SOCI 1101: Sociology: Course Tools: Home

The eighteenth-century Enlightenment saw the birth of an era which sought legitimacy not from the past but from the future. No longer would human beings invoke the authority of tradition; instead, modern societies emerging in the West justified themselves by their success at increasing, through the application of scientific knowledge, human control over the world. Ever since this notion of modernity was formulated it has provoked intense debate. In this wide-ranging historical introduction to social theory, Alex Callinicos explores the controversies over modernity and examines the connections between social theory and modern philosophy, political economy and evolutionary biology. He offers clear and accesssible treatments of the thought of Montesquieu, Adam Smith and the Scottish Enlightenment, Hegel, Marx, Tocqueville, Maistre, Gobineau, Darwin, Spencer, Kautsky, Nietzsche, Durkheim, Weber, Simmel, Freud, Lukacs, Gramsci, Heidegger, Keynes, Hayek, Parsons, the Frankfurt School, Levi-Strauss, Althusser, Foucault, Habermas and Bourdieu, and concludes by surveying the state of contemporary social thought. A remarkably comprehensive and lucid primer, Social Theoryis essential reading for students of politics, sociology and social and political thought.

Comprehensive, contemporary, and cross-cultural in perspective, this book provides a sociological approach to education-- from several theoretical approaches and their practical application, to current educational issues, to the structure and processes that make education systems work.Using an open systems model as a framework, it shows the formal organization of schools with structure, goals and processes; the informal organization with hidden curriculum, organization climate, etc.; the external environment that influences what goes on in the school, including financing, parent(s), community interest groups, etc.; processes such as stratification and change; higher education. Diagrams show interrelationships between topics.For educators and anyone interested in the sociology of education and schools.

The SAGE Course Companion on Organization Theory is an accessible introduction to a challenging subject area. This book helps readers to extend their understanding of theories and make the connection between them and organizational practice. It will enhance their thinking skills in line with course requirements and provides support on how to revise for exams and prepare for and write assessed pieces. Readers are encouraged not only to think like a organizational theorist but also to think about the subject critically.     Designed to compliment existing textbooks for the course, the companion provides:   - Easy access to the key themes in Organizational Theory   - Helpful summaries of the approaches taken by the main course textbooks   - Sample questions and answers, with common themes that must always be addressed   - Short vignettes and a case study that runs throughout the chapters   - Guidance on the essential study skills required to pass the course   - `Taking It Further' sections that suggest how readers can extend their thinking beyond the `received wisdom'   The SAGE Course Companion in Organizational Theory is much more than a revision guide for undergraduates; it is an essential tool that will help readers take their course understanding to new levels and help them achieve success in their undergraduate course.  

Providing an authoritative and comprehensive overview of the classical and the contemporary, this volume is an indispensable guide to the vibrant and expanding field of sociology. Featuring over 600 entries, from concise definitions to discursive essays, written by leading international academics, the Dictionary offers a truly global perspective, examining both American and European traditions and approaches. Entries cover schools, theories, theorists and debates, with substantial articles on all key topics in the field. While recognising the richness of historical sociological traditions, the Dictionary also looks forward to new and evolving influences such as cultural change, genetics, globalization, information technologies, new wars and terrorism. Most entries incorporate references for further reading and a cross-referencing system enables easy access to related areas. This Dictionary is an invaluable reference work for students and academics alike and will help to define the field of sociology in years to come.

Throughout history people have engaged in heated debates over controversial issues. Each volume in The History of Issues series looks at a particular issue and shows how the arguments have both changed and remained constant over time, proving the old adage that the more things change the more they stay the same. Readers will be fascinated by the way moral questions remain fundamentally consistent even as scientific and technological advances alter the debate. For example, the moral argument for and against animal rights have always pitted animals' innate right to survive against scientists' need to use animals in research to benefit humans--this equation was the same in the eighteenth century as it is in the twenty-first. Each anthology in the series contains a wide range of primary documents--including speeches, court cases, personal reflections, and newspaper accounts--that present controversies from previous eras and the present. Essays by historians and modern scholars add background and insight. The History of Issues series offers a historical perspective on issues that continue to spark controversy. Introductions provide context Comprehensive indexes Extensive bibliographies Chronologies Organizations to contact

"Mike Harrington has made more Americans more uncomfortable for more good reasons than any other person I know. For most people, that would be achievement enough. But for Mike it was only the beginning-because the more he saw that was wrong with America, the harder he fought to make it right." -Senator Edward Kennedy

Containing reprints of 12 recent articles from The CQ Researcher, this volume surveys the fundamental challenges facing metropolitan areas in the United States. Some of the topics addressed include the living wage movement, racial discrimination, school funding reform, homeland security, and affordable housing. Each article provides historical bac