Judith R. Blau is Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and President of the US chapter of Sociologists without Borders, an international NGO. She is the author of Architects and Firms (1984), The Shape of Culture (1989), and Social Contracts and Economic Markets (1993), and Race in the Schools (2003), and has published articles on organizations, networks, economic inequalities, crime, sociology of science, urban sociology, historical sociology, medical sociology, and sociology of education.

"Judith Blau's Companion is an impressive collection by a sociologist/editor who clearly knows her field and has done her homework. The volume is comprehensive enough to serve as a lifetime sociological companion, and will be useful not only to researchers, teachers, and students, but to sociologically curious general readers." Herbert J. Gans, Columbia University "Judith Blau has assembled an impressive group of international scholars who have written essays on the cutting edge of sociology today. Not only are the chapters first rate, but the range of topics is creative and new. The book reflects some of the changes in sociology over the last decade, and it presents new agendas for sociology in the next decade, and beyond. This exciting book is a 'must read' for all sociologists." Jonathan H. Turner, University of California-Riverside "Graduate students and scholars in sociology, economics and political science may find a few challenging essays and useful websites in their areas of interest." Choice "The chapters are informative, concise and lively. Beyond its utility as a reference, however, the spirit of the volume as a whole is a nice reminder that sociology remains an ambitious endeavour whose complexities and rewards may continue to grow with time"Contemporary Sociology

• List of contributors. Preface.Part I: Referencing Globalization: .1. The Sociology of Space and Place: John Urry (Lancaster University).2. Media and Communications: John Durham Peters (University of Iowa).3. Modernity - One or Many?: Peter Wagner (University of Warwick).4. Emerging Trends in Environmental Sociology Frederick H. Buttel (University of Wisconsin, Madison) and August Gijswijt (International Sociological Association).5. Bringing in Codependence: Judith R. Blau (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill).Part II: Relationships and Meaning:.6. Civil Society: A Signifier of Plurality and Sense of Wholeness: Barbara A. Misztal (Griffith University, Brisbane).7. Human Rights: Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na`im (Emory University).8. Sociology of Religion: Christian Smith (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) and Robert D. Woodberry (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill).9. Intimate Relationships: Raine Dozier (University of Washington) and Pepper Schwartz (University of Washington).10. Immigrant Families and Their Children: Adaptation and Identity Formation: Carola Sußrez-Orozco (Harvard Immigration Projects).Part III: Economic Inequalities: .11. On Inequality: Siddiqur Rahman Osmani (University of Ulster).12. The Persistence of Poverty in a Changing World: Melvin L. Oliver (Ford Foundation) and David M. Grant (Cleveland State University).13. Racial Economic Inequality in the USA: William A. Darity, Jr. (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and Samuel L. Myers, Jr. (University of Minnesota).14. Rediscovering Rural America: Bonnie Thornton Dill (University of Maryland, College Park).Part IV: Science, Knowledge, and Ideas:.15. The Sociology of Science and the Revolution in Molecular Biology: Troy Duster (University of California, Berkeley).16. Structures of Knowledge: Richard E. Lee (State University of New York at Binghamton ) and Immanuel Wallerstein (Binghamton University).17. The New Sociology of Ideas: Charles Camic (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Neil Gross (University of Wisconsin-Madison).Part V: Politics and Political Movements:.18. Political Sociology: Mike Savage (University of Manchester).19. Why Social Movements Come into Being and Why People Join Them: Bert Klandermans (Free University, Amsterdam).20. Social Movement Politics and Organization: Debra C. Minkoff (Yale University).Part VI: Structures: Stratification, Networks, and Firms:.21. Occupations, Stratification, and Mobility: Donald J. Treiman (University of California at Los Angeles).22. Social Networks: Bonnie Erickson (University of Toronto).23. Networks and Organizations: David Knoke (University of Minnesota).Part VII: Individuals and Their Well Being:.24. Social Inequality, Stress, and Health: Joseph E. Schwartz (State University of New York at Stony Brook).25. Two Research Traditions in the Sociology of Education: Maureen T. Hallinan (University of Notre Dame).26. Aging and Aging Policy in the US: Madonna Harrington Meyer (Syracuse University) and Pamela Herd (Syracuse University).27. Immigration and Ethnicity: The United States at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century: RubÚn G. Rumbaut (Michigan State University).28. Social Psychology: Lynn Smith-Lovin (University of Arizona).Part VIII: Social Action: .29. Immigrant Women and Paid Domestic Work: Research, Theory, and Activism: Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo (University of Southern California).30. The Subject and Societal Movements: Alain Touraine (École des Hautes Études).31. The Myth of the Labor Movement: Rick Fantasia (Smith College).Appendix: Data Resources on the World Wide-Web: Compiled by Kathryn Harker (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).Bibliography.Index.