Robert Bocock – författare

Originally published in 1974, Ritual in Industrial Society is based on several years’ research including interviews and observations into the importance of ritual in industrial society within modern Britain. The book addresses how identity and meaning for people of all occupations and social classes can be derived through rituals and provides an expansive and diverse examination of how rituals are used in society, including in birth, marriage and death. The book offers an examination into the use of symbolic action in the body to articulate experiences which words cannot adequately handle and suggests that this enables modern men and women to overcome the mind-body splits which characterise modern technological society. In addition to this, the book examines ritual as a tool for articulating and sharing religious experiences, a point often overlooked by more intellectual approaches to religion in sociology. In addition to this, the book covers an exploration into ritual in social groups and how this is used to develop a sense of belonging among members. The book will be of interest to sociologists as well as academics of religion and theology, social workers and psychotherapists.

Originally published in 1974, Ritual in Industrial Society is based on several years’ research including interviews and observations into the importance of ritual in industrial society within modern Britain. The book addresses how identity and meaning for people of all occupations and social classes can be derived through rituals and provides an expansive and diverse examination of how rituals are used in society, including in birth, marriage and death. The book offers an examination into the use of symbolic action in the body to articulate experiences which words cannot adequately handle and suggests that this enables modern men and women to overcome the mind-body splits which characterise modern technological society. In addition to this, the book examines ritual as a tool for articulating and sharing religious experiences, a point often overlooked by more intellectual approaches to religion in sociology. In addition to this, the book covers an exploration into ritual in social groups and how this is used to develop a sense of belonging among members. The book will be of interest to sociologists as well as academics of religion and theology, social workers and psychotherapists.

This book analyzes the main post-war features of consumption. It traces the historical development of consumption and discusses the major contributions made by sociologists in discussing the subject. Robert Bocock is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the Open University.

First Published in 2002. To those who see Freud solely as a psychologist and a psychotherapist it may be surprising to find him discussed as a major contributor to sociology. In this book, Robert Bocock argues that Freud’s work, far from being exclusively concerned with individual personality seen in abstraction from the social and cultural environment, does have important implications for social theory and is not always given the serious sociological study it deserves. Bocock demonstrates Freud’s central relevance to sociological discussions about gender, sexuality, the family, religion, ideology and symbolism, political authority, and language, and examines the considerable influence that Freud’s theories have had upon sociological schools.

First Published in 2002. To those who see Freud solely as a psychologist and a psychotherapist it may be surprising to find him discussed as a major contributor to sociology. In this book, Robert Bocock argues that Freud’s work, far from being exclusively concerned with individual personality seen in abstraction from the social and cultural environment, does have important implications for social theory and is not always given the serious sociological study it deserves. Bocock demonstrates Freud’s central relevance to sociological discussions about gender, sexuality, the family, religion, ideology and symbolism, political authority, and language, and examines the considerable influence that Freud’s theories have had upon sociological schools.

This book considers the social and cultural aspects of 20th-century modern industrial social formations, focusing on Britain and Europe, with reference to North America and Australasia. The main topics of the social dimension include an analysis of the class, gender and racial divsions; women, the family, and the romantic sphere; patterns of consumption; and conceptions of the self, the body and sexuality. The section on cultural dimensions focuses on an analysis of contemporary ideologies and belief systems; the growth in popular culture, the revolution in mass communications; the reshaping of knowledge in education and the modern metropolis as the privileged scene of modernity.

This collection deals with the central questions which have emerged from the break-up of the postwar political consensus around the welfare state. A series of distinguished contributors, including exponents of alternative positions on welfare from the right, left and centre, examine key issues in the disputes over the relationship between the state and welfare.

Individual chapters both explore the different political and theoretical issues in the debate, and concentrate on their application in key areas of social policy. Particular attention is given to the role of social work, and public policy and the family. The final section of the book examines the political sources of the current crisis of social policy, and the prospects for a resolution of the crisis of the welfare state.

The State or the Market is a set book on the Open University Course D211, Social Problems and Social Welfare.

This collection deals with the central questions which have emerged from the break-up of the postwar political consensus around the welfare state. A series of distinguished contributors, including exponents of alternative positions on welfare from the right, left and centre, examine key issues in the disputes over the relationship between the state and welfare.

Individual chapters both explore the different political and theoretical issues in the debate, and concentrate on their application in key areas of social policy. Particular attention is given to the role of social work, and public policy and the family. The final section of the book examines the political sources of the current crisis of social policy, and the prospects for a resolution of the crisis of the welfare state.

The State or the Market is a set book on the Open University Course D211, Social Problems and Social Welfare.