Chris Jenks - Böcker

In recent years there has been a rapid growth of interest in the sociological study of childhood. This new book draws together the major developments in the field. In particular, the book discusses contemporary sociological and anthropological research in order to develop key links between the study of childhood and social theory, exposing its historical, political and cultural dimensions.

Traditionally, Sociology has identified its subject matter as a distinct set – social phenomena – that can be taken as quite different and largely disconnected from potentially relevant disciplines such as Psychology, Economics or Planetary Ecology.Within Sociology and Human Ecology, Smith and Jenks argue that this position is no longer sustainable. Indeed, exhorting the reader to confront human ecology and its relation to the physical and biological environments, Smith and Jenks suggest that the development of understanding with regards to the position occupied by the social requires, in turn, an extension of the component disciplines and methodologies of a ‘new’ human socio-ecology. Aiming to evoke critical change to the possibility, status and range of the social sciences whilst also offering essential grounding for inter-disciplinary engagement, Sociology and Human Ecology will appeal to postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers interested in fields such as Social Theory, Socio-Biology and Ecological Economics.

The idea of cultural reproduction was first developed by Bourdieu (1973) who sees the function of the education system as being to reproduce the culture of the dominant classes, thus helping to ensure their continued dominance. Through his concepts of cultural capital' and habitus' Bourdieu's influence spread into other areas of socialization and high culture. However, despite the complex of influences that contribute to Bourdieu's method, sociologists of culture and students of cultural studies seem to have picked up on the negative and critical elements in the work. In particular, they developed the metaphor of reproduction as copy or imitation rather than reproduction as regeneration and synthesis. As a consequence cultural reproduction' has become part of the orthodoxy of studies in the theory of ideology and neo-Marxisms. While still addressing this well established theme of ideology and structural determinacy in cultural reproduction theory, this collection of original essays seeks also to explore other possibilities, in terms of ethnomethodology, Durkheimianism, structuralism and post-structuralism. Many of the arguments put forward also confront the most contemporary challenges presented by postmodernism. The papers address an unusually wide spectrum of cultural formations including gender roles, fine art, film, journalism, education, consumerism, style, language and sociology itself. The introduction discusses the origin and development of the concept of cultural reproduction and shows the variety of analytic possibilities within several traditions of social theorizing, all later expanded in the body of the text. Most of the contributors are academics working in the area of sociology of communication studies. All of them have taught in and have continuing research interests in the sociology of culture and cultural studies.

In Visual Culture the 'visual' character of contemporary culture is explored in original and lively essays. The contributors look at advertising, film, painting and fine art journalism, photography, television and propaganda. They argue that there is only a social, not a formal relation between vision and truth. A major preoccupation of modernity and central to an understadning of the postmodern, 'vision' and the 'visual' are emergent themes across sociology, cultural studies and critical theory in the visual arts. Visual Culture will prove an indispensable guide to the field.

The history, various usages and different meanings of 'Culture' derive from diverse areas of study, including philosophy, critical aesthetics, literary criticism, anthropology, and sociology.These volumes introduce the reader to these multi-facets of the concept and the wide and often contradictory variety of interpretations that have been and continue to be placed on it. The diverse meanings and interpretations of the concept are also reflected in the interdisciplinary nature of the articles collected.The structure of the collection places culture within a history of ideas, and also enables the reader to review different arguments and perspectives on the topic.

Transgression is truly a key idea for our time. Society is created by constraint and boundaries, but as our culture is increasingly subject to uncertainty and flux we find it more and more difficult to determine where those boundaries lie.In this fast moving study, Chris Jenks ranges widely over the history of ideas, the major theorists, and the significant moments in the formation of the idea of transgression. He looks at the definition of the social and its boundaries by Durkheim, Douglas and Freud, at the German tradition of Hegel and Nietzsche and the increasing preoccupation with transgression itself in Baudelaire, Bataille and Foucault. The second half of the book looks at transgression in action in the East End myth of the Kray twins, in Artaud's theatre of cruelty, the spectacle of the Situationists and Bakhtin's analysis of carnival. Finally Jenks extends his treatment of transgression to its own extremity.

Transgression is truly a key idea for our time. Society is created by constraint and boundaries, but as our culture is increasingly subject to uncertainty and flux we find it more and more difficult to determine where those boundaries lie.In this fast moving study, Chris Jenks ranges widely over the history of ideas, the major theorists, and the significant moments in the formation of the idea of transgression. He looks at the definition of the social and its boundaries by Durkheim, Douglas and Freud, at the German tradition of Hegel and Nietzsche and the increasing preoccupation with transgression itself in Baudelaire, Bataille and Foucault. The second half of the book looks at transgression in action in the East End myth of the Kray twins, in Artaud's theatre of cruelty, the spectacle of the Situationists and Bakhtin's analysis of carnival. Finally Jenks extends his treatment of transgression to its own extremity.

This collection is an interdisciplinary study focusing on the various cultural aspects of city life. The works included are drawn from a broad range of canonical and secondary sources and emphasise the 'new', covering modernist and postmodernist perspectives of urban culture. The collection is arranged thematically highlighting the variety of interests that coexist (and conflict) within the city. Issues such as gender, class, race, age and disability are covered along with urban experiences such as walking, politics & protest, governance, inclusion and exclusion. 'Urban pathologies', including gangsters, mugging and drug-dealing are also explored. Selections cover cities from around the globe, including London, Berlin, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, Bombay and Tokyo.Titles also available in this series include, Performance (March 2003, 4 volumes, £450) and Gothic (May 2004, 4 volumes, £475). Forthcoming titles in the series include, Narrative Theory (July 2004, 4 volumes, £475) and Folklore (2005, 4 volumes, c.£475).

Offering a critique of the humanist paradigm in contemporary social theory, Qualitative Complexity is the first comprehensive sociological analysis of complexity theory. Drawing from sources in sociology, philosophy, complexity theory, 'fuzzy logic', systems theory, cognitive science and evolutionary biology, John Smith and Chris Jenks present a new series of interdisciplinary perspectives on the sociology of complex, self-organizing structures.

Culture is a concept that has remained on the top of the agenda within the social sciences for two decades. It incites controversy and debate and always appears fresh. This book, updated throughout and with new sections on visual culture, urban culture and subcultures, argues that to understand the concept we need to locate it within traditions of thought and appreciate its political and ideological bases. The book looks at the concept of culture in the context of idealism and materialism, examining its relation to the notion of social structure and assessing its once assumed monopoly within literary study. Culture remains stimulating throughout. A standard reference text for students on sociology and cultural studies courses, this second concise and student-friendly edition offers an overview over the sociology of culture in an accessible format.

Culture is a concept that has remained on the top of the agenda within the social sciences for two decades. It incites controversy and debate and always appears fresh. This book, updated throughout and with new sections on visual culture, urban culture and subcultures, argues that to understand the concept we need to locate it within traditions of thought and appreciate its political and ideological bases. The book looks at the concept of culture in the context of idealism and materialism, examining its relation to the notion of social structure and assessing its once assumed monopoly within literary study. Culture remains stimulating throughout. A standard reference text for students on sociology and cultural studies courses, this second concise and student-friendly edition offers an overview over the sociology of culture in an accessible format.

In this book Chris Jenks looks at what the ways in which we construct our image of childhood can tell us about ourselves. After a general discussion of the social construction of childhood, the book is structured around three examples of the way the image of the child is played out in society:the history of childhood from medieval times through the enlightenment 'discovery' of childhood to the presentthe mythology and reality of child abuse and society's response to itthe 'death' of childhood in cases such as the James Bulger murder in which the child itself becomes the perpetrator of evil.Part of the highly successful Key Ideas series, this book gives students a concise, provocative insight into some of the controlling concepts of our culture.

Offering a critique of the humanist paradigm in contemporary social theory, Qualitative Complexity is the first comprehensive sociological analysis of complexity theory. Drawing from sources in sociology, philosophy, complexity theory, 'fuzzy logic', systems theory, cognitive science and evolutionary biology, John Smith and Chris Jenks present a new series of interdisciplinary perspectives on the sociology of complex, self-organizing structures.

The manner in which we variously come to an understanding of our world presents problems for us all, but the unified method by which we ought best to acquire such knowledge represents the particular problem of contemporary education. This important book seeks to explore some of the underlying practises and assumptions that go to produce and sustain both such sets of activities. As a result of its concerns with the social organization of knowledge at all levels, the sociology of education has become a central form of much contemporary sociological theory. All the papers in this collection are formulations of a ‘reflexive’ method of theorizing within sociology of education. This is a mode of address, deriving partly from social phenomenology, which seeks to display the grounds of the theorists’ speech as itself an essential feature of any informative dialogue. Major themes in education and in sociology are considered in this way, including the social form of rationality, the constitution of curricula, normative beliefs about Learning, the nature of literary study as liberal education and the character of scientific knowledge in the social world.

An extremely complex and highly contested concept, ‘childhood’ refers to a life phase, to the age-group defined as children, as well as to a cultural construction that is part of the social and economic structure of communities. Reflecting this complexity, these comprehensive volumes introduce the reader to the wide variety of interpretations placed on childhood both today and in the past. Illustrating the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary study of the area, the collection includes contributions from the fields of sociology, anthropology, psychology, social geography, history, philosophy, and socio-legal theory - undoubtedly making it an ideal resource for a range of students and scholars interested in this fascinating subject.

In recent years there has been a rapid growth of interest in the sociological study of childhood. This new book draws together the major developments in the field. In particular, the book discusses contemporary sociological and anthropological research in order to develop key links between the study of childhood and social theory, exposing its historical, political and cultural dimensions.

`A polished piece of work which takes a cool and dispassionate look at subculture... Meticulous and insightful' - Jim McGuigan, Professor of Cultural Analysis, University of Loughborough

This illuminating book, which explores the idea of subcultures, traces the concept back to its foundations in the works of Tonnies and Durkheim and, to a lesser degree, Marx and Weber.

The discussion moves on to an analysis of subcultures in American urban sociology and criminology, through the traditions of the Chicago School, structural functionalism and systems theory. The ground-breaking work of Stuart Hall and the Birmingham School is evaluated and a case is made for the continuing relevance of the concept for sociology and cultural studies.

The book provides:

"An unrivalled critical guide to subculture

"An assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the concept in the study of society and culture

"A sharp assessment of its relevance and application today.

Both an appraisal and a sustained critique of the concept of subculture, the book will be of interest to students of Sociology, Cultural Studies and Urban Studies.

`A polished piece of work which takes a cool and dispassionate look at subculture... Meticulous and insightful' - Jim McGuigan, Professor of Cultural Analysis, University of Loughborough

This illuminating book, which explores the idea of subcultures, traces the concept back to its foundations in the works of Tonnies and Durkheim and, to a lesser degree, Marx and Weber.

The discussion moves on to an analysis of subcultures in American urban sociology and criminology, through the traditions of the Chicago School, structural functionalism and systems theory. The ground-breaking work of Stuart Hall and the Birmingham School is evaluated and a case is made for the continuing relevance of the concept for sociology and cultural studies.

The book provides:

"An unrivalled critical guide to subculture

"An assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the concept in the study of society and culture

"A sharp assessment of its relevance and application today.

Both an appraisal and a sustained critique of the concept of subculture, the book will be of interest to students of Sociology, Cultural Studies and Urban Studies.

In this sociology text the contributors provide an introduction to the subject without over-simplifying or `writing-down' to their audience. The book aims to furnish undergraduates with the knowledge that will help them to understand and practice sociology and also to develop a self-perpetuating sociological imagination to enable them to think through new issues and new problems.

It consists of a series of specially commissioned chapters around binary or dichotomous themes. Although many sociologists are critical of dichotomous models of sociological theory and research, the device crops up again and again in the history and practice of the subject. Jenks and his colleagues use the dichotomies to situate students in current sociological arguments and topical debates. For example, by examining contradictory pairs of concepts like structure/agency, local/global, continuity/change, students are introduced to alternative explanations for aspects of human conduct over a whole series of issues.

In this sociology text the contributors provide an introduction to the subject without over-simplifying or `writing-down' to their audience. The book aims to furnish undergraduates with the knowledge that will help them to understand and practice sociology and also to develop a self-perpetuating sociological imagination to enable them to think through new issues and new problems.

It consists of a series of specially commissioned chapters around binary or dichotomous themes. Although many sociologists are critical of dichotomous models of sociological theory and research, the device crops up again and again in the history and practice of the subject. Jenks and his colleagues use the dichotomies to situate students in current sociological arguments and topical debates. For example, by examining contradictory pairs of concepts like structure/agency, local/global, continuity/change, students are introduced to alternative explanations for aspects of human conduct over a whole series of issues.

By including material from literary, philosophical, and anthropological sources, and by selecting readings which consider educational practice both within and beyond formal educational contexts, this book broadens the character of sociological inquiry in education. The editors bring together material they have found valuable when working with students of education and^sociology at all levels. Many of these articles and extracts are either inaccessible or have not been reprinted. The collection should stimulate inquiry about the assumptions underlying current debates on curriculum, streaming, school organization, methods of teaching, and preconceived notions of ability.Toward a Sociology of Education develops an alternative theoretical approach to and engages in critical dialogue with mainstream sociology, and also points to other theoretical and practical probabilities.

The manner in which we variously come to an understanding of our world presents problems for us all, but the unified method by which we ought best to acquire such knowledge represents the particular problem of contemporary education. This important book seeks to explore some of the underlying practises and assumptions that go to produce and sustain both such sets of activities. As a result of its concerns with the social organization of knowledge at all levels, the sociology of education has become a central form of much contemporary sociological theory. All the papers in this collection are formulations of a ‘reflexive’ method of theorizing within sociology of education. This is a mode of address, deriving partly from social phenomenology, which seeks to display the grounds of the theorists’ speech as itself an essential feature of any informative dialogue. Major themes in education and in sociology are considered in this way, including the social form of rationality, the constitution of curricula, normative beliefs about Learning, the nature of literary study as liberal education and the character of scientific knowledge in the social world.

In Visual Culture the 'visual' character of contemporary culture is explored in original and lively essays. The contributors look at advertising, film, painting and fine art journalism, photography, television and propaganda. They argue that there is only a social, not a formal relation between vision and truth. A major preoccupation of modernity and central to an understadning of the postmodern, 'vision' and the 'visual' are emergent themes across sociology, cultural studies and critical theory in the visual arts. Visual Culture will prove an indispensable guide to the field.

Traditionally, Sociology has identified its subject matter as a distinct set – social phenomena – that can be taken as quite different and largely disconnected from potentially relevant disciplines such as Psychology, Economics or Planetary Ecology.Within Sociology and Human Ecology, Smith and Jenks argue that this position is no longer sustainable. Indeed, exhorting the reader to confront human ecology and its relation to the physical and biological environments, Smith and Jenks suggest that the development of understanding with regards to the position occupied by the social requires, in turn, an extension of the component disciplines and methodologies of a ‘new’ human socio-ecology. Aiming to evoke critical change to the possibility, status and range of the social sciences whilst also offering essential grounding for inter-disciplinary engagement, Sociology and Human Ecology will appeal to postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers interested in fields such as Social Theory, Socio-Biology and Ecological Economics.

By including material from literary, philosophical, and anthropological sources, and by selecting readings which consider educational practice both within and beyond formal educational contexts, this book broadens the character of sociological inquiry in education. The editors bring together material they have found valuable when working with students of education and^sociology at all levels. Many of these articles and extracts are either inaccessible or have not been reprinted. The collection should stimulate inquiry about the assumptions underlying current debates on curriculum, streaming, school organization, methods of teaching, and preconceived notions of ability.Toward a Sociology of Education develops an alternative theoretical approach to and engages in critical dialogue with mainstream sociology, and also points to other theoretical and practical probabilities.