Kategoria BISAC: Social Science >> Sociology - General

Revolutionary and evolutionary theorists have very different views about change; Fein writes in favour of evolution. He proposes an integrated model of social evolution, one that accounts for the complexity, inconclusiveness, and impediments that characterize social transformations.

This multi-dimensional approach recognizes that change is always saturated in conflict. Major changes are rarely initiated by conscious decisions that are automatically implemented; power and morality generally control the direction that significant alterations take. Fein explains how the social...

Reputable scholars have long charged that symbolic interactionism, which is based on the principle of "sociality," discounts the importance that subordination plays in human groups. Emphasizing dominance and power, Athens explains how subordination operates in human group life from a new interactionist's perspective, aptly dubbed by him, "radical interactionism."

Expanding on the work of sociologist Robert E. Park, Athens explains the nature and operation of super-ordination and subordination, which he believes affects all social interaction between human beings and groups. He then...

The End of the Experiment ties together Stanley Rothman's theory of post-industrialism and his four decades of research on American politics and society. Rothman discusses the rise and fall of the New Left, the sixties' impact on America's cultural elites, and the emergence of new post-industrial humanistic values.

The first part of this book explains how cultural shifts in post-industrial society increased the influence of intellectuals and redefined America's core values. The second part examines how the shift in American social and cultural values led to a crisis of...

Social cohesion has had different meanings for people depending on their background, their interests, where they live in the world, and at what time they lived. In the social sciences, social cohesion is a term used to explain the social and cultural consequences of structural changes related to industrialization and modernity. In the European Union, structural changes which relate to globalization, European integration, the restructuring of welfare states, ageing societies, and transitions from communism, have often led to more insecurity and material inequalities between people. Higher...

Mediating Sexual Citizenship considers how the neoliberal imperatives of adaptation, improvement and transformation that inform the shifting artistic and industrial landscape of television, are increasingly indexed to performed disruptions in the norms of sexuality and gender. Drawing on examples from a range of television genres (quality drama, reality television, talk shows, sitcoms) and outlets (network, cable, subscription video on demand), the analysis in this book demonstrates how, as one of the most dominant cultural technologies, television plays a critical role in the...

Social inequalities in wider society are often reproduced in sport and leisure contexts. However, sport and leisure can be sites of resistance as well as oppression; they can be repressive or effect positive social change. This challenging and important book brings together cases examining different dimensions of inequality in sport and leisure (race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability and class), presenting research-based strategies in support of social justice by placing disadvantaged communities centre stage. It covers topics such as coaching, anti-racism, Muslim...

In an era of rapid technological change, are qualitative researchers taking advantage of new and innovative ways to gather, analyse and share community narratives?

Sharing Qualitative Research presents innovative methods for harnessing creative storytelling methodologies and technologies that help to inspire and transform readers and future research. In exploring a range of collaborative and original social research approaches to addressing social problems, this text grapples with the difficulties of working with communities. It also offers strategies for working ethically...

What is it like to work as a classical musician today? How can we explain ongoing gender, racial, and class inequalities in the classical music profession? What happens when musicians become entrepreneurial and think of themselves as a product that needs to be sold and marketed?

Gender, Subjectivity, and Cultural Work explores these and other questions by drawing on innovative, empirical research on the working lives of classical musicians in Germany and the UK. Indeed, Scharff examines a range of timely issues such as the gender, racial, and class inequalities that characterise...

Erotic dance is one of the most contentious issues in feminist debates today and a source of fascination in media and popular cultural representations. Yet, why is it that we currently know so little about those who perform erotic dance for female customers, or the experiences of these spectators themselves?

The result of a unique investigation within two of the UK s leisure venues, Erotic Performance and Spectatorship seeks to rectify the aforementioned lack of insight. Through vivid ethnographies of a lesbian leisure venue and a male strip show, Pilcher s research advances key...

Southern social movements have played an important role in shaping world history and politics. Nevertheless, scholarly literature on movements of the global South remains limited and restricted to testing the social movement theory which was developed in the North. This Northern-centric approach largely fails to provide a meaningful understanding of Southern movements because it is not directly applicable to the differing historical backgrounds, culture and socio-economic structures found in the South. Much of the uniqueness and complexity of Southern social movements has therefore been...