Never before has the legitimacy of a dominant American culture been so hotly contested as over the past two decades. Familiar terms such as culture wars, multiculturalism, moral majority, and family values all suggest a society fragmented by the issue of cultural diversity. So does any social solidarity exist among Americans? In Diversity and Its Discontents, a group of leading sociologists, political theorists, and social historians seek to answer this question empirically by exploring ideological differences, theoretical disputes, social processes, and institutional change....
Never before has the legitimacy of a dominant American culture been so hotly contested as over the past two decades. Familiar terms such as culture...
Talcott Parsons Today offers a reappraisal--and extension--of the work of the most significant and influential twentieth-century sociologist. The volume consists of original essays by prominent Parsons scholars from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Germany. Finally, and most important, it makes a significant contribution to the current controversy surrounding an important sociological figure. The book consists of 10 essays, nine of which are original pieces; all are written by well-known scholars who are intimately acquainted with Parsons' body of work.
Talcott Parsons Today offers a reappraisal--and extension--of the work of the most significant and influential twentieth-century sociologist. The volu...
This new edition introduces the social science audiences of a new century to one of the classic highlights of the mid-twentieth century. This is the most general statement of the general theory of action as it was developed by its principle exponent, Talcott Parsons, and his close collaborators who formed the core of the fabled department of social relations at Harvard University. Toward a General Theory of Action is an extremely ambitious formulation of the ingredients, dimensions, and ranges that determine human behavior.
Parsons and Shils enunciate principles that are at...
This new edition introduces the social science audiences of a new century to one of the classic highlights of the mid-twentieth century. This is th...
Drawing on the author's extensive experience in the field, this book demystifies the committee. It explains how to get on certain committees and avoid others, how to get committee work done efficiently, how to ensure that your views are properly represented, how chairing a committee can help direct its outcome, and how to use committees to advance your academic career.
Drawing on the author's extensive experience in the field, this book demystifies the committee. It explains how to get on certain committees and avoid...
These invaluable essays offer an insider s perspective on three decades at a major American university during a time of political turmoil. Neil J. Smelser, who spent thirty-six years as a professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, sheds new light on a full range of the issues that dominated virtually all institutions of higher learning during the second half of the twentieth century. Smelser considers student activismin particular the Free Speech Movement at Berkeleypolitical surprises, affirmative action, multiculturalism and the culture wars, and much more. As one of...
These invaluable essays offer an insider s perspective on three decades at a major American university during a time of political turmoil. Neil J. Sme...
Terrorism is the most clear and present danger we confront today, yet no phenomenon is more poorly understood by policymakers, the media, and the general public. The Faces of Terrorism is the first serious interdisciplinary examination of terrorism in all its facets. What gives rise to it, who are its proponents and how do they think, and how--and why--does it work?
Neil Smelser begins by tackling the fundamental problem of defining what exactly terrorism is. He shows why a precise definition has eluded us until now, and he proposes one that takes into account the full...
Terrorism is the most clear and present danger we confront today, yet no phenomenon is more poorly understood by policymakers, the media, and the g...
A pithy and clear guide to the process of creating and evaluating theory in the social sciences. Using a simple model of theory creation and assessment--and applying it in depth to foundational and still-relevant social and economic theorists such as Durkheim, Marx and Parsons--Neil Smelser shows the way to a better understanding of what social theory is supposed to accomplish and how it can be read critically. First appearing in 1971 as a monograph drawn from his undergraduate class on sociological theory, Dr. Smelser's how-to book is now presented in modern format and with his timeless...
A pithy and clear guide to the process of creating and evaluating theory in the social sciences. Using a simple model of theory creation and assessmen...
The golden anniversary edition of "THEORY OF COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR" from Quid Pro Books is a modern take on a sociological and social psychology classic. Featuring a reflective new Preface by the author and an extensive, analytical Foreword by MIT's Gary Marx, it is an authorized and painstaking edition-not just scanned and forgotten like most such reprints today. As part of the "Classics of the Social Sciences" Series, it features quality formatting such as original notes, legible tables, complete index, and extensive bibliography (including updating references for the new Foreword). The...
The golden anniversary edition of "THEORY OF COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR" from Quid Pro Books is a modern take on a sociological and social psychology clas...
The golden anniversary edition of "Theory of Collective Behavior" is a modern republication of a sociological and social psychology classic. Adding a reflective new Preface by the author and an extensive, analytical Foreword by MIT's Gary Marx, it is an authorized edition.
The golden anniversary edition of "Theory of Collective Behavior" is a modern republication of a sociological and social psychology classic. Adding a ...
THE CHANGING ACADEMIC MARKET is the inside story and scholarly analysis of a leading sociology department's search, during the mid-1970s, to fill several faculty positions. This was attempted in the middle of the fundamental changes to the U.S. university and college market that began in the late 1960s. That sea change is exposed with candid self-awareness and examined in its practical effects on faculty hiring procedure, treatment of candidates, affirmative action, a shrinking market, professors' relations with each other and their political stances, and recommendations for other academics...
THE CHANGING ACADEMIC MARKET is the inside story and scholarly analysis of a leading sociology department's search, during the mid-1970s, to fill seve...
