9280 SOCI_A01.QXD 11/2/05 2:53 pm Page x FULL CONTENTS Social shapes of the world xv Guide to boxes xvi Guide to figures and tables xviii Preface xx About the authors xxv Guided tour xxvi Acknowledgements xxx Abbreviations xxxiv PART 1 INTRODUCING SOCIOLOGY 1 The Sociological Imagination 2 What is sociology? 4 The sociological perspective in everyday life 8 Social change and the origins of sociology 11 Sociologists look to the future 15 Summary 16 Critical-thinking questions 16 Going further 17 Appendix. Surfing for sociology: an entrance 18 2 Thinking Sociologically, Thinking Globally 22 What is the classical tradition of sociology? Starting a short tour of sociological theory 24 Mainstream or ‘classical’ perspectives in sociology 24 The newer perspectives in sociology: other voices and the postmodern 31 Thinking globally: a global perspective in sociology 34 Taking stock and looking ahead 39 Summary 39 Critical-thinking questions 39 Going further 40 3 Doing Social Science: an Introduction to Method 42 The basics of sociological investigation 44 What is a sociological ‘truth’? Matters of epistemology 45 Making sense of sociological data 51 The tools of sociological research 55 Ethical, political and policy questions 62 Putting it all together: planning a sociological project 66 Summary 68 Critical-thinking questions 68 Going further 69 PART 2 THE FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIETY: FROM MACRO TO MICRO 4 Societies 72 Changing patterns of society 74 Explaining modern industrial society 82 Karl Marx: capitalism and conflict 82 Max Weber: the rationalisation of society and the disenchantment of the world 88 Emile Durkheim: the bonds that tie us together: from mechanical to organic 91 Reviewing the theories 93 The contemporary shape of world societies 98 Conclusion: change and societies 101 Summary 101 Critical-thinking questions 102 Going further 102 5 Culture 104 What is culture? 106 The major components of culture 107 Cultural diversity: many ways of life in one world 114 A global culture? 119 Understanding culture 121 9280 SOCI_A01.QXD 11/2/05 2:53 pm Page xi CONTENTS From culture to cultural studies 123 Looking ahead: culture and human freedom 126 Summary 129 Critical-thinking questions 129 Going further 130 6 Groups, Organisations and the Rise of the Network Society 132 Social groups 134 Organisations 140 ‘Social Networks’ and the rise of the network society 148 Looking ahead: the network society 152 Summary 153 Critical-thinking questions 154 Going further 154 7 Micro-sociology: the Social Construction of Everyday Life 156 The social construction of reality 158 Becoming social: the process of socialisation 159 Becoming biographies? Two theories of socialisation 161 The life course and generations 166 Constructing situations: Erving Goffman and drama 169 Ethnomethodology and conversational analysis 174 Identity 175 The sociologies of the body and the emotions 177 Conclusion: micro-sociology 182 Summary 182 Critical-thinking questions 183 Going further 184 PART 3 SOCIAL DIVISIONS AND SOCIAL INEQUALITIES 8 Social Divisions and Stratification 188 What is social stratification? 190 Closed and open systems of stratification: slavery, caste, estate and class 192 xi Some examples of stratification at work: Japan and Russia 197 The role of ideology: stratification’s ‘staying power’ 200 Explaining social stratification 201 Marxist and neo-Marxist ideas on stratification and conflict 202 Max Weber: class, status and power 206 Stratification and technology in global perspective 207 How might social stratification change in the future? 212 Summary 213 Critical-thinking questions 214 Going further 214 9 Global Inequalities and Poverty 216 What is global stratification? 218 Global wealth and poverty 221 Who are the global poor? 226 Global inequality: how is it to be explained? 229 Global inequality: looking ahead 239 Summary 241 Critical-thinking questions 242 Going further 242 10 Class, Poverty and Welfare in the UK 244 The nature of social class 246 Some dimensions of class and social inequality in the UK 246 Layers of social class in the UK 252 Social exclusion and the idea of an underclass 255 Poverty: the lower ends of inequality in capitalist society 257 The ‘Death of Class’ debate 261 Citizenship and the rise of welfare states 265 Looking ahead: class in the twenty-first century 267 Summary 268 Critical-thinking questions 268 Going further 269 9280 SOCI_A01.QXD 11/2/05 2:53 pm Page xii xii CONTENTS 11 Racism, Ethnicities and Migration 272 The social significance of race and ethnicities 275 Prejudice and racism 277 Explaining racism 278 Discrimination 282 Majority and minority: patterns of interaction 284 Migration, ethnicity and race 287 Ethnicity in the UK 293 Racism and ethnic antagonism in Europe 298 The future of ethnic relations 303 Summary 303 Critical-thinking questions 303 Going further 304 12 The Gender Order and Sexualities 306 Basic distinctions: sex and gender? 309 Patriarchy, gender stratification and sexism 312 Becoming gendered: the case of gender socialisation 317 Nancy Chodorow and the reproduction of mothering 318 Understanding gender 320 Resisting patriarchy: the Women’s Movement and feminism 321 Sexuality and stratification 325 Theories of sexuality 327 Key elements of sexual stratification: gay and lesbian relations 332 Social change and sexuality 334 Looking ahead: gender and sexuality in the twenty-first century 335 Summary 336 Critical-thinking questions 337 Going further 337 13 Age Stratification: Children and Later Life 340 A sociology of children 342 Growing older: the greying of the western world 345 The social implications of ageing 349 Researching ageing 353 Looking ahead: ageing in the twenty-first century 358 Summary 360 Critical-thinking questions 360 Going further 361 PART 4 SOCIAL STRUCTURES, SOCIAL PRACTICES AND SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS 14 Economies, Work and Consumption 364 The great economic transformations: a brief overview 366 Economies: differing kinds 371 The changing nature of work 374 Unemployment 383 The world of corporations 385 Consumption in modern economies 388 Looking ahead 391 Summary 393 Critical-thinking questions 393 Going further 394 15 Power, Governance and Social Movements 396 Some opening distinctions: the meanings of power 398 Political systems 399 Globalisation and politics 402 Gender and power 404 Political organisation in Europe 405 Explaining power? Theoretical analysis of power in society 406 Power beyond the rules 409 A new politics in the twenty-first century? The new social movements 415 The globalisation of ‘human rights regimes’? 418 Summary 423 Critical-thinking questions 423 Going further 424 16 Control, Crime and Deviance 426 Some opening definitions 428 The social and global shapes of crime 429 Changes in social control 435 Explaining crime and deviance 442 Looking ahead 456 9280 SOCI_A01.QXD 11/2/05 2:53 pm Page xiii CONTENTS Summary 457 Critical-thinking questions 457 Going further 458 17 Families, Households and Personal Cultures 460 What are ‘families’? 462 Family and history 463 Thinking about families: theories and ideas 465 Family differences in the UK: class, ethnicity and gender 467 Practices of family life 469 Towards the postmodern family? 471 Looking ahead: families in the twenty-first century 482 Summary 483 Critical-thinking questions 484 Going further 484 18 Religion and Belief 486 What is religion 488 Understanding religion 489 The nature of religious organisations 492 The social shape of global religions 493 Religion in Europe 500 Religion in the twenty-first century 503 Taking stock and looking ahead 508 Summary 509 Critical-thinking questions 509 Going further 510 19 Education 512 Global education and literacy 514 Schooling around the world 516 Understanding education in the modern world 519 Social divisions and schooling 521 Some current issues in education 529 Looking ahead 534 Summary 536 Critical-thinking questions 537 Going further 537 xiii 20 Health and Medicine 540 What is health? 542 Health: a global survey 542 Some social links to illness 549 Health care systems and the medical establishment 552 Holistic, alternative or complementary medicine 554 Understanding health and medicine 555 A growing health problem: the overweight and the underweight 560 HIV/AIDS and sociology 562 Death, dying and sociology 567 Taking stock and looking ahead: health in the twentyfirst century 569 Summary 571 Critical-thinking questions 572 Going further 573 21 The Mass Media 576 The media age 578 Communication and social change 578 Media theories 583 Three key questions in media analysis 587 The globalisation of the media 592 Looking ahead: the future of the media 596 Summary 599 Critical-thinking questions 600 Going further 600 22 Science, Cyberspace and the Risk Society 602 Risk and the three scientific revolutions of the twentieth century 604 Knowledge and science: traditions of study 605 The ‘biotechnology revolution’: social issues 611 Assisted conception and the new reproductive politics 615 The computer revolution and the information society 617 Looking to the future: technology and the risk society 623 Summary 623 Critical-thinking questions 624 Going further 624 9280 SOCI_A01.QXD 11/2/05 2:53 pm Page xiv xiv CONTENTS PART 5 SOCIAL CHANGE 23 Populations, Cities and the Shape of Things to Come 628 Demography: an introduction 630 Key factors shaping the population 631 History and theory of population growth 637 Urbanisation: the growth of cities 642 The evolution of early cities 642 The rise of the modern industrial city 643 Mega-cities in low-income societies 646 Globalisation and the spread of world cities 647 Understanding cities? 648 Looking ahead: population and urbanisation in the twenty-first century 653 Summary 654 Critical-thinking questions 655 Going further 655 24 Social Change and the Environment 658 Sociology and the natural environment 662 The changing global environment 663 Growth and its limits 666 The ‘social practices’ of degrading the environment 669 Capitalism and the environment 678 Taking stock and looking ahead: for a sustainable world? 680 Summary 683 Critical-thinking questions 684 Going further 684 25 Futures: the Challenges for Sociology in the Twenty-first Century 686 What is social change? 688 Causes of social change 689 Modernity 690 The future and change: new kinds of society in the making? 691 Globalisation revisited 695 Postmodernity revisited 696 The Risk Society revisited 697 The shape of societies to come – A New World Order? 698 In conclusion 699 Summary 701 Critical-thinking questions 701 Going further 702 Glossary 703 References 716 Name index 765 Subject index 773