Issues in Society – serie

* What is citizenship?* Is global citizenship possible?* Can cosmopolitanism provide an alternative to globalization?Citizenship in a Global Age provides a comprehensive and concise overview of the main debates on citizenship and the implications of globalization. It argues that citizenship is no longer defined by nationality and the nation state, but has become de-territorialized and fragmented into the separate discourses of rights, participation, responsibility and identity. Gerard Delanty claims that cosmopolitanism is increasingly becoming a significant force in the global world due to new expressions of cultural identity, civic ties, human rights, technological innovations, ecological sustainability and political mobilization. Citizenship is no longer exclusively about the struggle for social equality but has become a major site of battles over cultural identity and demands for the recognition of group difference. Delanty argues that globalization both threatens and supports cosmopolitan citizenship. Critical of the prospects for a global civil society, he defends the alternative idea of a more limited cosmopolitan public sphere as a basis for new kinds of citizenship that have emerged in a global age.

* What does 'social structure' mean?* What are the principal ways in which societies are 'organized' or 'structured'?* How can structural ideas be used in sociological analysis?Despite the importance of the concept of social structure, sociologists have not agreed on how to define it and discussions have been plagued by confusion. In this concise and enlightening text, Jose Lopez and John Scott argue that analysing the conceptual frameworks in which different concepts of social structure are embedded can help to clarify their meanings and reshape debates. They show that competing conceptions of social structure can be seen as capturing significant and different aspects of the reality of social organization. Social Structure is organized around a discussion of 'institutional structure', 'relational structure' and 'embodied structure'. It argues that these conceptions of social structure can be fruitfully combined in order to provide a richer and more powerful overview, incorporating the work of principal contributors from Marx and Durkheim, through Parsons and Simmel, to Giddens, Foucault and Bourdieu. The book provides essential reading for undergraduate courses in sociology, social anthropology, and the history and philosophy of social thought, as well as representing an invaluable reference for researchers interested in social structure and surrounding issues.