Sociology

Anthony Giddens is the former Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science and is now a member of the UK House of Lords.Philip W. Sutton is an independent researcher, formerly of the University of Leeds and Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.

• Introduction: The Sociological Perspective​1. Sociology as the Science of Social Life – W.E.B. Du Bois2. The Promise of Sociology – C. Wright Mills3. Sociology as the Study of Figurations: Beyond Individual and Society? – Norbert Elias4. Decolonizing Sociology – Raewyn Connell5. Understanding Ourselves and Others – Zygmunt Bauman & Tim MayFurther Reading  PART 1 Thinking Sociologically6. The Capitalist Revolution – Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels7. Tastes, Distinctions and Social Structure – Pierre Bourdieu8. Learning from the Outsiders Within – Patricia Hill Collins9. The Consequences of Modernity – Anthony Giddens10. Sociology after the Postcolonial Turn – Gurminder K. BhambraFurther Reading  ​PART 2 Doing Sociology11. Treat Social Facts as Things – Émile Durkheim12. Sociology's Historical Imagination – Philip Abrams13. Mixing Methods in Empirical Research – Emma Pullen, Daniel Jackson & Michael Silk14. Digital Sociology: Opportunities and Dangers – Noortje Marres15. What is Feminist Research? – Patricia Leavy & Anne HarrisFurther Reading  PART 3 Environment and Urbanism16. The Metropolis and Mental Life – Georg Simmel17. A Sociology of Climate Change – John Urry18. Navigating the 'White Space' – Elijah Anderson19. Urban Transitions in the Global South – AbdouMaliq Simone & Edgar Pieterse20. Entering an Anthropocene Era? – Rolf Lidskog & Claire WatertonFurther Reading  PART 4 Structures of Society21. Religion and the Origins of Capitalism – Max Weber22. The Feminization of Work – Teri L. Caraway23. Families and Personal Life – Deborah Chambers & Pablo Gracia24. Schools: Challenging or Reproducing Social Inequalities? – Christy Kulz25. Capitalism and the Digital Revolution – Shoshana ZuboffFurther Reading  PART 5 Social Inequalities26. Intersectionality: Structural and Political – Kimberlé Crenshaw27. Producing Disability and Abledness – Fiona Kumari Campbell28. Wealth Concentration and Inequality – Thomas Piketty29. Racial Distinctions and Social Structures – Michael Banton30. 'Doing Gender' via Domestic Labour – Clare Lyonette & Rosemary CromptonFurther Reading  PART 6 Relationships and the Life Course31. I, Me and the Social Self – George Herbert Mead32. Towards a Sociology of Personal Life – Carol Smart33. Love as a Sociological Problem – Eva Illouz34. From the Life Cycle to the Life Course – Stephen J. Hunt35. The Significance of Generational Experience – Lorraine GreenFurther Reading  PART 7 Interaction and Communication36. Self Presentation and Impression Management – Erving Goffman37. Violence in Sociological Perspective – Randall Collins38. Misogyny, Beauty and Body Modification – Sheila Jeffreys39. Constructing and Negotiating Social Identity – Susie Scott40. Knowledge Production in a Post-Truth World – Dominic MalcolmFurther Reading  PART 8 Health, Illness and the Body41. The Medical Re-definition of Social Life – Peter Conrad42. Does Inequality Cause Poor Health Outcomes? – Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett43. Challenging the Dominance of Biomedicine – Sarah Nettleton44. Health and Illness in Sociological Perspective – William C. Cockerham45. The Exceptional and the Normal After COVID-19 – Jens O. ZinnFurther Reading  PART 9 Crime and Social Control46. The Social Construction of Outsiders – Howard S. Becker47. The Shifting Politics of Punishment – David Garland48. Race, Blackness and Exclusion in the USA – Loïc Wacquant49. The Digital Transformation of Criminality – David S. Wall50. Back to the Future: The Return of Banishment – Katherine Beckett & Steve HerbertFurther Reading  PART 10 Political Sociology51. Conceptualizing Power in Sociological Theory – Steven Lukes52. Ethnic Cleansing and the Dark Side of Democracy – Michael Mann53. Populist Politics and Mobilization – Bart Bonikowski54. Representations of British Muslims During the Covid-19 Pandemic – Elizabeth Poole & Milly Williamson55. Social Media Use in Black Lives Matter Activism – Marcia Mundt, Karen Ross & Charla M. BurnettFurther Reading