Part One: Introducing Sociology:- 1. The Sociological Imagination-- 2. Thinking Sociologically, Thinking Globally-- 3. Studying the Social: An Introduction to Sociological Method-- Part Two: The Foundations of Society: From Macro to Micro 4 Societies 5 Culture 6 Groups, Organisations and the Rise of the Network Society 7 Micro-sociology: The Social Construction of Everyday Life Part Three: The Unequal World: Difference, Division and Social Stratification 8 Inequality, Social Divisions and Social Stratification 9 Global Poverty/Global Inequality 10 Class, Poverty and Welfare: The Case of the UK 11 Racism, Ethnicities and Migration 12 The Gender Order and Sexualities 13 Age Stratification, Children and Later Life 14 Disabilities, Care and the Humanitarian Society Part Four: Social Structures, Social Practices and Social Institutions:- 15. Economies, Work and Consumption 16 Power, Governance and Social Movements 17 Control, Crime and Deviance 18 Families, Personal Life and Living Together 19 Religion and belief 20 Education 21 Health, Medicine and Well-being 22 Communication and the New Media 23 Science, Cyberspace and the Risk Society Part Five: Social Change and the Twenty-First Century 24 Populations, Cities and the Space of Things to Come 25 Social Change and the Environment 26 Living in the Twenty-First Century Part Six: Web Resources for Critical Thinking: Creating Sociological Imaginations:- Twelve pathways into critical sociological thinking:- 1. Films 2. Novels 3. Art and sociology 4. Time and space 5. Websites 6. YouTube 7. Key social thinkers 8. World statistics 9. Big debates of our time 10. Abbreviations and acronyms 11. Glossary 12. References.
This volume provides a fresh approach to the study of introductory sociology. It looks at the social world from a global perspective, recognising that it is increasingly difficult to understand one country in isolation from another.