Elizabeth Wilson explores the contradictory nature of cultural relations through an examination of fashion, feminism, consumer culture, representation and postmodernism. Debates within feminism on the nature and effects of pornography are used to illustrate a particular kind of cultural contradiction.

'(A) consistently interesting and provocative work, which offers a great deal in seven chapters. It marks an innovative interdisciplinary approach to questions of embodiment and subjectivity' - Disability and Society

'This is an elegantly written book which has, as its main aim, to rethink the idea of difference in the western imaginary through a consideration of two themes: monsters and how these have come to define, but potentially to deconstruct, normality; and the whole idea of vulnerability and the vulnerable and the extent to which such a state is one that...

Society and Culture reclaims the classical heritage, provides a clear-eyed assessment of the promise of sociology in the 21st century and asks whether the cultural turn' has made the study of society redundant.

Sociologists have objected to the rise of cultural studies on the grounds that it produces cultural relativism and lacks a stable research agenda. This book looks at these criticisms and illustrates the relevance of a sociological perspective in the analysis of human practice. The book argues that the classical tradition must be treated as a living tradition, rather than a period...

Couze Venn's book makes an outstanding contribution to our understanding of postcolonial theory and its engagement with significant changes within the contemporary world. Couze Venn forces us to rethink the very parameters of the post-colonial and suggests a new political economy for post-modern times. This critical engagement opens up the possibility to reimagine the world from its current narrow European strictures to a world full of alternative possibilities and modernities. Venn's book adds a new dimension to the scholarly literature on postcolonial studies with the suggestion that such a...

This book provides a systematic account of the intellectual context as well as an exhaustive analysis of the key themes informing Deleuze and Guattari's work. It will be invaluable in situating the philosophy of these two major figures within the perspective of the social and human sciences.

Undoing Culture is a notable contribution to our understanding of modernism and postmodernism. It explores the formation and deformation of the cultural sphere and the effects on culture of globalization.

This is an examination of Pierre Bourdieu's theory of culture and habitus. Within the wider intellectual context of Bourdieu's work, this book provides a systematic reading of his assessment of the role of culture capital in the production and consumption of symbolic goods.

Social theory is a very difficult subject to teach and it is one that students generally find hard to get to grips with. Teaching Yourself Social Theory offers a highly original and comprehensive resource that will be welcomed by students and teachers alike' - Barry Smart, University of Portsmouth

I have no hesitation in recommending Harris' text to students and teachers of social theory' - Sociology

This refreshing and accessible text demonstrates how social theory can be made into an intelligible discourse that touches upon...

'It is difficult to qualify excitement and enthusiasm for this book... For those studying and teaching on the body... the book is an essential text...' - Sociology of Health and Illness '...enriches the conceptual arsenal for interdisciplinary analysis of political, social and cultural change...' - The American Journal of Sociology

This innovative book sets out to question what we understand by the term new social movements. By examining a range of issues associated with identity politics and alternative lifestyles, the author challenges those who treat new social movements as instances of wider social change while often ignoring their more "local" and "dispersed" importance. Looking at the question of what it means to adopt an identity that is organized around issues of expressivism-neo-tribal identifications, structures of feeling, emotional communities and their expressive organization-the author offers a series of...