David Cheal – författare

An international textbook designed as a quick introduction for students from around the world studying sociology of family, this text provides comprehensive coverage of the major topics in the sociology of family life.

Written in an easy access style it opens with a chapter on defining family and family structures. It then moves on to discuss over a dozen major topics; from interaction and meaning in families to sexuality. David Cheal provides coverage of these topics by drawing on a variety of international material. Most of the studies focus on contemporary family life but Cheal also presents information on historical changes which have shaped family life as it is known today.

This book an incredibly valuable teaching tool as it presents diversity in family patterns through thinking about family life from a global perspective.

An international textbook designed as a quick introduction for students from around the world studying sociology of family, this text provides comprehensive coverage of the major topics in the sociology of family life.

Written in an easy access style it opens with a chapter on defining family and family structures. It then moves on to discuss over a dozen major topics; from interaction and meaning in families to sexuality. David Cheal provides coverage of these topics by drawing on a variety of international material. Most of the studies focus on contemporary family life but Cheal also presents information on historical changes which have shaped family life as it is known today.

This book an incredibly valuable teaching tool as it presents diversity in family patterns through thinking about family life from a global perspective.

Until recently we have known more about gift giving practices in pre-industrial societies than about those of industrial western society. In this book, first published in 1988, David Cheal shows that the process of present giving and receiving is a vital element in contemporary social life, relevant to some of the most important theoretical traditions in sociology, particularly those of Durkheim and Weber, and to the social constructionism of Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann. This volume is the result of a major study of gift rituals carried out by David Cheal and his associates in which general themes are richly illustrated with details from individual case histories gathered during the research. It is highly significant that in western society women are more active gift givers than men and, while their voices explain how emotions and interests are interrelated within the gift economy, the author shows how that in turn is related to current theories about family, gender and religion.

Until recently we have known more about gift giving practices in pre-industrial societies than about those of industrial western society. In this book, first published in 1988, David Cheal shows that the process of present giving and receiving is a vital element in contemporary social life, relevant to some of the most important theoretical traditions in sociology, particularly those of Durkheim and Weber, and to the social constructionism of Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann. This volume is the result of a major study of gift rituals carried out by David Cheal and his associates in which general themes are richly illustrated with details from individual case histories gathered during the research. It is highly significant that in western society women are more active gift givers than men and, while their voices explain how emotions and interests are interrelated within the gift economy, the author shows how that in turn is related to current theories about family, gender and religion.

Discover the stories behind the songsTHE LIFE OF A SONG contains the stories of 100 songs exploring each song''s biography and how they took on a new life following their release. Packed with intriguing factoids, these bite-sized essays will delight music fans and send you scurrying back to listen to the songs in all their beauty and mystery.Who knew that Paul McCartney originally referred to Yesterday as ''Scrambled Eggs'' because he couldn''t think of any lyrics for his heart-breaking tune? Or that Patti LaBelle didn''t know what ''Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?'' actually meant? These and countless other back stories fill this book.Each 600-word piece gives a mini-biography of a single song, from its earliest form through the various covers and changes, often morphing from one genre to another, always focusing on the ''biography'' of the song itself while including the many famous artists who have performed or recorded it.This book collects 100 of the best pieces from the highly successful The Life of a Song columns from the FT Weekend every Saturday. Inside you''ll find rock, pop, folk, jazz and more. Each piece is pithy, sparkily written, knowledgeable, entertaining, full of anecdotes and surprises. They combine deep musical knowledge with the vivid background of the performers and musicians, and of course the often intriguing social and political background against which the songs were created.

Who knew that Paul McCartney originally referred to Yesterday as ''Scrambled Eggs'' because he couldn''t think of any lyrics for his heart-breaking tune? Or that Patti LaBelle didn''t know what ''Voulez-vous couches avec moi ce soir?'' actually meant?These and countless other fascinating back stories of some of our best-known and best-loved songs fill this book, a collection of the highly successful weekly The Life of a Song columns that appear in the FT Weekend every Saturday.Each 600-word piece gives a mini-biography of a single song, from its earliest form (often a spiritual, or a jazz number), through the various covers and changes, often morphing from one genre to another, always focusing on the ''biography'' of the song itself while including the many famous artists who have performed or recorded it.The selection covers a wide spectrum of the songs we all know and love - rock, pop, folk, jazz and more. Each piece is pithy, sparkily written, knowledgeable, entertaining, full of anecdotes and surprises. They combine deep musical knowledge with the vivid background of the performers and musicians, and of course the often intriguing social and political background against which the songs were created.

When great songs have been written and released, they often take on a life of their own, reshaped and given new life, transcending genres.THE LIFE OF A SONG is a compilation of weekly columns written for FT Weekend, containing the biographies of 50 songs that have been born, reborn, sometimes hideously mangled, but often reinvigorated by new generations of artists.Here you will find songs that shook the world, songs that heralded the birth of a new musical movement, songs that made the journey from soul to punk and from heavy rock to hip-hop.

Family studies play an increasingly important role in contemporary sociology. David Cheal provides an up-to-date and comprehensive survey of modern socological theories about family life. While recognizing that these theories are both diverse and fragmented, he argues that such divisions are a positive and integral aspect of studying contemporary family theory.

Cheal takes a broad comparitive approach to the theories analysed, using empirical examples from North America, Europe, and Australia, and examining how old and new approaches interact with one another. He argues that it is possible to make sense of a contemporary family theory by analysing its divisions as the result of different experiences of modernity. These experiences lie along three axes: first, the opposition between social modernism and its anti-modernist critics; second, the ideological effects of contraditions within modernity itself, and third, the emerging differene between modernist idealism and post-modernist scepticism. Another major theme of the book is the profound impact of feminism on contemporary family studies, and how this has been the catalyst for so much rethinking of the subject in recent years.

By comparing a wide range of theories in this way and providing a conceptual framework to explain and encourage theoretical pluralism, David Cheal has produced a major new work for students and researchers of family sociology and social theory worldwide.