Introducing Sociology A Critical Approach, 5e

by Knuttila, Murray; Magnan, Andre

• ISBN13: 9780195439823
• ISBN10: 0195439821
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-02-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Designed to stimulate systematic and critical thought, this unique introductory text presents the basic theories and language of sociology in a concise, accessible manner, while providing a critical overview of the development of sociological theory. Divided into three parts, the text begins with a survey of the sociological concepts used to understand human beings and their behaviour. Part II provides a critical overview of key developments in sociological theory, focusing in particular on how recent feminist critiques have placed earlier theoretical work in question. Part III illustrates the nature of sociological analysis by describing sociological research methods and by using concepts and theories from earlier in the book to introduce a number of the ways that sociologists look at issues such as inequality, health, deviance, ethnic and race relations, familial relations, and globalization.

Author Biography

Murray Knuttila is provost and vice-president academic at Brock University. Andr Magnan is assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Studies at the University of Regina.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
The Sociological Perspective and The Basic Language of Sociology	p. 1
Understanding Human Behaviour	p. 3
Getting Started	p. 3
Science As a Way of Knowing	p. 7
Sociology and the Social Sciences	p. 9
Sociology As the Study of Structure and Agency	p. 10
Sociology As Critical Thought and Thinking	p. 12
Science, Theory, and the Origins of Sociology	p. 13
The Sociological Imagination and Its 'Promise'	p. 19
Developing the Sociological Perspective	p. 21
Getting on with Sociological Analysis	p. 23
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 24
Terms and Concepts	p. 24
Related Websites	p. 24
Suggested Further Readings	p. 25
Homo sapiens: Biology and Culture	p. 26
Physiological Needs and Drives	p. 26
Instinct	p. 27
Human Physiology	p. 30
Culture: The Work of Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead	p. 36
The Characteristics of Culture	p. 45
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 47
Terms and Concepts	p. 47
Related Websites	p. 48
Suggested Further Readings	p. 48
Social Structure and the Language of Sociology	p. 49
Culture and Society	p. 50
The Elements of Social Structure	p. 51
The Tools of Sociology	p. 61
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 62
Terms and Concepts	p. 62
Related Websites	p. 63
Suggested Further Readings	p. 63
Socialization	p. 64
The Biological Processes	p. 64
The Human Personality	p. 66
Types of Socialization	p. 67
Agents or Agencies of Socialization	p. 71
The Cultural Determinist Position	p. 76
The Cases of Feral Children	p. 78
What Do Twin Studies Tell Us?	p. 86
Socialization As Unique and Shared	p. 89
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 92
Terms and Concepts	p. 92
Related Websites	p. 93
Suggested Further Readings	p. 93
Theories of Socialization	p. 94
Conditioning Theory	p. 94
Jean Piaget	p. 96
The Symbolic Interactionist Approach	p. 100
Sigmund Freud	p. 105
Moving On	p. 110
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 111
Terms and Concepts	p. 111
Related Websites	p. 112
Suggested Further Readings	p. 112
The Sex and Gender Puzzle: Biology is Not Destiny	p. 113
Sex and Gender As a Fundamental Dimension of the Human Condition	p. 113
Sex and Gender: Conceptual Clarification	p. 114
The Basic Biology of Sex	p. 116
Awash in a Sea of Hormones?	p. 117
Sex, Gender, and Brain Hemispheres	p. 121
Sexual and Gender Reassignment	p. 122
Biology YesùDestiny No	p. 125
Sex, Gender, and Social Learning	p. 126
Moving OnùNeither Nature nor Nurture	p. 128
Towards a Sociological Synthesis	p. 130
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 133
Terms and Concepts	p. 134
Related Websites	p. 134
Suggested Further Readings	p. 135
TheOrizing Society	p. 137
Science, Theory, and the Origins of Sociology	p. 141
The Historical Background	p. 142
Auguste Comte and the Emergence of a Discipline	p. 143
Marx and the Study of Human Society	p. 145
Emile Durkheim	p. 147
Max Weber's New Blueprint for Analysis	p. 150
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 153
Terms and Concepts	p. 153
Related Websites	p. 154
Suggested Further Readings	p. 155
Contemporary Sociological Theory	p. 156
Early Contemporary Theory: The Structural Functionalist Perspective	p. 157
Early Contemporary Theory: Neo-Marxist Social Theory	p. 162
Early Contemporary Theory: The Symbolic Interacdonist Perspective	p. 167
Beyond Early Contemporary Theory	p. 170
Structure and Agency: New Visions	p. 172
Conclusion	p. 186
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 186
Terms and Concepts	p. 186
Related Websites	p. 188
Suggested Further Readings	p. 188
Feminist Theory: Addressing Sociology's Lacuna	p. 189
Introduction	p. 189
Women's Rights, Patriarchy, and the First Wave	p. 191
Sex and Gender in Structural Functionalist Thought	p. 196
Liberal Feminism	p. 198
Marxian Feminism	p. 199
The Domestic Labour Debate	p. 200
Radical Feminism	p. 202
Socialist Feminism: Hartmann and Barrett	p. 202
Third Wave Feminism	p. 204
Conclusion	p. 208
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 208
Terms and Concepts	p. 209
Related Websites	p. 209
Suggested Further Readings	p. 210
Applying Sociological Theories and Concepts	p. 211
Ways of Knowing and Research Methods	p. 212
Ways of Knowing	p. 213
Conceptual Digression	p. 214
Conventional Western Science	p. 215
Critical Realism and Science	p. 218
Feminist Research and Critical Realism	p. 220
From Philosophy to Research	p. 222
Social Science Research Techniques: A Preliminary Sketch	p. 223
Use of Sampling	p. 226
Participant Observation	p. 232
Content Analysis	p. 234
Experimental Design	p. 236
Conclusion	p. 237
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 238
Terms and Concepts	p. 238
Related Websites	p. 239
Suggested Further Readings	p. 239
Explaining Social Inequality	p. 240
Social Inequality in Canada	p. 240
The 'Discovery' of Class in North America	p. 243
The Structural Functionalists: Parsons, Davis, and Moore	p. 246
The Dimensions of Social Stratification	p. 249
Marxist Theories of Class	p. 252
Neo-Marxism and Class Analysis	p. 256
The Study of Social Inequality in Canada: New Directions in Class Analysis	p. 259
Conclusion	p. 266
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 267
Terms and Concepts	p. 267
Related Websites	p. 269
Suggested Further Readings	p. 269
The Polity, Political Power, and Social Movements	p. 270
Pluralism	p. 271
Power and the Ruling Class: The Marxian Perspective	p. 274
Revising Marx: Neo-Marxism on the State	p. 275
Classical Elite Theory	p. 280
Beyond Class Politics: Feminism and the State	p. 286
Power in Numbers: Modern Social Movements	p. 289
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 296
Terms and Concepts	p. 296
Related Websites	p. 298
Suggested Further Readings	p. 298
Towards a Critical Sociology of Men and Masculinities	p. 299
Should We Study Men and Masculinity?	p. 299
Gender As Sex Roles: A Critique	p. 301
Gender As Social Practice	p. 303
Hegemonic Masculinity	p. 306
Patriarchy and Capitalism	p. 310
Patriarchy, Capitalism, and Hegemonic Masculinity	p. 311
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 313
Terms and Concepts	p. 313
Related Websites	p. 313
Suggested Further Readings	p. 314
Sociological Approaches to the Study of Familial Relations	p. 315
Basic Definitions	p. 317
The Structural Functionalist Approach	p. 317
The Neo-Marxist Approach	p. 320
The Feminist Challenge to Sociological Thought	p. 328
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 330
Terms and Concepts	p. 330
Related Websites	p. 331
Suggested Further Readings	p. 331
'Why are Some People Healthy and Others Not?'	p. 333
Definitions	p. 333
Understanding Health Inequalities	p. 337
Classical Sociology and Health	p. 338
The Sociology of Health Emerges	p. 338
Symbolic Interactionism	p. 340
Power-Conflict Theory and Health	p. 342
Feminist Theory	p. 344
Post-structuralism	p. 346
Towards a Holistic Approach	p. 348
Health Care Systems: A Comment	p. 348
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 350
Terms and Concepts	p. 350
Related Websites	p. 350
Suggested Further Readings	p. 351
Deviance and Social Control	p. 352
Biological Explanations	p. 353
Emile Durkheim	p. 355
Parsons and Merton	p. 360
Conflict Theory and the Study of Deviance	p. 362
Neo-Marxist or Power-Conflict Theory	p. 364
Symbolic Interactionism and Deviance: Labelling Theory	p. 366
Feminist Theory	p. 367
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 370
Terms and Concepts	p. 370
Related Websites	p. 370
Suggested Further Readings	p. 371
Race and Ethnicity and Difference	p. 372
Defining Race, Ethnicity, and 'Other'	p. 373
Race in Western Thought: Early Views of Difference, Inequality, and Race	p. 374
Race and Modernity	p. 378
Genome Science and Race	p. 383
Sociological Theory, Race, and Ethnicity	p. 385
Some Theoretical and Empirical Considerations	p. 389
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 391
Terms and Concepts	p. 392
Related Websites	p. 392
Further Readings	p. 393
Globalization	p. 394
A Brief History of World Capitalism	p. 396
How Do We Make Sense of the World Economy?	p. 406
Conclusion	p. 407
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 408
Terms and Concepts	p. 408
Related Websites	p. 409
Suggested Further Readings	p. 409
Postscript: The Sociological Imagination and New Directions in Social Theory	p. 410
Sociology As a Mode of Thought	p. 410
Some Preliminary Premises	p. 411
The Limits of Abstract Theory	p. 412
The Sociological Imagination Revisited	p. 413
References	p. 415
Index	p. 439
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