Sociology Unlocked

Authentic. Applied. Accessible for all. Your key to unlocking sociology.Striking a key balance between accessible and rigorous through its narrative writing style, relatable real-world examples, engaging integrated activities, extensive pedagogy, and coverage of theory in every chapter, Sociology Unlocked speaks directly to students to help unlock their sociologicalimaginations.

The book examines some of the dilemmas surrounding Europe’s open borders, migrations, and identities through the prism of the Roma – Europe’s most dispersed and socially marginalised population. The volume challenges some of the myths surrounding the Roma as a ‘problem population’, and places the focus instead on the context of European policy and identity debates. It comes to the conclusion that the migration of Roma and the constitution of their communities is shaped by European policy as much as, and often more so, than by the cultural traits of the Roma themselves. The chapters compare case studies of Roma migrants in Spain, Italy, France, and Britain and the impact of migration on the origin communities in Romania. The study combines historical and ethnographic methods with insights from migration studies, drawing on a unique multi-site collaborative project that for the first time gave Roma participants a voice in shaping research into their communities. Chapters 1 and 7 of this book are freely available as downloadable Open Access PDFs at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

John Dewey was one of the most influential American philosophers of his time and also one of the most prolific, with about forty books and 700 articles to his credit. When this book was originally published in 1977 Dewey's work, with the exception of his important contributions to the philosophy of education, had suffered an unwarranted scholarly neglect and remained little known outside the USA. This present volume helped redress this balance.

Martin Hollis examines the contrasting models with which social theorists and philosophers seek to explain human action.

This fascinating and comprehensive volume traces the development, scope and character of sociological research in Russia and subsequently the Soviet Union from the turn of the 20th century to the 1990s. Opening with the lively social debates of pre-Revolution Russia, Elizabeth Weinberg discusses the intellectual factions of the post-Revolutionary period and the eventual replacement of 'idealism' with 'materialism', leading to the emergence of Soviet sociology in 1956. The book examines the methods of research that were accepted as valid for Marxist research, offering a profile of key Soviet sociologists and the research climate in which they operated. It also discusses the main areas of research that predominated in Soviet sociology, with separate chapters on two of the most significant: public opinion research and time-budget studies. This fully revised, newly updated edition of The Development of Sociology in the Soviet Union concludes with a discussion of the involvement of Soviet sociologists in the processes of perestroika and glasnost, and the changing position of sociology from the late 1980s onwards.

Critical Issues in Social Theory is an analytical survey of persistent controversies that have shaped the field of sociology. It defines, clarifies, and proposes solutions to these "critical issues" through commentary on the writings of such influential social theorists as Hobbes, Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Mead, Merton, Parsons, and Schutz. Instead of being just another history, or another classification of theories, Rhoads's four-part model allows him to focus attention on issues that remain at the core of sociological theory today. First, Rhoads analyzes the controversy over positivism as the proper methodological model for the study of human society. Is there one science, of which sociology is a branch, or do the peculiarities of sociology's subject matter require a modification of the scientific method borrowed from the natural sciences? Rhoads next considers the relationship of individuals to society and its structures. Does society have a mode of existence distinct from its members, or is it merely an abstraction derived from the characteristics of individuals? Third, a discussion of social order raises the question of whether social order is the consequence of rules and their underlying moral values, or the product of continuous construction based on self-interest. Finally, the relative importance of consensus and conflict in social relationships is addressed. Is society better understood as a community united by beliefs, values, and rules, or is the social dynamic of continual conflict over beliefs, values, and rules more fundamental? In coming to grips with these issues, the author in some instances takes sides and in others arrives at a synthesis of diverse perspectives. In the final chapter he points to the limitations on the possibility of rational action that come to light in the clashes over these basic issues.

In this new work, Axford seeks to contribute to the development of global theory, particularly where it engages with the contested idea of globality; a concept which musters as consciousness, condition, framework, even system. By examining emergent globalities through the lens of world-making communicative practices and forms, the author demonstrates their transformative social power and underlines the cultural dynamics of globalization. Taking a critical view of much of the current scholarship on emergent globalities, Axford steps outside the rationalist-territorialist conceptions of association and order and takes issue with those who advise there is a widespread 'myth' of media globalization. The book examines global communicative connectivity, using digital, or "new" media – especially the Internet - as the prime exemplar of global process. As well as the academic importance of such themes for theory-building, the strategic, "real-world" impacts of communicative connectivity are palpable. Thus, the welter of debate around the influence of the Internet on democracy, democratization, revolt and collective action generally, have real purchase when discussed in relation to the events of the uprisings in MENA, anti-capitalist protests in London and New York and the tribulations of the EU in recent months/years. Using such exemplars the book assesses claims for the existence and robustness of global society, the significance of cosmopolitan communication and the extent of global consciousness. This work will be of interest to students and scholars of globalization, international relations, and media and cultural studies.