Critical Concepts in Sociology – serie

Class and status are both foundational themes in the study of sociology. John Scott brings together the central theoretical contributions to the debate on class and status as aspects of stratification. Using a selection of seminal pieces and commentaries on the classics, it raises central issues, for example the distinction between class and status, which are then examined by leading authorities.

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.

Social networks as a concept was developed through social psychological work on the communication and leadership structures of small groups, and in sociological and anthropological work on kinship and community relations. From the 1960s, this idea came to be extended to a wider range of social relations (especially economic and political relations) through the formulation of mathematical models of networks. Advances in computing technology allowed the construction of more systematic and more powerful network methods.The aim of this collection is to bring together the principal sources in the development of the techniques of social network analysis, from early metaphorical statements in Simmel and Radcliffe-Brown, through the more systematic explorations in sociology and social anthropology to contemporary formalizations.A new introduction explores the history of social networks and highlights the arguments of those who treat social network analysis as a loose, qualitative approach, as well as those who see potential in its technical, mathematical uses.

Recent years have seen a rapid growth in the field of sports studies. This collection provides an invaluable resource for this burgeoning field, offering a selection of classic works and more recent, groundbreaking journal articles on the sociology of sport.Key features of this collection are:* Comprehensive and critical coverage of the field* Historical and comparative approaches detail how modern sport has developed* Articles which illustrate the international diversity of the study of the social aspects of sport and sport per se* Cross-disciplinary articlesThe four volumes cover:* Approaches to the Study of Sport* The Development and Structure of Modern Sport* Sport and Power Relations* Major Issues in Contemporary SportWith an international range of themes, contextual introductions to each volume and a comprehensive index, this will become an indispensible research tool for students and researchers.

New Religious Movements (NRMs) came into being as a distinct subfield of academic study in the 1970s in response to the explosion of non-traditional religions that took place in the waning years of the Sixties counterculture. (The designation ‘New Religion’ is a direct translation of a Japanese term coined for the many new religions that emerged in the wake of the Second World War, and was adopted by Western scholars in the late Sixties/early Seventies in preference to the pejorative term ‘cult’.) These movements, and those termed ‘sects’ and ‘cults’, initially attracted the attention of American and European sociologists of religion because of the controversy that arose in response to their expansion.Religious Studies, which at the time was still in the process of establishing itself as a legitimate discipline distinct from Theology and traditional Biblical Studies, was only too happy to leave NRMs to Sociology. This situation gradually changed, however, so that at present at least as many scholars of NRMs come from Religious Studies backgrounds as come from the social sciences.The collection consists of four volumes which together provide a one-stop source for crucial information on—and theoretical/methodological approaches to—contemporary New Religions. The set brings together thinking on a wide variety of themes associated with NRMs (e.g. apocalypticism, typologies, conversion, gender) and major works on the NRMs that have attracted the most scholarly attention (e.g. the ‘Moonies’, The Family International, Osho Rajneesh). Some influential ‘anti-cult’ articles (normally not considered part of mainstream scholarship) have also been included as well.Sects, Cults, and New Religions is fully indexed and includes a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor, and is destined to be valued as a vital research resource.

Men & Masculinities is a new title in the Routledge Major Works series, Critical Concepts in Sociology. In five volumes, this set brings together canonical and cutting-edge material in the field to make sense of a rapidly expanding area of research.The sociology of masculinity began to assume real significance from the late 1980s onwards, when it emerged out of the second wave of feminist research sweeping through American, European and Australasian universities at that time. In theoretical terms, scholars in the field primarily adopt sociological and psychoanalytical perspectives, while also connecting to psychological and philosophical understandings. Over the past decade there has been a surge in the number of publications that focus on aspects of global masculinities; there is now published research into Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Mexican, Indian, Caribbean, French, Spanish and African masculinities. Within the US there is also a burgeoning literature on Black and Latino masculinities in numerous contexts.The sheer scale of this growth in research output - and the breadth of the field - makes this Routledge collection especially timely, and while it covers the primary concepts and discussions which have come to inform this field of study over the past thirty years or so, the collection also brings together material reflecting new debates and new areas of research from across the world.With examples from every key writer and researcher who has contributed to the field over the past three decades, together with a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor, which places the collected material in context, Men & Masculinities is an essential reference collection destined to be valued by scholars and students as a vital research resource.

‘The information society’ refers to a constellation of developments arising from the growing use of communication technologies in the acquisition, storage, and processing of information, and the role of information in supporting the creation and exchange of knowledge. Research on information societies really began to take off in the 1970s when Daniel Bell wrote about ‘the information age’. While there were earlier works that focused on the growing importance of information in the economy, it was not until the mid-1990s and the spread of the Internet that this field of study experienced a huge expansion across a broad range of disciplines in the social sciences and beyond. A critical mass of scholarship has now accumulated, establishing ‘the information society’ and ‘information societies’ as a terrain of substance and complexity, the exploration and understanding of which requires increasingly sophisticated navigation skills. As research in and around the area continues to flourish as never before, this new title in Routledge’s Major Works series, Critical Concepts in Sociology, meets the need for an authoritative reference work to make sense of a rapidly growing and ever more complex corpus of literature, and to provide a map of the area as it has emerged and developed over the last thirty years or so.The Information Society is fully indexed and has a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor, which places the material in its historical and intellectual context. It is an essential work of reference and is destined to be valued by scholars and students—as well as policy-makers and practitioners in the field—as a vital one-stop research resource.

In recent years, the study of celebrity has developed and cohered into a flourishing field of social and cultural analysis. There is huge interest in topics such as the politics and logic of glamour; the role of the public-relations industry in manipulating television audiences; the relationship between fame and social control; and the economics of the so-called celebrity industry. And as interest in celebrity continues to explode, a variety of forerunners to its study—drawing on materials from a wide range of disciplines including sociology, cultural studies, history, psychology, organization studies, politics, film, and literary studies—have been rediscovered and reformulated. Among the lines of enquiry and critical tools that have been recuperated as pertinent to the study of celebrity are leadership, charisma, role models, heroes, role sets, ideology, manipulation, commodification, interpellation, narcissism, signification and individuality.The sheer scale of the available research exploring the many implications of the phenomenon of celebrity—and the breadth and complexity of the canon on which celebrity studies draws—makes this new Major Work from Routledge especially timely. It answers the urgent need for a wide-ranging collection which provides easy access to the key items of scholarly literature, material that is often inaccessible or scattered throughout a variety of specialist journals and books. In four volumes, Celebrity brings together the best and most influential foundational and cutting-edge research on: the aetiology and basic concepts of celebrity (including charisma, narcissism, and commodification); theoretical and methodological approaches (e.g. Marxism, structuralism, semiotics, and cultural materialism); the mechanics of celebrity (such as the sociology and psychology of showmanship); and key controversies and current debates (e.g. the politics of stardom; the superstructure of celebrity; and the interpellation of celebrity news and the media).Celebrity is supplemented with a full index, and includes a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor, which places the collected material in its historical and intellectual context. It is destined to be valued by scholars, students, and researchers as a vital research resource.

This is a new title from Routledge’s Critical Concepts in Sociology series. Compiled by the editorial team behind the acclaimed International Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology (Routledge, 2008), this four-volume ‘mini library’ provides an easy-to-use, one-stop collection of the best foundational and cutting-edge scholarship from the fast-growing—and increasingly important—scholarly domain that is the public communication of science.As well as bringing together the major works that have shaped this field of research, the collection will be welcomed as the first mapping of an area that to date has rather lacked an authoritative interdisciplinary synthesis. The collection assembles contributions from a variety of subjects (including media and journalism studies, sociology, and the history of science), and it contrasts the perspectives of different geographical and cultural contexts. Together with the editors’ introductions, the gathered materials allow users to make sense of the wide range of approaches, theories, and concepts that have informed the public communication of science.

A term of antique provenance, ‘identity’ has developed and cohered into a critical concept in contemporary social and cultural analysis. However, the daunting quantity (and variable quality) of the available research exploring the many, often controversial, issues attendant upon identity—and the breadth and complexity of the canon on which it draws—makes it difficult to discriminate the useful from the tendentious, superficial, and otiose. That is why this new title in the highly regarded Routledge series, Critical Concepts in Sociology, is so timely. It answers the urgent need for a wide-ranging collection to provide easy access to the key items of scholarly literature, material that is often inaccessible or scattered throughout a variety of specialist journals and books.In four volumes, this new collection addresses key theories of identity, ranging from classical accounts to postmodern, psychoanalytic, and feminist approaches. Substantive sections interrogate racial, ethnic, gendered, queer, consumerist, virtual, and global identities, amongst others. Moreover, the gathered materials also make sense of the revolutionary effects that debates on identity continue to have on research agendas and ways of thinking in sociology, and across the social sciences and humanities more generally.Identity is supplemented with a full index, and includes a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editors, which places the collected material in its historical and intellectual context. It is destined to be valued by scholars and students, and researchers as a vital resource.

This major works collection surveys the nature of Muslim Diasporas in the west from a sociological perspective, exploring the issues of migration, integration, identity, politics, Islamophobia and radicalisation.This four-volume collected works is the state of the art on the research and scholarship on Muslim Diasporas in the West. From canonical works to the latest trends in research, these volumes added to the understanding of ethnicity, equality and diversity in relation to Muslims in the west. The articles explore the philosophies of multiculturalism, integration and interculturalism. They also analyse issues of identity politics, Islamophobia and radicalisation. This major works collection suitably captures the significance of past research and its importance for further scholarship in relation to Muslims and Islam across Europe, North America and Australia.

This collection aims to illustrate the variety of different Islamic mediated expressions, both in Muslim-majority and Muslim-minority contexts. The study of the myriad of ways in which Islam is mediated in today’s world is important, because the media (both traditional, i.e print and broadcast, and ‘new’/social/online) are a battleground for the meaning and nature of Islam. Different discourses about Islam are vying for public attention, because to be in the spotlight means to be influential. From everyday accounts of religious experience, through reformist, conservative, and reactive narratives, it is possible to observe many claims to religious authority as well as different Islamic religious identities.With a full index, together with a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor, which places the collected material in its historical and intellectual context, Islam and the Media is a crucial work of reference. It is destined to be valued by scholars, students, and researchers as a vital resource.

This collection aims to illustrate the variety of different Islamic mediated expressions, both in Muslim-majority and Muslim-minority contexts. The study of the myriad of ways in which Islam is mediated in today’s world is important, because the media (both traditional, i.e print and broadcast, and ‘new’/social/online) are a battleground for the meaning and nature of Islam. Different discourses about Islam are vying for public attention, because to be in the spotlight means to be influential. From everyday accounts of religious experience, through reformist, conservative, and reactive narratives, it is possible to observe many claims to religious authority as well as different Islamic religious identities.With a full index, together with a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor, which places the collected material in its historical and intellectual context, Islam and the Media is a crucial work of reference. It is destined to be valued by scholars, students, and researchers as a vital resource.

This collection aims to illustrate the variety of different Islamic mediated expressions, both in Muslim-majority and Muslim-minority contexts. The study of the myriad of ways in which Islam is mediated in today’s world is important, because the media (both traditional, i.e print and broadcast, and ‘new’/social/online) are a battleground for the meaning and nature of Islam. Different discourses about Islam are vying for public attention, because to be in the spotlight means to be influential. From everyday accounts of religious experience, through reformist, conservative, and reactive narratives, it is possible to observe many claims to religious authority as well as different Islamic religious identities.With a full index, together with a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor, which places the collected material in its historical and intellectual context, Islam and the Media is a crucial work of reference. It is destined to be valued by scholars, students, and researchers as a vital resource.

This collection aims to bring together writings that trace and critically analyse Islamic aspects of many modern-day popular cultural practices and products. The concepts of 'Islam' and 'popular culture' are both contested and context-dependent, and as such, they are understood here on inclusive, rather than exclusive, terms. Islam and Popular Culture provides an authoritative reference work that makes sense of a vast and growing literature, and is an essential resource for advanced students, scholars and researchers interested in gaining a thorough understanding of this topic.

Once operating in relative obscurity, the sociological study of sleep has in recent years become a flourishing area of scholarly research generating unique insights into the ways in which sleep is socially negotiated, influenced, and organized.Now, this new title from Routledge’s Critical Concepts in Sociology series brings together in one ‘mini library’ the essential groundbreaking and pivotal sociological texts. Furthermore, the development of the sociology of sleep has greatly informed—and been informed by—other academic subjects, such as anthropology, history, and geography. Consequently, the synthetic and cross-disciplinary quality of sleep research is fully reflected in the learned editor’s selection of major works to ensure that the collection will be welcomed by sleep researchers across the social sciences, and beyond.The first of four volumes covers the intricate theoretical foundations of the sociology of sleep. Volume II, meanwhile, focuses on pioneering sleep research in the social sciences more generally. The third volume features groundbreaking scholarship on the various types of sleep cultures that exist in the contemporary Western world. Finally, Volume IV ventures beyond the Western world to make sense of sleep research that is situated in a multitude of different time periods and social contexts, and to offer an avowedly global perspective.Supplemented with a full index and the editor’s newly written introductory essay, Sleep is a vital reference tool for established researchers and advanced students alike.

The editor of this new Routledge title argues that our economic and social lives are now utterly dependent upon the successful coordination of the Internet. Moreover, as the Internet expands from its current form to an ‘Internet of things’, she suggests that its stability and security will soon be recognized as important as other global concerns, like battling terrorism and fighting climate change.Who controls the Internet? The question has profound implications for our access to knowledge, the pace of economic growth, and the protection of human rights, not least freedom of expression and the right to privacy. And the question’s importance has been underscored in recent times by landmark events, including revelations about the actual and potential power of social-media companies, and the breathtaking extent of surveillance by intelligence and security organizations, such as the NSA in the United States and Britain’s GCHQ.It is perhaps only in the last several years that issues about and around the governance of the Internet have entered the public consciousness, but serious academic and policy work dates back decades. And now there is a critical mass of scholarship that can usefully be collected under the rubric of ‘Internet Governance’. Like the Internet itself, leading theorists and researchers in the field are distributed globally, and work in disciplines across the social sciences and humanities. Indeed, much of the relevant literature remains inaccessible or is highly specialized and compartmentalized, so that it is difficult for many of those who are interested in the subject to obtain an informed, balanced, and comprehensive overview. This new four-volume collection, published as part of Routledge’s acclaimed series, Critical Concepts in Sociology, meets the need for a reference work to make sense of the subject’s vast and dispersed literature and the continuing explosion in research output.

This new 4 volume collection will bring together the key literature on Islam and Society. In four broad themes the collection will cover Islam and power; minorities and pluralism; everyday life, ethics and community building; subjectivation, discipline and piety. Fully indexed and including a newly written introduction by the editor, this is an essential reference resource for student and scholar.

This international collection brings together a selection of the most influential work on the concept of the 'Family' and related issues. Introductory chapters introduce the context for the main themes and concepts in each volume, and a comprehensive index allows the reader to navigate the collection with ease.With an international spread of material, covering the USA, Europe, Canada, Australia and Asia, this collection will prove an invaluable resource for students and researchers.

This four-volume collection deals with the causes and prevention of crime as well as the treatment and punishment of its perpetrators. While taking a sociological approach to the subject, the articles gathered in this collection reflect the diversity of related fields and theoretical traditions which inform the study of crime - including economics, history, psychology and anthropology. The set provides an historical overview of the development of the study of crime and a picture of the field as it currently stands.With a new introduction and a thorough index, this collection is an invaluable resource for those studying this rapidly developing area.

A social movement is a collective, organized, sustained and non-institutional challenge to authorities, power holders, or cultural beliefs and practices. In the modern world, social movements are one of the main ways that people try to control their lives and articulate their moral positions. From utopian and revolutionary efforts to start society anew to reactionary attempts to resist new technologies or trends, normal people often become embroiled in titanic struggles over the world’s future. These four volumes present major statements of how scholars have understood these movements over the past century. They are essential reading for anyone interested in social change, politics and real people in action. Each volume examines a different set of dimensions behind the complex phenomenon of social movements. Volume one offers readings on the psychological dimensions of collective action, volume two on the resources and formal organizations that make most social movements possible. Volume three addresses the strategies, choices and creativity that make many movements such exciting efforts. Finally, volume four contains key readings on the meanings and feelings that propel or constrain participants.

This new Routledge Major Work is a five-volume collection of seminal and influential articles, chapters, and extracts in the sociology of religion and related disciplines. The collection uniquely brings together material ranging widely from conceptual and theoretical discussions through substantive areas, including historical religious systems, the great world religious traditions, and religion in the contemporary world. No other collection of this kind has this breadth of coverage or historical and comparative dimension. The best work of classic writers and scholars, major contributors to the discipline over its period of development, and of contemporary theorists and specialists in substantive topics has been included to give a comprehensive picture of the subdiscipline.

The parameters within which young people live their lives have changed radically. In particular, rapid and dizzying changes to education systems and labour markets around the world have dramatically increased the complexity of the so-called ‘youth phase’.While ‘youth’ and ‘young adulthood’ have developed and cohered into critical concepts in contemporary social and cultural analysis, the daunting quantity (and variable quality) of the available research exploring the many, often controversial, issues that the concepts throw up makes it difficult to discriminate the useful from the tendentious, superficial, and otiose. That is why this new four-volume collection in the highly regarded Routledge series, Critical Concepts in Sociology, is so timely. It answers the urgent need for a wide-ranging 'mini library' to provide easy access to the key items of scholarly literature, material that is often inaccessible or scattered throughout a variety of specialist journals and books.Youth and Young Adulthood is supplemented with a full index, and includes a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor, which places the collected material in its historical and intellectual context. It is destined to be valued by scholars and students, and researchers as a vital resource.* * * * *Andy Furlong, the lead editor of this collection, is Professor of Sociology in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of Glasgow. He edits the Journal of Youth Studies and is an adviser to the Japanese Youth Cohort Survey team.