Approaches based around complexity theory are increasingly being used in the study of organisations and the delivery of services. This is the first book to explore the application of complexity theory to difficult practice issues in criminal justice and social work and is intended to stimulate debate. It brings together experts in this emerging field to address complexity theory from a range of perspectives (positivist, realist, and constructivist), providing a detailed but accessible discussion of the key issues to whole systems approaches. The chapters cover theory and research on the nature of complex adaptive systems, their application to key areas of service delivery and the efficacy and ethics of criminal justice and social work interventions. The book argues for the usefulness of applying complexity theory to address significant and intractable social problems and also challenges the reductionist approaches to solving those problems currently favoured by policy makers. It will be of interest to academics and postgraduate students in social work and criminal justice.

'The Anthem Companion to Auguste Comte' offers the best contemporary work on Auguste Comte, written by the best scholars currently working in this field. Original, authoritative and wide-ranging, the critical assessments of this volume will make it ideal for Comte students and scholars alike.

'Anthem Companions to Sociology' offer authoritative and comprehensive assessments of major figures in the development of sociology from the last two centuries. Covering the major advancements in sociological thought, these companions offer critical evaluations of key figures in the American and European sociological tradition, and will provide students and scholars with both an in-depth assessment of the makers of sociology and chart their relevance to modern society.

This is a comprehensive, critical introduction to the sociology of money, covering many topics, from the origins of money to its function today. Though our coins, bank notes and electronic tokens do function as means of exchange, money is in fact a social, intangible institution. This book shows that money does indeed rule the world. Exploring the unlikely origins of money in early societies and amidst the first civilizations, the book moves onto inherent liaison with finance, including the logic of financial markets. Turning to the contemporary politics of money, monetary experiments and reform initiatives such as Bitcoin and positive money, it finally reveals the essentially monetary constitution of modern society itself. Through criticizing the simplistic exchange paradigm of standard economics and rational choice theory, it demonstrates instead that money matters because it embodies social relations.

Marilyn Strathern is among the most creative and celebrated contemporary anthropologists, and her work draws interest from across the humanities and social sciences. Redescribing Relations brings some of Strathern's most committed and renowned readers into conversation in her honour - especially on themes she has rarely engaged. The volume not only deepens our understanding of Strathern's work, it also offers models of how to extend her relational insights to new terrains. With a comprehensive introduction, a complete list of Strathern's publications and a historic interview published in English for the first time, this is an invaluable resource for Strathern's old and new interlocutors alike.

A collection of 21 contributions by well-known scholars in and outside the US, The Unhappy Divorce of Sociology and Psychoanalysis shows how sociology has much to gain from incorporating rather than overlooking or marginalizing psychoanalysis and psychosocial approaches to a wide range of social topics.

Resisting Financialization with Deleuze and Guattari aims to provide a contribution in relation to three main areas: the understanding of contemporary capitalism and financialization from a critical perspective; the analysis of resistance to financialization; and the better understanding of the philosophy of Deleuze and Guattari. Using a critical perspective, this book is informed by a Marxian literature in political economy and the poststructuralist works of Deleuze and Guattari, and Foucault. Through this, the author argues that it is relevant to combine Marxism and poststructuralism so as to better understand financialization. The analysis of resistance to financialization also provides a reflection on social democracy and Occupy Wall Street as contrasting ways to resist capitalism. Finally, this book will contribute to the analysis of Deleuze and Guattari through an analysis of their reception within political philosophy. This book provides the intellectual tools needed by academics in order to articulate a critical and revolutionary interpretation of Deleuze and Guattari, as well as analyse their reception by political philosophy. It also offers these tools to a more general audience interested in political economy and capitalism.

Ours is the era of "reinvention". From psychotherapy to life coaching, from self-help manuals to cosmetic surgery and from corporate rebranding to urban redesign: the art of reinvention is inextricably interwoven with the lure of the next frontier, the breakthrough to the next boundary - especially boundaries of the self. In this new, updated edition of this remarkable book, Anthony Elliott examines "reinvention" as a key buzzword of our times. Through a wide-ranging and impassioned assessment, Elliott unmasks the ever-increasing globalization of reinvention - from reinvention gurus to business reinvention, from personal makeovers to corporate rebrandings. In doing so, he undertakes a serious if often amusing consideration of contemporary reinvention practices, including super-fast weight-loss diets, celebrity makeovers, body augmentations, speed dating, online relationship therapies, organizational restructurings, business downsizings and many more. The second edition of Reinvention includes a new chapter on the digital revolution and artificial intelligence, which situates reinvention within the context of technological automation. There is also a discussion of how the Covid-19 global pandemic has impacted today's cultures of reinvention. In addition, there is a new concluding chapter in which the author develops further his theoretical account of the nature of reinvention societies. This absorbing book will continue to be the ideal introduction to reinvention for students and general readers alike. Reinvention offers a provocative and radical reflection on an issue (sometimes treated as trivial in the public sphere) that is increasingly politically urgent in terms of its personal, social and environmental consequences.

When first published, "The Sociological Tradition "had a profound and positive impact on sociology, providing a rich sense of intellectual background to a relatively new discipline in America. Robert Nisbet describes what he considers the golden age of sociology, 1830-1900, outlining five major themes of nineteenth-century sociologists: community, authority, status, the sacred, and alienation. Nisbet focuses on sociology's European heritage, delineating the arguments of Tocqueville, Marx, Durkheim, and Weber in new and revealing ways.

When the book initially appeared, the "Times Literary Supplement "noted that "this thoughtful and lucid guide shows more clearly than any previous book on social thought the common threads in the sociological tradition and the reasons why so many of its central concepts have stood the test of time." And Lewis Coser, writing in the "New York Times Book Review, "claimed that "this lucidly written and elegantly argued volume should go a long way toward laying to rest the still prevalent idea that sociology is an upstart discipline, unconcerned with, and alien to, the major intellectual currents of the modern world."

Its clear and comprehensive analysis of the origins of this discipline ensures "The Sociological Tradition "a permanent place in the literature on sociology and its origins. It will be of interest to those interested in sociological theory, the history of social thought, and the history of ideas. Indeed, as Alasdair Maclntyre observed: "We are unlikely to be given a better book to explain to us the inheritance of sociology from the conservative tradition."

In an interview with GA1/4nther Gaus for German television in 1964, Hannah Arendt insisted that she was not a philosopher but a political theorist. Disillusioned by the cooperation of German intellectuals with the Nazis, she said farewell to philosophy when she fled the country. This book examines Arendt's ideas about thinking, acting and political responsibility, investigating the relationship between the life of the mind and the life of action that preoccupied Arendt throughout her life. By joining in the conversation between Arendt and Gaus, each contributor probes her ideas about thinking and judging and their relation to responsibility, power and violence. An insightful and intelligent treatment of the work of Hannah Arendt, this volume will appeal to a wide number of fields beyond political theory and philosophy, including law, literary studies, social anthropology and cultural history.

Originally published in 2004. Exclusion is a popular area of sociological research, with much analysis pointing towards survival practices and inclusion mechanisms as ways to cope with and confront exclusion. However, the question of what it means to act and how it is possible to do so from a vulnerable situation has yet to be properly addressed. This resourceful volume takes on this challenge, examining how to react and the measures to employ in instances of material and symbolic deprivation. It analyzes whether alliances can be formed and their potential benefit, and discusses which supports are available despite structural inequality and no opportunity for reciprocation. Drawing together illustrative case studies from across Europe, the contributors consider in depth how a community or individual can take support from a spoiled identity and transform both it and the physical situation. This illuminating volume also includes discussions of living without support, security of living conditions and dignity, claims for citizenship, collective action, continuity and survival. It proposes an innovative and groundbreaking theory for 'weak' action.

In this book, Jonathan H. Turner combines sociology, evolutionary biology, cladistic analysis from biology, and comparative neuroanatomy to examine human nature as inherited from common ancestors shared by humans and present-day great apes. Selection pressures altered this inherited legacy for the ancestors of humans-termed hominins for being bipedal-and forced greater organization than extant great apes when the hominins moved into open-country terrestrial habitats. The effects of these selection pressures increased hominin ancestors' emotional capacities through greater social and group orientation. This shift, in turn, enabled further selection for a larger brain, articulated speech, and culture along the human line. Turner elaborates human nature as a series of overlapping complexes that are the outcome of the inherited legacy of great apes being fed through the transforming effects of a larger brain, speech, and culture. These complexes, he shows, can be understood as the cognitive complex, the psychological complex, the emotions complex, the interaction complex, and the community complex.

In his scathing The Theory of the Leisure Class, Thorstein Veblen produced a landmark study of affluent American society that exposes, with brilliant ruthlessness, the habits of production and waste that link invidious business tactics and barbaric social behavior. Veblen's analysis of the evolutionary process sees greed as the overriding motive in the modern economy, and with an impartial gaze he examines the human cost paid when social institutions exploit the consumption of unessential goods for the sake of personal profit. Fashion, beauty, animals, sports, the home, the clergy, scholars--all are assessed for their true usefulness and found wanting. Indeed, Veblen's critique covers all aspects of modern life from dress, class, the position of women, home decoration, industry, business, and sport, to religion, scholarship, and education. The targets of Veblen's coruscating satire are as evident today as they were a century ago, and his book still has the power to shock and enlighten. Martha Banta's introduction illuminates Veblen's uncompromising arguments as it highlights the literary force of Veblen's writing and its influence on later American writers such as Edith Wharton, Henry James, Dos Passos, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. She also sheds light on his critique of the plight of women and his evolutionary arguments as they relate to modern society.
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Winner of the Urban History Association's 2005 Best Book in Non-North American Urban History Award.
In traditional Chinese cities, a lively street culture was an important part of popular culture, and street life was central to the daily lives of city dwellers, especially the lower classes. This book examines street culture in Chengdu, an under-studied inland city, during the transformative decades between 1870 and 1930, in order to explore various topics: the relationship between urban commoners and public space; the role that community and neighborhood played in public life; how the reform movement and the Republican revolution changed everyday life; and how popular culture and local politics interacted. Drawing on a rich array of Chinese and Western sources--including archives, local newspapers, gazetteers, personal records, folk literature, and field investigation--the author argues that life in public spaces was radically transformed in Chengdu during these eventful years.

In an era where new areas of life and new problems call for normative solutions while the plurality of values in society challenge the very basis for normative solutions, this book looks at a growing field of research on the relations between social and legal norms. New technologies and social media offer new ways to communicate about normative issues and the centrality of formal law and how normativity comes about is a question for debate. This book offers empirical and theoretical research in the field of social and legal norms and will inspire future debate and research in terms of internationalization and cross-national comparative studies. It presents a consistent picture of empirical research in different social and organizational areas and will deepen the theoretical understanding regarding the interplay between social and legal norms. Including chapters written from four different aspects of normativity, the contributors argue that normativity is a result of combinations between law in books, law in action, social norms and social practice. The book uses a variety of different international examples, ranging from Sweden, Uzbekistan, Colombia and Mexico. Primarily aimed at scholars in sociology of law, socio-legal studies, law and legal theory, the book will also interest those in sociology, political science and psychology.

Ignorance and Change analyses the European refugee crisis of 2015-2016 from the perspective of ignorance studies showing how the media, decision-makers and academics engaged in the projection and reification of the future in relation to the crisis, the asylum system, and the solutions that were proposed. Why do recent crises fail to bring meaningful change? Why do we often see replication of the regimes of ignorance, inefficient knowledge and expertise practices? This book answers these questions by shifting the focus from the issue of change to our projections and expectations of what change will look like. Building on three comprehensive case studies, Poland, Hungary, and Romania, it demonstrates how ignorance and projectivity were essential for new Member States not only for managing the crisis but also for reaching a higher level of autonomy in relation to the EU. Employing an innovative interactional approach to ignorance, it bridges ignorance studies with sociology of future and migration research. Challenging the dominant interest in defining ignorance, it moves the focus from what ignorance is to what ignorance does. It incorporates the concept of future into ignorance studies and develops notions such as "projective agency," "reification of the future," "projection by proxy," and "projectors of EU asylum policies." The book provides an erudite background, comprehensive empirical research, and original tools of analysis for graduate students, researchers, and policy makers interested in crisis studies, public policy, ignorance studies, social theory, migration studies, and sociology of the future.

"A new generation of truly global sociology, grappling with the contemporary world through the lenses of critique, contestation, and social movements. A significant contribution." - Goeran Therborn, University of Cambridge "This is a truly global and politically challenging book, bringing together top level researchers and sharply tackling its themes. People from every corner of the planet and from all walks in the social sciences will surely profit from reading it." - Carolina Mera, University of Buenos Aires How can we link contemporary social processes - which have typically been theorized in terms of the concept of modernity - with contemporary social movements, conflicts, and mobilizations which aim at social change? This text: links the social theory of modernity to critical theory and to recent class and citizenship politics as well as to identity politics uses concrete social processes to illustrate theoretical discussion with relevant empirical studies and applies theoretical analysis to different interactions, tensions and possibilities to provide an integrated understanding of global modernity and social contestation includes contributions from distinguished international scholars working in sociological theory and modernity, as well as social movement studies and political contestation, with a strong emphasis on global issues This is a key resource for research in both social theory and the sociology of modernity, as well as social movements and social contestation, and readers interested in globalization and global studies.

This work explores the question of defining ideology from a Marxist perspective. Advancing beyond the schemas of discussion presented in current Marxist literature, the author offers an account of how the concept of ideology should be defined and what role it plays within historical materialism. Through a close reading of Karl Marx's relevant writings, this volume demonstrates that while there is no coherent, single account of ideology in Marx's work, his materialist framework can be reconstructed in a defensible and 'non-deterministic' way. The definition of ideology presented is then articulated through a close reading of Antonio Gramsci's Prison Notebooks. Efforts are also made to demonstrate that Gramsci's interpretation of historical materialism is indeed consistent and compatible with Marx's. A systematic articulation of a theory of ideology that combines the works of Marx and Gramsci, as well as adding elements of Pierre Bourdieu's social theory and William James's psychology, this volume will appeal to scholars of social and political theory with interests in political economy and Marxist thought.

This book offers a critical introduction to trends and developments in contemporary criminological theory. Designed both as a companion to An Introduction to Criminological Theory - also by Roger Hopkins Burke and published by Routledge - and as a standalone advanced textbook, it develops themes introduced previously in more detail, incorporates new critical and radical concepts and explores cutting-edge advances in theory. Key topics include the following: * Constitutive, anarchist, green and species, bio-critical, cultural, abolitionist and convict criminologies * Globalization and organized crime * Southern theory * Critical race theory * Terrorism and state violence * Gender, feminism and masculinity * Ultra-realism * Radical moral communitarianism These key issues are discussed in the context of debates about the fragmentation of modernity and the postmodern condition; the rise of political populism, risk, surveillance and social control, and speculation about living in post-COVID-19 society and the future of neoliberalism. Written in a clear and direct style, this book will appeal to both undergraduate and postgraduate students of criminology, sociology and politics and is essential reading for advanced students of criminology looking for a way to engage with contemporary themes and concepts in theory.

Digital Democracy, Social Media and Disinformation discusses some of the political, regulatory and technological issues which arise from the increased power of internet intermediaries (such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube) and the impact of the spread of digital disinformation, especially in the midst of a health pandemic. The volume provides a detailed account of the main areas surrounding digital democracy, disinformation and fake news, freedom of expression and post-truth politics. It addresses the major theoretical and regulatory concepts of digital democracy and the 'network society' before offering potential socio-political and technological solutions to the fight against disinformation and fake news. These solutions include self-regulation, rebuttals and myth-busting, news literacy, policy recommendations, awareness and communication strategies and the potential of recent technologies such as the blockchain and public interest algorithms to counter disinformation. After addressing what has currently been done to combat disinformation and fake news, the volume argues that digital disinformation needs to be identified as a multifaceted problem, one that requires multiple approaches to resolve. Governments, regulators, think tanks, the academy and technology providers need to take more steps to better shape the next internet with as little digital disinformation as possible by means of a regional analysis. In this context, two cases concerning Russia and Ukraine are presented regarding disinformation and the ways it was handled. Written in a clear and direct style, this volume will appeal to students and researchers within the social sciences, computer science, law and business studies, as well as policy makers engaged in combating what constitutes one of the most pressing issues of the digital age.

In the wake of an unparalleled housing crisis at the end of the Second World War, Glasgow Corporation rehoused the tens of thousands of private tenants who were living in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions in unimproved Victorian slums. Adopting the designs, the materials and the technologies of modernity they built into the sky, developing high-rise estates on vacant sites within the city and on its periphery. This book uniquely focuses on the people's experience of this modern approach to housing, drawing on oral histories and archival materials to reflect on the long-term narrative and significance of high-rise homes in the cityscape. It positions them as places of identity formation, intimacy and well-being. With discussions on interior design and consumption, gender roles, children, the elderly, privacy, isolation, social networks and nuisance, Glasgow examines the connections between architectural design, planning decisions and housing experience to offer some timely and prescient observations on the success and failure of this very modern housing solution at a moment when high flats are simultaneously denigrated in the social housing sector while being built afresh in the private sector. Glasgow is aimed at an academic readership, including postgraduate students, scholars and researchers. It will be of interest to social, cultural and urban historians particularly interested in the United Kingdom.

By analyzing the relationship between lesbian and gay movements and the state, this ground-breaking book addresses two interconnected issues: to what extent is the lesbian and gay movement influenced by the state and, to a lesser extent, whether the lesbian and gay movement has somehow influenced the state, for instance by altering forms of sexual regulation. Given the diversity in national trajectories, this book covers fifteen countries. This enables the volume to shed light on different kinds of relationships between these groups and the state, as well as on the way they have evolved in recent decades. The Lesbian and Gay Movement and the State: Comparative Insights into a Transformed Relationship fills an important gap in the literature on lesbian and gay activism. However, this book also provides important and innovative insights into broader issues in international political science, public policy and comparative politics, as well as issues in social movement studies. These include the role of the state in constructing citizen identities, the heteronormative way in which many traditional citizen entitlements and benefits were constructed, state - civil society relations, judicial activism, the impact of federalism, and the increasing globalization of sexual identities.

Through an analysis of hundreds of Hollywood movies, this book examines some of the most contentious social issues of our time, including racism, social inequality, sexism, and gerontophobia. With studies of some of the most enduring film genres in Hollywood's history, including romantic films such as Casablanca, war movies from World War II through the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, alienation films, including Five Easy Pieces and Lost in Translation, the school movie, from Goodbye, Mr. Chips to other films set in academia, including Dead Poets Society and Dangerous Minds, the book outlines and demonstrates the sociological approach to viewing films and highlights the socially conservative nature of much Hollywood movie production, which draws on common stereotypes and reinforces dominant cultural values - but is also capable of challenging and serving to change them.

This book examines the future of the social sciences and the reconstruction of society in contemporary times. Drawing on the lead piece For a New Classic Sociology, it calls for a new theoretical synthesis that overcomes the fragmentation, specialization and professionalization within the social sciences. The position paper and the responses by a team of world-class social theorists provide an alternative to utilitarianism and the colonization of the social sciences by rational choice models, propose a new articulation of social theory, and moral, social and political philosophy. It recommends a return to classical social theory and explores articulations between theories of reciprocity, care and recognition. A radical intervention in the study of the social sciences, the volume will be indispensable to scholars and researchers across the social sciences, especially social theory and sociology and social anthropology. Contributions by Frank Adloff, Jeffrey C. Alexander, Francis Chateauraynaud, Raewyn Connell, Francois Dubet, Philip Gorski, Nathalie Heinich, Qu Jingdong, Mike Savage, Michael Singleton and Philippe Steiner.

Routledge Handbook of Counter-Narratives is a landmark volume providing students, university lecturers, and practitioners with a comprehensive and structured guide to the major topics and trends of research on counter-narratives. The concept of counter-narratives covers resistance and opposition as told and framed by individuals and social groups. Counter-narratives are stories impacting on social settings that stand opposed to (perceived) dominant and powerful master-narratives. In sum, the contributions in this handbook survey how counter-narratives unfold power to shape and change various fields. Fields investigated in this handbook are organizations and professional settings, issues of education, struggles and concepts of identity and belonging, the political field, as well as literature and ideology. The handbook is framed by a comprehensive introduction as well as a summarizing chapter providing an outlook on future research avenues. Its direct and clear appeal will support university learning and prompt both students and researchers to further investigate the arena of narrative research.

Through an analysis of hundreds of Hollywood movies, this book examines some of the most contentious social issues of our time, including racism, social inequality, sexism, and gerontophobia. With studies of some of the most enduring film genres in Hollywood's history, including romantic films such as Casablanca, war movies from World War II through the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, alienation films, including Five Easy Pieces and Lost in Translation, the school movie, from Goodbye, Mr. Chips to other films set in academia, including Dead Poets Society and Dangerous Minds, the book outlines and demonstrates the sociological approach to viewing films and highlights the socially conservative nature of much Hollywood movie production, which draws on common stereotypes and reinforces dominant cultural values - but is also capable of challenging and serving to change them.