The International Library of Critical Writings in Sociology series – serie

Religion was a central concern for two of the founding fathers of sociology -Weber and Durkheim- and two other pioneers of modern sociology - Marx and Freud- also made important contributions to our understanding of the role of the supernatural in social life. These two volumes of significant writings in the sociology of religion begin with statements of major theoretical positions. Parsons, Bellah, Berger and Luckmann are represented here, as are modern writers in the rational choice school. The changing place of religion has been a major concern for sociologists and the selections include 17 central texts in the debate over secularization. Other areas covered are the forms of religious organization; the nature of conversion, recruitment and commitment; new religious movements; religion and politics; and the links between religion, magic and rationality.

This scholarly collection presents some of the most important classical and contemporary texts of relevance to political sociology. Volume I offers an overview of the sociological approach to the concepts of power and the state; it examines state theory in the 1970s from both a Marxist and Capitalist point of view, the recent shift of political power from the state to other areas of society, this issue of citizenship, and the welfare state.Volume II focuses on the most important political formations and processes in modern societies: democracy, revolution and totalitarianism. It also looks more broadly at political processes in non-industrial societies and at recent historical and sociological analyses of global political systems.Volume III offers analyses of the principal political ideologies and movements of the twentieth century. Other topics covered include military power and regimes and the social bases of politics such as classes and elites, ethnicity, gender and religion.

In The Sociology of the Environment, Michael Redclift and Graham Woodgate have brought together a diverse collection of writings from within the human sciences. These papers chart the progress which sociology has made in addressing the environment. Although they are not all written by sociologists, they do illuminate a number of largely unresolved issues for sociology, which mark important departures for the discipline and which necessitate a radical rethink of inherited assumptions.The readings are organized under a number of different themes, ranging from the theoretical foundations of the discipline to post-industrial Utopianism. Other areas covered include Marxism and the environment, neo-Malthusianism and environmental determination, biocentric theories, radical ecology, scientific enquiry and the environment, international perspection, and social movement and the environment. The editors conclude that sociology still has much to do in rising to the challenge of interpreting environmental change, indicating that this must be done by forging relationships with other disciplines, in which the contribution that sociology can make is underlined rather than lost.

The Sociology of the Sciences represents one of the most vivid fields in the social sciences today. From a former subfield of sociology, social studies of science and technology (STS) have transformed into a transdisciplinary field of research in its own right - reflecting the still growing dynamics of techno-science in modern societies.The two volume set, The Sociology of the Sciences, is an attempt to map out the broad range of contemporary studies covered in this transdisciplinary research field. The ten sections in the two volumes include selected articles from the most relevant areas of contemporary social studies of science, ranging from studies of scientific knowledge to science policy issues, from the gender-related questions in science to the relations between science and the public.

This new authoritative two-volume set contains a selection of the most important articles and papers spanning over 30 years on the sociology of development. It is divided under 14 succinct headings covering the main areas of the field, including: Antecedents, Modernization Theory, Dependency, the Global Economy, the Urban and the Rural, Gender and Ethnicity, Environment and Sustainable Development.The first volume features a comprehensive collection by authors whose work has shaped academic thought and public policy on the economic development of third world nations. Contemporary scholarship on economic development is explored in the second volume which addresses today's major research issues: class, gender, ethnic and race inequality, the informal economy, population growth, migration, worker remittances, politics and the state, planning and development, and the state and sustainable development.The editors do not limit their selection of articles on the sociology of development to just one country - papers are included on Africa, Latin America, China, Mexico as well as more general articles on the developing world. The editors have also written an introduction to accompany the piece, explaining their selection of articles chosen.

The Sociology of Urban Communities provides an authoritative collection of over 60 key articles by leading international contributors to urban sociology, together with an introductory article by the editor.The coverage is comprehensive, ranging from work on the role of cities in the transition from feudalism to capitalism and the nineteenth century origins of urban sociology, through the classic writings associated with the Chicago School and the Marxist new urban sociology of the 1960s and 1970s. The collection is completed by sections which focus on the urban consequences of contemporary economic restructuring and work which reflects recent developments in the sociology of gender, space and postmodernism.

The Sociology of Medicine is a collection of essays and research findings representing the work of medical sociologists in several different countries which focus on current ideas, concepts and issues in medical sociology. The selections provide a contemporary overview of the field in the following areas: sociological theory and health, social factors and disease, social demography, social stress, health and illness behaviour, alternative forms of medicine, health professions and occupations, hospitals, and health care delivery and social change.Although many of the papers are written by medical sociologists in Great Britain and North America, the work of their counterparts in Germany, France, Singapore and Japan is also included. The articles provide both an overview and international focus on the relationship between health and society.

This major new three volume reference collection includes both classic and contemporary papers and covers the main issues of stratification -- status, class, occupation, gender, race and ethnicity. Each article represents a distinctive theoretical contribution which sets research agendas in its area. Together, the volumes offer a comprehensive treatment of issues which lie at the heart of social stratification and the modern discipline of sociology.John Holmwood’s selection includes papers covering over 150 years of research which address the changing character of modern society as well as the relationships between issues of employment, welfare, household and the state.

According to Joseph Schumpeter, ‘economic sociology’ is an area of interest to both economists and sociologists. Economic sociology is generally considered to have been invented towards the end of the nineteeth century when it quickly became both popular and successful. Its goal -- then as now -- is to analyse economic institutions from a sociological perspective. During 1930-1980 interest waned; but during the last 10 to 15 years there has been something of a renaissance in this field, especially associated with what is called New Economic Sociology. This volume contains many of the classic articles in economic sociology, both from the early period (especially Max Weber and Joseph Schumpeter) and from the current generation (such as Mark Granovetter and Viviana Zelizer).

The Sociology of Race and Ethnicity is a comprehensive collection of the most significant articles to appear in this field. It presents the major ideas and approaches in this branch of sociology and covers the main themes in European debates as well as race-related questions in North America.Topics covered are: theories of racial and ethnicity division including rational choice, sociobiology and class approaches; the sociology of race, nationalism and colonialism; migration and ethnicity; the nature and causes of prejudice and racial discrimination; inter-ethnic conflict; racialisation and ethnic identity; race and social class in urban areas; multiculturalism and the problem of the political integration of immigrants.

This authoritative two volume collection presents both the classic articles and the most important recent literature which are essential for an understanding of the sociology of knowledge. Topics covered in Volume I include the intellectual precursors and emergence of the sociology of knowledge; the classical sociology of knowledge; and the sociology of knowledge dispute. Volume II focuses on more contemporary sociologies of knowledge and the future of the debate.