477
Conclusion	p. 481
Exercises	p. 482
Study Questions	p. 482
Further Reading	p. 483
Politics, Globalization, and Social Change
Urbanism and Population	p. 484
An Individual or a Social Story?	p. 488
The Growth of Cities	p. 491
Urban Sociology in the Twentieth Century	p. 494
The City of the Future: Postmodern Urbanism	p. 497
Conclusion	p. 505
Exercises	p. 508
Study Questions	p. 508
Further Reading	p. 509
Politics, Publics, and the State	p. 510
An Individual or a Social Story?	p. 513
States and Impersonal Power	p. 515
Politics and Personal Power	p. 524
Citizenship, Publics, and the Civil Sphere	p. 537
Conclusion	p. 551
Exercises	p. 552
Study Questions	p. 553
Further Reading	p. 553
Social Change, Collective Action, and Social Movements	p. 554
An Individual or a Social Story?	p. 556
Industrial Society	p. 565
Postindustrial Society	p. 567
Information Society, Globalization, and Social Movements	p. 572
Globalization	p. 580
Conclusion	p. 581
Exercises	p. 582
Study Questions	p. 582
Further Reading	p. 583
Bibliography	p. 584
Index	p. 611
Credits	p. 633
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