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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social theory
In Development as Freedom Amartya Sen explains how in a world of unprecedented increase in overall opulence millions of people living in the Third World are still unfree. Even if they are not technically slaves, they are denied elementary freedoms and remain imprisoned in one way or another by economic poverty, social deprivation, political tyranny or cultural authoritarianism. The main purpose of development is to spread freedom and its 'thousand charms' to the unfree citizens. Freedom, Sen persuasively argues, is at once the ultimate goal of social and economic arrangements and the most efficient means of realizing general welfare. Social institutions like markets, political parties, legislatures, the judiciary, and the media contribute to development by enhancing individual freedom and are in turn sustained by social values. Values, institutions, development, and freedom are all closely interrelated, and Sen links them together in an elegant analytical framework. By asking 'What is the relation between our collective economic wealth and our individual ability to live as we would like?' and by incorporating individual freedom as a social commitment into his analysis Sen allows economics once again, as it did in the time of Adam Smith, to address the social basis of individual well-being and freedom.
Since the legalisation of off-course cash betting in 1960, and the rise of varying forms of gambling, the British have come to be known as a nation of gamblers. Until this study was published in 1976, barely any evidence existed against which to assess the claim that gambling had become a major social problem. The authors present data drawn from area surveys carried out in Swansea, Sheffield, Wanstead and Woodford, and explore how well previous sociological theories of gambling agree with their findings, particular in connection with certain aspects of work and leisure. Examining different forms of gambling, including betting, bingo and gaming machines, the chapters consider how gambling choices vary between different social groups, and how much time and money is spent on them. With the internet making it easier than ever before to place bets, this title is especially relevant, and provides a systematic basis for an explanation of gambling in relation to social structure.
Using a unique combination of cultural studies research, neo-pragmatist philosophy, and psychoanalytic theory, the author sheds light on the formation of a social identity and the important role that mass media play in this process. Case studies covering a range of media and communities provide a model for developing a truly explanatory as well as descriptive account of self-media interaction that bridges the two opposing sides of the media audience debate and provides a significant new dimension to notions of "passive" and "active" media audiences.
This book, first published in 1973, explores the manner in which conceptions of deviancy arise and shows how the attitudes of non-deviants, of society and of authority, are as instrumental in forming these conceptions as the actions of the deviants themselves. Chapters include discussions on the definition of deviants and deviancy and the enforcement of the law, alongside a detailed introduction. This title will be of particular value to students and scholars with an interest in criminology and the sociology and psychology of deviancy.
This volume is a collection of original essays by sociologists and
intellectual historians who have been leading figures in recent
scholarship on the classical sociological theorists. The volume
includes essays by Mary Pickering on Auguste Comte, Moishe Postone
on Kar Marx, Valerie A. Haines on Herbert Spencer, Robert Alun
Jones on Emile Durkheim, Donald N. Levine on Georg Simmel, Stephen
Kalberg on Max Weber, Martin Bulmer on Robert E. Park and W. I.
Thomas, and Hans Joas on George Herbert Mead. Also included is a
wide-ranging examinatin of neglected woman founders by Lynn
McDonald plus a concluding analysis of recent developments in the
area of classical theory by Alan Sica. Offering a novel blend of historicist and presentist approaches
to reclaiming sociology's rich intellectual past, the studies in
the collection provide an analytic guide to the vast secondary
literature that has appeared in recent years. The essays also
dispel longstanding stereotypes about the lives and works of these
theorists and propose major revisionist reinterpretations of their
thought. Taken together, the studies in the volume fill the serious void that currently exists in the literature between, on the one hand, introductory summaries of the ideas of various classical authors, and, on the other, specialized monographs and articles devoted to the examination of particular thinkers.
What can economics, the natural and the social sciences learn from each other in better understanding complex forms of change? How far can models, methodologies or metaphors that have been used successfully in one disciplinary field be 'exported' and meaningfully applied to other fields? Distinguished researchers from across the globe assess, in a rare example of successful cross-disciplinary engagement, the explanatory power of chaos theory, new evolutionary theory, path dependency, neo-institutional economics, multiple modernities and historical institutionalism. The book provides an exciting panorama of state of the art thinking and new avenues to combining the power of various traditions of thought.
This collection explores why powerful knowledge matters for social justice and discusses its implications for curriculum and pedagogy. The contributors argue that the purpose of education is to provide all students with access to powerful knowledge so that they acquire the means to move beyond their experiences and enhance their lives.
First Published in 1988, this volume works towards a new understanding and exploration of the rise and development of modern society, taking its lead from two classical theorists, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. The key concept of this approach is the 'interpenetration' of different spheres of action. Richard Munch begins with an exploration of the points of convergence and divergence in the works of Durkheim and Weber. He then builds, from Durkheim, a new theory of social order as a complex set of ordering, dynamizing, identity-producing and goal-setting factors. Munch also constructs a new theory of personality development, based on Durkheim's view of the duality of human nature. He concludes by assessing weber's contribution to our understanding of how modern social order emerged, showing that the unique features of modern society emerged from the 'interpenetration' of cultural, political, communal and economic spheres in action.
Originally published in 1915, this pioneer study has long occupied an important place in the literature of sociology. An exercise in the statistical correlation of the economic and social institutions of the working classes of the early twentieth century, the book is an important link between contemporary sociology, with a focus on the problems of social development, and the classical social liberalism on which L. T. Hobhouse left his mark. The reissue includes the introduction written by Morris Ginsberg in the 1965 reprint, where he explains what he and his colleagues set out to achieve and responds to the criticism faced by the study. This is a classic work which is still of great value to sociologists and anthropologists today.
On April 1, 1946, shortly after sunrise, the town of Hilo on the island of Hawai'i was devastated by a series of giant waves. Traveling 2,300 miles from the Aleutian Islands in less than five hours, the waves struck without warning and claimed 159 lives. Fourteen years later, on May 22, 1960, a massive earthquake occurred off of the coast of Chile. The earthquake generated giant waves that sped across the Pacific at 442 miles per hour, reaching Hilo in just fifteen hours. The first wave to hit the town was a modest four feet higher than normal, the second nine feet. Before the third wave could arrive, a tidal phenomenon known as a bore smashed into the Hilo bayfront, with thirty-five foot waves that wrenched buildings off their foundations. That day several city blocks were swept clean of all structures and 61 people died. The first edition of Tsunami!, published in 1988, provided readers with a complete examination of the tsunami phenomenon in Hawai'i. This second edition adds many eyewitness accounts of the tsunamis of 1946 and 1960 and expands its coverage to include major tsunamis in the Mediterranean and off the coasts of Japan, Chile, Indonesia, Fiji, Alaska, California, Newfoundland, and the Caribbean, as well as the 1998 devastation in Papua New Guinea. Dramatic photographs and accounts of experiencing a tsunami firsthand are placed within the framework of the how and why of tsunamis, our scientific understanding of these phenomena, and the current status of the Tsunami Warning System, which is widely used to forecast and measure tsunamis and prepare coastal areas for potentially deadly tsunami strikes.
This study sees 'mediation' as a way of understanding the relationship between internal and external conversation, which underpins how individuals are connected to society. The relationship between these aspects of conversation is crucial in allowing selves to achieve subjectively-defined 'balance' between inner and outer worlds.
Weber and Durkheim: A methodological comparison is a systematic, comparative analysis of the methodologies of Max Weber and Emile Durkheim. Jensen shows how Weber and Durkheim analyse Protestants and Catholics in practice in The Protestant Ethic and Suicide, respectively. The very different ways that Weber and Durkheim carry out their analyses are then used to describe, analyse and contrast their methodological principles and points of view, raising fundamental questions in sociological and social science analysis, such as: What constitutes the object of sociology? How are concepts developed? What status can be attributed to laws? Which possibilities - and limitations - do we have for producing scientific insight into society? What are we to think of the relationship between 'Is' and 'Ought' - and how can social science deal with values? How are social phenomena to be explained? This book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of sociology, social methodology, political theory, political science, social theory and philosophy.
This highly accessible text provides a comprehensive overview of
globalization and its consequences. Exploring the insights of a
wide range of critical theorists, this book argues that debates
about globalization cannot be divorced from struggles for
emancipation or from the contradictory realities of contemporary
society. Clearly organized around thematic chapters designed to
provoke student inquiry, the book demonstrates how the views of
critical theorists are crucial to understanding the global
processes shaping the world today.
In a series of interviews, this book explores the formative experiences of a generation of critical theorists whose work originated in the midst of what has been called 'the postmodern turn', including discussions of their views on the evolution of critical theory over the past 30 years and their assessment of contemporary politics.
Written under the shadow of the global financial crisis, this book charts the current shape of global finance and tries to explain why the crisis arose and what can be done about it. Economics alone cannot fully explain how global finance operates, and why it is so crisis prone. Global Finance offers a wider approach in three key ways, by:
With a convincing argument for better regulation of markets, Robert Holton provides a fascinating insight into the volatile and often misunderstood world of global finance. This is a key text for undergraduate students of sociology, economics, business, and politics, as well as being an incisive, informative read for anyone with an interest in this topical issue.
This book presents a series of ontological investigations into an adequate theory of embodiment for the social sciences. Informed by a new realist philosophy of causal powers, it seeks to articulate a concept of dynamic embodiment, one that positions human body movement, and not just the body at the heart of theories of social action. It draws together several lines of thinking in contemporary social science: about the human body and its movements; adequate meta-theoretical explanations of agency and causality in human action; relations between moving and talking; skill and the formation of knowledge; metaphor, perception and the senses; movement literacy; the constitution of space and place, and narrative performance. This is an ontological inquiry that is richly grounded in, and supported by anthropological ethnographic evidence. Using the work of Rom Harr, Roy Bhaskar, Charles Varela and Drid Williams this book applies causal powers theory to a revised ontology of personhood, and discusses why the adequate location of human agency is crucial for the social sciences. The breakthrough lies in fact that new realism affords us an account of embodied human agency as a generative causal power that is grounded in our corporeal materiality, thereby connecting natural/physical and cultural worlds. Dynamic Embodiment for Social Theory is compelling reading for students and academics of the social sciences, especially anthropologists and sociologists of the body, and those interested in new developments in critical realism.
In a world of finite resources, expanding populations and widening
structural inequalities, the ownership of things is increasingly
contested. Not only are the commons being rapidly enclosed and
privatized, but the very idea of what can be owned is expanding,
generating conflicts over the ownership of resources, ideas,
culture, people, and even parts of people. Understanding processes
of ownership and appropriation is not only central to
anthropological theorizing but also has major practical
applications, for policy, legislative development and conflict
resolution.
This third volume in the series covers a variety of topics in the field.
'Manufactured' Masculinity should be considered essential reading for scholars in the humanities and social sciences at every level and in all parts of the academic world. It weaves together brilliantly the elements of the 'manufacture' of masculinity in the period world-famous 'public' school system for the privileged which serviced the largest empire, the world has ever known, at the zenith of its control and which has had a significant influence in the formation of the modern world. This authoritative study of the making of British imperial masculinity shines light on the period of Muscular Christianity, Social Darwinism and Militarism as meshed ideological instruments of both power and persuasion. This magisterial study reveals the extraordinary and paramount influence of games fields as the 'machine tools' in an 'industrial process' with the schools as 'workshops' containing 'cultural conveyor-belts' for the production of robust, committed and confident servants of empire, and templates for imperial reproduction in imperial possessions. Mainly on efficient 'production belt' playing fields of the privileged minds were moulded, attitudes were constructed and bodies shaped - for imperial manhood. Earlier 'manliness' was metamorphosized, morality was redefined and militarism at the high point of imperial grandeur was an adjunct. Professor Mangan outlines this unique process of cultural conditioning with a unique range of evidence and analysis. This book was published as a special double issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport.
Social Problems and Inequality explores integrated and root-cause-based explanations of complex social problems. Written in clear and understandable language, allowing it to be used for classroom purposes, it addresses the most fundamental principles of how humans, acting through social units, create, and eventually can remedy, social problems. With a central focus on the problem of inequality and the manner in which this is manifested in crime, social class and stratification, this book examines the key theoretical perspectives relevant to the study and solution of social problems, whilst drawing upon rich illustrations and case studies from the US and Europe to offer a thorough examination of the nature, common root causes and social remedies of social problems. Providing discussions of both theoretical approaches and concrete applications, Social Problems and Inequality investigates the sources of various prejudices and attitudes that contribute to social problems and the associated issues of globalization, economic greed and imperialism. Accessible in style and comprehensive in its coverage, this book will appeal to students and scholars of social problems across the social sciences.
One of the most puzzling problems of our time is society's changing attitude toward truth and lying. Are we experiencing the breaking down of our moral values as many ethicists claim or are we confronted with a new moral paradigm? Serban explores the new moral relativism within the context of the unprecedented social-political and technological advances of the last decades. With the classical values under siege, a new concept of right and wrong has emerged based on a blurred distinction between truth and falsehood. Many forms of lying are considered subjective truth. Political correctness and spinning are part of the social interaction promoted by lawyers, politicians, activist judges, media, among others. Serban documents that man, in the process of pursuing his goals, tends to manipulate others. Adapting through deception, particularly in crisis, is part of our animal heritage. Our thought processes, protective of our emotions and self-image, are perfectly adapted for the task of lying. Historically, people have always lied, regardless of social-moral restraints and legal prohibitions. Man--to successfully compete in this rapidly changing world full of conflicts, duplicity, and half-truths--either have to learn the new rules of self-protection in the social game of manipulative interaction or become losers. Psychiatrists, sociologists, psychologists, social workers, legal professionals, all other students of human behavior and also general readers interested in understanding the dynamic of social deception will find the work of particular value.
Although numerous studies of religious rituals have been conducted by religious studies scholars, anthropologists, sociologists, and psychologists, it is rare to find a work that brings scholars from different disciplines together to discuss the similarities and differences in their research. This book represents contributions by leading scholars from several disciplines that show the diversity of approaches to religious rituals, while also providing cross-disciplinary perspectives on this topic. The goals of the chapters are to consider where the field currently stands in understanding religious rituals and what novel ideas can improve our knowledge about these practices; and furnish innovative applications of theory by discussing particular examples which are drawn from the authors? fieldwork. The chapters cover Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, and Islamic rituals, thus providing a view of how ritual practices vary across the globe, but also how they share some important characteristics.
Since the beginning of the modern age, studies of ongoing transformations of social life, human sociality, and social relations and institutions have been at the forefront of social theory, alongside changes in politics, culture, and economy - and links between all of the above. In the twenty-first century, the speed at which these transformations have been occurring has accelerated precipitously, and it is impossible to predict what human civilization will look and exist like in a few decades. The essays included in this volume illuminate mediations of the individual-society relationship from a variety of angles, both explicitly and implicitly. They highlight the need to consider the consequences of choices made by collective decision-makers, politicians and leaders of organizations; as well as from processes that sustain the functioning and stability of individual nation-states and global society, for better or worse, and to varying degrees. They represent diverse traditions of social theorizing, including sociological and critical theory, analytically as well as normatively oriented theory, and examine the impact of transformations on several dimensions of societal life today
In western society it is taken for granted that tourism is a
necessary element of contemporary lifestyle, but while many people
recognize its importance, they are usually more concerned with its
contribution to the economy than with its social, cultural, and
political significance. As a social action, tourism is at least
partly based on the appeal of distance in time, space, and culture,
which offers people the opportunity to question conditions they
take for granted, and, by distancing themselves from everyday life,
to re-examine the meaning of their lives. |
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