Short Introductions – serie

How can we understand gender in the contemporary world? What psychological differences now exist between women and men? How are masculinities and femininities made? And how is gender entwined in global politics and debates over trans issues?Raewyn Connell and Tristan Bridges – leading scholars of gender and inequality – answer these questions and more. Their updated revision provides a sophisticated yet accessible introduction to modern gender studies, covering empirical research from all around the world, in addition to theory and politics. As well as introducing the field, Gender: In World Perspective provides a powerful contemporary framework for gender analysis with a strong and distinctive global awareness. Highlighting the multidimensional character of gender relations, Connell and Bridges show how to link personal life with large-scale organizational structures, and how gender politics changes its form in changing situations.The fifth edition of this influential book brings the statistical picture of gender inequalities up to date, offering new, close-focus case studies of gender research. Like previous editions, it examines gender politics and global power relations, but with added discussion around contemporary issues of intersectionality, populism, and "anti-gender" politics, gender-based violence, trans struggles, and environmental change. It also speaks at the intimate level, about embodied gender and personal relationships.Gender: In World Perspective moves from personal experience to global problems, offering a unique perspective on gender issues today.

The new edition of this popular introduction explores the meaning of social deviance in contemporary society. It traces the path by which we create deviance: how we single out behavior, ideas, and appearances that differ from the “norm,” label them as either offensive or acceptable, and then condemn or celebrate them. The book explains what kinds of behavior are banned and who bans them, exposing the important political influences underlying these processes. Refreshed with a new engaging, accessible style, the second edition features expanded treatment of the theories of deviance, new material on positive deviance, and updated references and contemporary examples throughout.At its core, Social Deviance looks at who becomes deviant and why. It delves into the multiple motives that cause rule-breakers to behave badly in the eyes of those they offend or creatively in the eyes of those they please, and it reveals the way deviants think about their actions, their moral identity, and their fellow moral outcasts.

Sociology is the intellectual discipline that seeks to provide answers to those questions by the deployment of argument and evidence. In doing so it will often question basic assumptions that we all make about our social world and therefore has the capacity to upset settled or conventional opinions. This book is an invitation to engage in this endeavour. concise, accessible introduction to a key discipline in the social sciences; written by an experienced author who is widely respected for his broad and deep understanding of the subject and his ability to write in a clear and compelling way; provides argument and evidence about key sociological questions which will be of help to students approaching the subject for the first time; this is the third book in the Polity Short Introductions series (following Bob Connell's Gender and Stephanise Lawson's International Relations).

Sociology is the intellectual discipline that seeks to provide answers to those questions by the deployment of argument and evidence. In doing so it will often question basic assumptions that we all make about our social world and therefore has the capacity to upset settled or conventional opinions. This book is an invitation to engage in this endeavour. concise, accessible introduction to a key discipline in the social sciences; written by an experienced author who is widely respected for his broad and deep understanding of the subject and his ability to write in a clear and compelling way; provides argument and evidence about key sociological questions which will be of help to students approaching the subject for the first time; this is the third book in the Polity Short Introductions series (following Bob Connell's Gender and Stephanise Lawson's International Relations).

Health and illness underpin our everyday existence. Health allows us to live full lives and to function as social beings; illness disrupts our lives, sometimes seriously. But health not only affects individuals, it also impacts upon society as a whole. Medical breakthroughs and scandals, health scares and health service problems all vie for the attention of politicians and public alike. Michael Bury provides a lively introduction to the sociology of health and illness for students approaching the topic for the first time. Drawing on classic writings and up-to-date research, he discusses the conceptualization and patterning of health and illness in contemporary society. He highlights a range of factors, such as gender, age, ethnicity and class, which influence the occurrence and distribution of illness over time. The book then focuses on debates about the body, the role of health services and the politics of health policy. In conclusion, Bury argues that we must take a dynamic view of health and illness as processes that are shaped by social circumstances and altering perceptions. This short introduction will be essential reading for all students studying the sociology of health as part of their degree programme.

Health and illness underpin our everyday existence. Health allows us to live full lives and to function as social beings; illness disrupts our lives, sometimes seriously. But health not only affects individuals, it also impacts upon society as a whole. Medical breakthroughs and scandals, health scares and health service problems all vie for the attention of politicians and public alike. Michael Bury provides a lively introduction to the sociology of health and illness for students approaching the topic for the first time. Drawing on classic writings and up-to-date research, he discusses the conceptualization and patterning of health and illness in contemporary society. He highlights a range of factors, such as gender, age, ethnicity and class, which influence the occurrence and distribution of illness over time. The book then focuses on debates about the body, the role of health services and the politics of health policy. In conclusion, Bury argues that we must take a dynamic view of health and illness as processes that are shaped by social circumstances and altering perceptions. This short introduction will be essential reading for all students studying the sociology of health as part of their degree programme.

Politics was once a term with an array of broadly positive connotations, associated with public scrutiny, deliberation and accountability. Yet today it is an increasingly dirty word, typically synonymous with duplicity, corruption, inefficiency and undue interference in matters both public and private. How has this come to pass? Why do we hate politics and politicians so much? How pervasive is the contemporary condition of political disaffection? And what is politics anyway? In this lively and original work, Colin Hay provides a series of innovative and provocative answers to these questions. He begins by tracing the origins and development of the current climate of political disenchantment across a broad range of established democracies. Far from revealing a rising tide of apathy, however, he shows that a significant proportion of those who have withdrawn from formal politics are engaged in other modes of political activity. He goes on to develop and defend a broad and inclusive conception of politics and the political that is far less formal, less state-centric and less narrowly governmental than in most conventional accounts. By demonstrating how our expectations of politics and the political realities we witness are shaped decisively by the assumptions about human nature that we project onto political actors, Hay provides a powerful and highly distinctive account of contemporary political disenchantment. Why We Hate Politics will be essential reading for all those troubled by the contemporary political condition of the established democracies.

Politics was once a term with an array of broadly positive connotations, associated with public scrutiny, deliberation and accountability. Yet today it is an increasingly dirty word, typically synonymous with duplicity, corruption, inefficiency and undue interference in matters both public and private. How has this come to pass? Why do we hate politics and politicians so much? How pervasive is the contemporary condition of political disaffection? And what is politics anyway? In this lively and original work, Colin Hay provides a series of innovative and provocative answers to these questions. He begins by tracing the origins and development of the current climate of political disenchantment across a broad range of established democracies. Far from revealing a rising tide of apathy, however, he shows that a significant proportion of those who have withdrawn from formal politics are engaged in other modes of political activity. He goes on to develop and defend a broad and inclusive conception of politics and the political that is far less formal, less state-centric and less narrowly governmental than in most conventional accounts. By demonstrating how our expectations of politics and the political realities we witness are shaped decisively by the assumptions about human nature that we project onto political actors, Hay provides a powerful and highly distinctive account of contemporary political disenchantment. Why We Hate Politics will be essential reading for all those troubled by the contemporary political condition of the established democracies.

What has the death of Corporal Patrick D. Tillman of the US Army Rangers in an incident of friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004 got to do with culture? How has the study of ideology, coding, theming and representation by Cultural Studies helped us to understand Reality TV, the Internet, mobile phones, the iPod and leading brands in neat capitalism like Virgin, The Body Shop and Apple? This lively and assured book provides a concise and authoritative critical guide to Cultural Studies. It demonstrates that the field has moved through four moments': the National/Popular, the Textual/Representational, Global/Post Essentialism and Governmentality/Policy. It illustrates the meaning of each of these moments by a discussion of representative texts and concrete examples from popular culture. As such, it achieves a novel and accessible account of the origins and development of the field.The book also shows how the readers personal experience can be systematically situated in cultural forces and used as a resource to clarify how culture works, through the analysis of on-location practice, embodiment, emplacement and context. Packed with illuminating examples, and a clear and compelling prose style, the book is the antidote to abstract, hazy accounts of the meaning and value of Cultural Studies. It is the ideal text for readers new to the field, but it will also be appreciated by established practitioners as good to think with.

What has the death of Corporal Patrick D. Tillman of the US Army Rangers in an incident of friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004 got to do with culture? How has the study of ideology, coding, theming and representation by Cultural Studies helped us to understand Reality TV, the Internet, mobile phones, the iPod and leading brands in neat capitalism like Virgin, The Body Shop and Apple? This lively and assured book provides a concise and authoritative critical guide to Cultural Studies. It demonstrates that the field has moved through four moments': the National/Popular, the Textual/Representational, Global/Post Essentialism and Governmentality/Policy. It illustrates the meaning of each of these moments by a discussion of representative texts and concrete examples from popular culture. As such, it achieves a novel and accessible account of the origins and development of the field.The book also shows how the readers personal experience can be systematically situated in cultural forces and used as a resource to clarify how culture works, through the analysis of on-location practice, embodiment, emplacement and context. Packed with illuminating examples, and a clear and compelling prose style, the book is the antidote to abstract, hazy accounts of the meaning and value of Cultural Studies. It is the ideal text for readers new to the field, but it will also be appreciated by established practitioners as good to think with.

‘Development’ first emerged as a subject area in the second half of the twentieth century. After World War II, scholars and practitioners sought to study the causes of poverty and so-called ‘underdevelopment’ in a more systematic and sustained way. These days, the substance of development studies – especially in relation to the developing world – focuses mainly on poverty reduction and improving ‘human development'. It is a dynamic field whose importance cannot be understated as the gap between rich and poor grows seemingly ever wider. In this short overview of the field, Jeffrey Haynes adopts a chronological and conceptual approach to introduce students to the central themes and theoretical perspectives in the study of development. In particular, he examines the emergence and consolidation of development theory and explores the internal and external factors which influence development in poorer regions of the world. Haynes also looks at key issues which impact upon the success of development including globalisation, conflict, the environment, gender and human rights.This book will appeal not only to students of development studies, but also to those interested in the politics, economics and sociology of the developing world.

‘Development’ first emerged as a subject area in the second half of the twentieth century. After World War II, scholars and practitioners sought to study the causes of poverty and so-called ‘underdevelopment’ in a more systematic and sustained way. These days, the substance of development studies – especially in relation to the developing world – focuses mainly on poverty reduction and improving ‘human development'. It is a dynamic field whose importance cannot be understated as the gap between rich and poor grows seemingly ever wider. In this short overview of the field, Jeffrey Haynes adopts a chronological and conceptual approach to introduce students to the central themes and theoretical perspectives in the study of development. In particular, he examines the emergence and consolidation of development theory and explores the internal and external factors which influence development in poorer regions of the world. Haynes also looks at key issues which impact upon the success of development including globalisation, conflict, the environment, gender and human rights.This book will appeal not only to students of development studies, but also to those interested in the politics, economics and sociology of the developing world.

In this lively introduction suitable for students at any level, Lena Dominelli explores the extraordinary scope and importance of social work. Using engaging examples from contemporary social work practice, she clearly answers questions about what social work is, how social workers work in a variety of settings and the clients they are likely to deal with. She tackles head on the dilemmas social workers face in their day-to-day work and the challenges of working with limited resources and marginalized social groups such as the elderly, the homeless and abused children.This work will affirm the valuable contribution social workers can make to human wellbeing and demonstrate how the promise and potential of social work can be, and is, realized.

In this lively introduction suitable for students at any level, Lena Dominelli explores the extraordinary scope and importance of social work. Using engaging examples from contemporary social work practice, she clearly answers questions about what social work is, how social workers work in a variety of settings and the clients they are likely to deal with. She tackles head on the dilemmas social workers face in their day-to-day work and the challenges of working with limited resources and marginalized social groups such as the elderly, the homeless and abused children.This work will affirm the valuable contribution social workers can make to human wellbeing and demonstrate how the promise and potential of social work can be, and is, realized.

What does it mean to think of children as social subjects and how should we go about studying childhood in society? Childhood is a key site where children come to understand themselves as particular kinds of people, not only as individuals but also as members of social and cultural groups. This compelling and accessible book explores how immature humans enter into political, economic, social and cultural life. Integrating key theories from a range of disciplines, Karen Wells provides a set of analytical tools to explore how culture, society, politics and economics shape childhood and children's lives. She explains how childhood is not only culturally shaped, but also formed at the intersection of politics and economics. At this intersection between governing practices and the affordances of children's bodies, young subjects are made. Childhood Studies will be essential reading for students and scholars in childhood and youth studies and related disciplines, and for anyone who wants to understand the impacts of social inequality on children and what it means to be a child in the contemporary world.

What does it mean to think of children as social subjects and how should we go about studying childhood in society? Childhood is a key site where children come to understand themselves as particular kinds of people, not only as individuals but also as members of social and cultural groups. This compelling and accessible book explores how immature humans enter into political, economic, social and cultural life. Integrating key theories from a range of disciplines, Karen Wells provides a set of analytical tools to explore how culture, society, politics and economics shape childhood and children's lives. She explains how childhood is not only culturally shaped, but also formed at the intersection of politics and economics. At this intersection between governing practices and the affordances of children's bodies, young subjects are made. Childhood Studies will be essential reading for students and scholars in childhood and youth studies and related disciplines, and for anyone who wants to understand the impacts of social inequality on children and what it means to be a child in the contemporary world.

Who are Latinos? What’s the difference between Hispanic and Latino – or indeed Latina, Latina/o, Latin@, Latinx? Beyond the political rhetoric and popular culture representations, how can we explore what it means to be part of the largest minority group in the United States?This compelling book acts as an illuminating primer introducing the multidisciplinary field of Latina/o Studies. Bringing together insights from a wide variety of communities, the book covers topics such as the history of Latinos in the United States, gender and sexuality, popular culture, immigration patterns, and social movements. Mize traces the origins of the field from the history of Latin American revolutionary thought, through the Chicano and Puerto Rican movements, and key disruptions from Latina feminisms, queer studies, and critical race theory, right up to the latest developments and interventions.Combining analysis and advocacy, Latina/o Studies is an accessible yet theoretically sophisticated introduction to the communities charting the future of the United States of America and the Américas writ large.

Who are Latinos? What’s the difference between Hispanic and Latino – or indeed Latina, Latina/o, Latin@, Latinx? Beyond the political rhetoric and popular culture representations, how can we explore what it means to be part of the largest minority group in the United States?This compelling book acts as an illuminating primer introducing the multidisciplinary field of Latina/o Studies. Bringing together insights from a wide variety of communities, the book covers topics such as the history of Latinos in the United States, gender and sexuality, popular culture, immigration patterns, and social movements. Mize traces the origins of the field from the history of Latin American revolutionary thought, through the Chicano and Puerto Rican movements, and key disruptions from Latina feminisms, queer studies, and critical race theory, right up to the latest developments and interventions.Combining analysis and advocacy, Latina/o Studies is an accessible yet theoretically sophisticated introduction to the communities charting the future of the United States of America and the Américas writ large.

The new edition of this popular introduction explores the meaning of social deviance in contemporary society. It traces the path by which we create deviance: how we single out behavior, ideas, and appearances that differ from the “norm,” label them as either offensive or acceptable, and then condemn or celebrate them. The book explains what kinds of behavior are banned and who bans them, exposing the important political influences underlying these processes. Refreshed with a new engaging, accessible style, the second edition features expanded treatment of the theories of deviance, new material on positive deviance, and updated references and contemporary examples throughout.At its core, Social Deviance looks at who becomes deviant and why. It delves into the multiple motives that cause rule-breakers to behave badly in the eyes of those they offend or creatively in the eyes of those they please, and it reveals the way deviants think about their actions, their moral identity, and their fellow moral outcasts.

How do human societies provide for the wellbeing of their members? How far can we organize the ways in which we care for and about each other? And who should take responsibility for providing the support we need? These are some of the fundamental questions addressed by social policy today.In this introduction, Hartley Dean explains the extraordinary scope and importance of social policy. He explores its foundations and contemporary significance; the principal issues it addresses and their diverse economic, political and sociological dimensions, and concludes by looking anew at fundamental challenges facing social policy in a dramatically changing world.Introducing social policy as a broadly conceived study of human wellbeing, this revised and extensively updated third edition examines ways in which governments and peoples throughout the world attend to, promote, neglect or even undermine the things that make life worth living. These include essential services like healthcare and education; the means of livelihood – jobs and money – and sometimes intangible things such as physical and emotional security. Trying to understand these elements, which together constitute human wellbeing, is the stuff of social policy.

How do human societies provide for the wellbeing of their members? How far can we organize the ways in which we care for and about each other? And who should take responsibility for providing the support we need? These are some of the fundamental questions addressed by social policy today.In this introduction, Hartley Dean explains the extraordinary scope and importance of social policy. He explores its foundations and contemporary significance; the principal issues it addresses and their diverse economic, political and sociological dimensions, and concludes by looking anew at fundamental challenges facing social policy in a dramatically changing world.Introducing social policy as a broadly conceived study of human wellbeing, this revised and extensively updated third edition examines ways in which governments and peoples throughout the world attend to, promote, neglect or even undermine the things that make life worth living. These include essential services like healthcare and education; the means of livelihood – jobs and money – and sometimes intangible things such as physical and emotional security. Trying to understand these elements, which together constitute human wellbeing, is the stuff of social policy.

Television Studies provides an overview of the origins, central ideas, and intellectual traditions of this exciting field.What have been the primary areas of inquiry in television studies? Why and how did these areas develop? How have scholars studied them? How are they developing? What have been the discipline’s key works? This book answers these questions by tracing the history of television studies right up to the digital present, surveying emerging scholarship, and addressing new questions about the field’s relationship with the digital. The second edition includes an examination of how internet-distributed services such as Netflix have adjusted the stories, industrial practices, and audience experience of television.For all those wondering how to study television, or even why to study television, this new edition of Television Studies will provide a clear and engaging overview of key topics. The book works as a stand-alone introduction and, by placing key works in a broader context, can also provide an excellent basis for an entire course.

Television Studies provides an overview of the origins, central ideas, and intellectual traditions of this exciting field.What have been the primary areas of inquiry in television studies? Why and how did these areas develop? How have scholars studied them? How are they developing? What have been the discipline’s key works? This book answers these questions by tracing the history of television studies right up to the digital present, surveying emerging scholarship, and addressing new questions about the field’s relationship with the digital. The second edition includes an examination of how internet-distributed services such as Netflix have adjusted the stories, industrial practices, and audience experience of television.For all those wondering how to study television, or even why to study television, this new edition of Television Studies will provide a clear and engaging overview of key topics. The book works as a stand-alone introduction and, by placing key works in a broader context, can also provide an excellent basis for an entire course.

The study of media industries has become a thriving subfield of media studies. It already comprises a diverse intellectual history, a range of fascinating questions and topics, and many theoretical and methodological frameworks.Media Industry Studies provides the roadmap to this vibrant area of study. Blending a comprehensive overview of foundational literature with an examination of the varied scales and sites media industry studies have considered, the book explores connections among research questions, topics, and methodologies. It includes examples from many media industries – film, television, journalism, music, games – and incorporates emerging scholarship considering the industrial contexts of social and internet-distributed media.Offering an account of the intellectual traditions and approaches that have defined the subfield to date, Media Industry Studies is an indispensable resource for upper-level undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars.

The study of media industries has become a thriving subfield of media studies. It already comprises a diverse intellectual history, a range of fascinating questions and topics, and many theoretical and methodological frameworks.Media Industry Studies provides the roadmap to this vibrant area of study. Blending a comprehensive overview of foundational literature with an examination of the varied scales and sites media industry studies have considered, the book explores connections among research questions, topics, and methodologies. It includes examples from many media industries – film, television, journalism, music, games – and incorporates emerging scholarship considering the industrial contexts of social and internet-distributed media.Offering an account of the intellectual traditions and approaches that have defined the subfield to date, Media Industry Studies is an indispensable resource for upper-level undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars.

Sustainability is one of the buzzwords of our times and a key imperative for economic growth, technological development, social equity, and environmental quality. But what does it really mean and how is it being implemented around the world? In this clear-eyed book, Maurie Cohen introduces students to the concept of sustainability, tracing its history and application from local land-use practices, construction techniques and reorientation of business models to national and global institutions seeking to foster sustainable practices. Examining sustainable development in scientific, technological, social and political terms, he shows that it remains an elusive concept and evidence of its unambiguous achievements can be difficult to ascertain. Moreover, developed and developing countries have formulated divergent agendas to engage the notion of sustainability, further complicating its application and progress across the world.  Innovative and readily accessible to students from a range of disciplines, this primer takes us on a journey to show that sustainability is as much about unchartered waters as it is about formulating answers to urgent global issues.

Sustainability is one of the buzzwords of our times and a key imperative for economic growth, technological development, social equity, and environmental quality. But what does it really mean and how is it being implemented around the world? In this clear-eyed book, Maurie Cohen introduces students to the concept of sustainability, tracing its history and application from local land-use practices, construction techniques and reorientation of business models to national and global institutions seeking to foster sustainable practices. Examining sustainable development in scientific, technological, social and political terms, he shows that it remains an elusive concept and evidence of its unambiguous achievements can be difficult to ascertain. Moreover, developed and developing countries have formulated divergent agendas to engage the notion of sustainability, further complicating its application and progress across the world.  Innovative and readily accessible to students from a range of disciplines, this primer takes us on a journey to show that sustainability is as much about unchartered waters as it is about formulating answers to urgent global issues.

How can we understand gender in the contemporary world? What psychological differences now exist between women and men? How are masculinities and femininities made? And how is gender entwined in global politics and debates over trans issues?Raewyn Connell and Tristan Bridges – leading scholars of gender and inequality – answer these questions and more. Their updated revision provides a sophisticated yet accessible introduction to modern gender studies, covering empirical research from all around the world, in addition to theory and politics. As well as introducing the field, Gender: In World Perspective provides a powerful contemporary framework for gender analysis with a strong and distinctive global awareness. Highlighting the multidimensional character of gender relations, Connell and Bridges show how to link personal life with large-scale organizational structures, and how gender politics changes its form in changing situations.The fifth edition of this influential book brings the statistical picture of gender inequalities up to date, offering new, close-focus case studies of gender research. Like previous editions, it examines gender politics and global power relations, but with added discussion around contemporary issues of intersectionality, populism, and "anti-gender" politics, gender-based violence, trans struggles, and environmental change. It also speaks at the intimate level, about embodied gender and personal relationships.Gender: In World Perspective moves from personal experience to global problems, offering a unique perspective on gender issues today.

How can we understand gender in the contemporary world? What psychological differences now exist between women and men? How are masculinities and femininities made? And how is gender entwined in global politics and debates over trans issues?Raewyn Connell – one of the world's leading scholars in the field – answers these questions and more. Her book provides a sophisticated yet accessible introduction to modern gender studies, covering empirical research from all parts of the world, in addition to theory and politics. As well as introducing the field, Gender provides a powerful contemporary framework for gender analysis with a strong and distinctive global awareness. Highlighting the multidimensional character of gender relations, Connell shows how to link personal life with large-scale organizational structures, and how gender politics changes its form in changing situations.The fourth edition of this influential book brings the statistical picture of gender inequalities up to date, and offers new close-focus case studies of gender research. Like previous editions, it examines gender politics and global power relations, but with added discussion around contemporary issues of intersectionality, populism, gender-based violence, trans struggles and environmental change. It also speaks at the intimate level, about embodied gender and personal relationships.Gender moves from personal experience to global problems, offering a unique perspective on gender issues today.