J. David Knottnerus – författare

For more than three hundred years, the American South was essentially a plantation society, in which the plantation system penetrated all aspects of social, cultural, economic, and political life. During this period, plantation slavery evolved into the key institutional component of Southern society and played an integral role in its development. This interdisciplinary collection of essays provides a sociological framework for the interpretation of historical data on plantation slavery by addressing different questions concerning four broad areas of research—theoretical perspectives; social institutions; race, gender, and social inequality; and social change and social transformations. The contributors depict slave plantations as organized social systems that contributed significantly to the racial stratification of the Southern plantation society, and in this way served as the origin of contemporary race relations and social inequality in America.

"Recent Developments in the Theory of Social Structure" is an integrated collection of essays reviewing and assessing progress in social structural analysis since 1970. Organizationally, the book is divided into six parts corresponding to six analytical levels of social structure: social relationships, social networks, intraorganizational relations, interorganizational relations, societal stratification and the world system. The ten essays expound and assess what has been learned about the influences of social structure on human behaviour at each level of analysis. In the introduction, the editors examine the metatheoretical issues in structural analysis and promote the cause of theory integration.

On the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Sociological Imagination by C. Wright Mills, the 'bureaucratic ethos' that he described continues to define our world more than ever before. In Bureaucratic Culture and Escalating World Problems eleven contributors systematically continue and develop Mills' broad vision of the scientific method. They analyse escalating bureaucratic barriers that prevent us from solving our many pressing social, environmental, and economic problems.

On the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Sociological Imagination by C. Wright Mills, the 'bureaucratic ethos' that he described continues to define our world more than ever before. In Bureaucratic Culture and Escalating World Problems eleven contributors systematically continue and develop Mills' broad vision of the scientific method. They analyse escalating bureaucratic barriers that prevent us from solving our many pressing social, environmental, and economic problems.

Up to now, ritual has been under-utilised for studying human behaviour. This book narrows the gap in our understanding of the social causes and consequences of our actions by focusing on the ritualised behaviours that define much of our daily lives. Knottnerus breaks new ground by comprehensively describing structural ritualistic theory. He shows how structural reproduction has occurred throughout the world, how rituals can be strategically used and how power can influence rituals, and how the disruption and reconstitution of ritual is of crucial importance for human beings. This book shows that ritual provides a missing link in sociology and helps us better explain the extreme complexity of human action and social reality.

Up to now, ritual has been under-utilised for studying human behaviour. This book narrows the gap in our understanding of the social causes and consequences of our actions by focusing on the ritualised behaviours that define much of our daily lives. Knottnerus breaks new ground by comprehensively describing structural ritualistic theory. He shows how structural reproduction has occurred throughout the world, how rituals can be strategically used and how power can influence rituals, and how the disruption and reconstitution of ritual is of crucial importance for human beings. This book shows that ritual provides a missing link in sociology and helps us better explain the extreme complexity of human action and social reality.

Portraying people who have lived and worked in long-term nursing home facilities, Elder Care Catastrophe reveals how organizational dynamics and everyday rituals have unintentionally led to resident neglect and abuse. Backed up by research and grounded in sociological theory, this book offers alternative models for lessening the maltreatment of people living in nursing homes. It provides critical information for family members struggling with nursing home issues, nursing home employees, policy-makers, students and researchers concerned with elder care issues.