Key Concepts in Sociology

Peter Braham lectured in sociology at the Open University for many years. He made major contributions to a number of Open University courses: Patterns of Inequality; Ethnic Minorities and Community Relations; Mass Communication and Society; An Introduction to Sociology; ′Race′, Education and Society; Understanding Modern Societies; Implementing New Technologies; An Introduction to Information Technology; Culture, Media and Identities; Studying Family and Community History: 19th and 20th Centuries; and Sociology and Society.He co-edited Discrimination and Disadvantage in Employment: the Experience of Black Workers [1981]; Media, Knowledge and Power [1986]; Racism and Antiracism [1992]; Political and Economic Forms of Modernity [1992]; Social Differences and Divisions [2002]; Dictionary of Race, Ethnicity and Culture [2003]. His main research interests have been in migration and settlement, child immigration and family reunification, and he has been the UK partner on several international research projects in these areas.

A glossary of key concepts was just the sort of thing I needed when I was a sociology student. Peter Braham has written a lively, comprehensive guide to the most important concepts in our discipline. It will become an essential student resourceDavid Silverman, Emeritus Professor, Goldsmith′s and King′s College, University of London"Key concepts" is a triumphant tour de force. Analysing 38 critical ideas in sociology, and their principal proponents, this will be a useful, even essential tool for students and faculty. It is comprehensive, clearly written and, most important, links each concept to others: everything is connected, and also clarifies the main debates, arguments and disagreements. It is actually fascinating reading even for non-sociologists since these ideas (identity, the body, postmodernity…) impact all of us all the timeAnthony Synnott, Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Concordia University in MontrealPeter Braham′s incomparable assembly of nuanced and historically contextualized definitions, explanations and analyses of essential sociological terms (both classic and recent) represents an invaluable intellectual tool for students (both undergraduate and postgraduate) and faculty across the social sciences. For each concept, Braham constructs a clear and compelling narrative, buttressed by an impressive range of references and sage advice for further reading, that fires the mind for continued learningJoseph Oliver Boyd-Barrett Professor of Journalism at Bowling Green State University, OhioSociology is an exciting, if frequently confusing, subject, and the very notion of ′society′, though familiar as a term in everyday life, is much disputed by sociologists. With entries ranging from ′alienation′ to ′the body′, Peter Braham′s Key Concepts in Sociology offers a crisp and comprehensive guide to the discipline. The thirty-eight entries, covering history, substance and evaluation, thereby describe both conventional and new topics that define the syllabus of modern sociology. A valuable guide to both teachers and studentsBryan S. Turner, Presidential Professor of Sociology, CUNY USA

• Introduction - Peter Braham Alienation Anomie Bureaucracy Capitalism CelebrityCitizenship Class Community Consumption CultureDevelopmentDeviance Discourse Division of LabourEconomic Sociology Equality Everyday Life Family FeminismGender Globalization Identity Ideology Modernity and PostmodernityOrientalism Positivism Public Sociology Qualitative and Quantitative Research Race Rational Choice RiskSocial Exclusion Social Justice Social Mobility Social Movements Social StratificationSocietyThe Body