Over a million copies sold worldwide The indispensable guide to understanding the world we make and the lives we lead. This thoroughly revised and updated ninth edition remains unrivalled in its vibrant, engaging and authoritative introduction to sociology. The authors provide a commanding overview of the latest global developments and new ideas in this fascinating subject. Classic debates are also given careful coverage, with even the most complex ideas explained in a straightforward way. Written in a fluent, easy-to-follow style, the book manages to be intellectually rigorous but still very accessible. With a strong focus on interactive pedagogy, it aims to engage and excite readers, helping them to see the enduring value of thinking sociologically. The ninth edition includes: a solid foundation in the basics of sociology: its purpose, methodology and theories; up-to-the-minute overviews of key topics in social life, from gender, personal life and poverty, to globalization, the media and politics; stimulating examples of what sociology has to say about key issues in our contemporary world, such as climate change, growing inequality and rising polarization in societies across the world; a strong focus on global connections and the ways that digital technologies are radically transforming our lives; quality pedagogical features, such as 'Classic Studies' and 'Global Society' boxes, and 'Thinking Critically' reflection points, as well as end-of-chapter activities inviting readers to engage with popular culture and original research articles to gather sociological insights. The ninth edition sets the standard for introductory sociology in a complex world. It is the ideal teaching text for first-year university and college courses, and will help to inspire a new generation of sociologists.

The fourth edition of this best-selling introductory reader has been thoroughly revised and updated to offer a stimulating and wide-ranging set of readings for anyone who wishes to engage with the scope of sociological thought and practice today. The book delivers a productive mix of classic, contemporary and provocative readings that are highly readable and lively, while retaining their critical bite. Ideal as a companion to the ninth edition of Giddens and Sutton's Sociology, the reader can equally be used independently or alongside other textbooks. Readings are grouped around ten key sociological themes, with a sustained emphasis on comparative, globally and historically informed work. The carefully curated collection ranges from studies of face-to-face interaction through to the analysis of large-scale global systems, covering both the theory and the practice of sociology. Among the new selections in this volume are readings on the decolonial turn; the persistence of racism and its consequences; global health issues and the social impact of COVID-19; digital sociology and the digitization of social life; feminist research and shifting forms of misogyny; climate change and the emerging Anthropocene era; income and wealth inequalities, national populist movements and the spread of 'fake news'. Each of the thematic sections is preceded by a discussion and followed by further reading to facilitate students' comprehension and critical reflection. The result is an exciting new companion that encompasses the major themes and debates in both classical and contemporary sociology. Sociology: Introductory Readings will be an essential resource for all students of sociology.

In an extraordinary story unfolding across two hundred years, Kristina Gaddy uncovers the banjo’s key role in Black spirituality, ritual, and rebellion. Through meticulous research in diaries, letters, archives, and art, she traces the banjo’s beginnings from the seventeenth century, when enslaved people of African descent created it from gourds or calabashes and wood. Gaddy shows how the enslaved carried this unique instrument as they were transported and sold by slaveowners throughout the Americas, to Suriname, the Caribbean, and the colonies that became U.S. states, including Louisiana, South Carolina, Maryland, and New York. African Americans came together at rituals where the banjo played an essential part. White governments, rightfully afraid that the gatherings could instigate revolt, outlawed them without success. In the mid-nineteenth century, Blackface minstrels appropriated the instrument for their bands, spawning a craze. Eventually the banjo became part of jazz, bluegrass, and country, its deepest history forgotten.

In an extraordinary story unfolding across two hundred years, Kristina Gaddy uncovers the banjo's key role in Black spirituality, ritual and rebellion. Through meticulous research in diaries, letters, archives and art, she traces the banjo's beginnings from the seventeenth century, when enslaved people of African descent created it from gourds or calabashes and wood. Gaddy shows how the enslaved carried this unique instrument as they were transported and sold by slaveowners throughout the Americas, to Suriname, the Caribbean and the colonies that became US states, including Louisiana, South Carolina, Maryland and New York. African Americans came together at rituals where the banjo played an essential part. White governments, rightfully afraid that the gatherings could instigate revolt, outlawed them without success. In the mid-nineteenth century, Blackface minstrels appropriated the instrument for their bands, spawning a craze. Eventually the banjo became part of jazz, bluegrass and country, its deepest history forgotten.

Social life is in a constant process of change, and sociology can never stand still. As a result, contemporary sociology is a theoretically diverse enterprise, covering a huge range of subjects and drawing on a broad array of research methods. Central to this endeavour is the use of core concepts and ideas which allow sociologists to make sense of societies, though our understanding of these concepts necessarily evolves and changes. This clear and jargon-free book introduces a careful selection of essential concepts that have helped to shape sociology and continue to do so. Going beyond brief, dictionary-style definitions, Anthony Giddens and Philip W. Sutton provide an extended discussion of each concept which sets it in historical and theoretical context, explores its main meanings in use, introduces relevant criticisms, and points readers to its ongoing development in contemporary research and theorizing. Organized in ten thematic sections, the book offers a portrait of sociology through its essential concepts, ranging from capitalism, identity and deviance to the digital revolution, environment, postcolonialism and intersectionality. It will be essential reading for all those new to sociology as well as anyone seeking a reliable route map for a rapidly changing world.

Judgment is simple, right? This book begs to differ. Written for all students of the law—from undergraduate to supreme court justice—it opens the reader to a broad landscape of ideas surrounding common law judgment. Short and accessible, it touches upon the many pathways that lead out from the phenomenon of judgment in common law jurisdictions. This book is unique in its brevity and scope. It engages not only with the core operation of judgment as legal decision, but considers questions of authority and reason, and broader issues of interpretation, rhetoric, and judicial improvisation. The aim of this book is not to present a summary of research or a comprehensive ‘theory’ of judgment, nor is it bounded by the divisions of different legal subjects. Instead, it is a handbook or companion for students of the law to read and return to in their studious journeys across all common law topic areas, providing readers with a robust and open-ended set of tools, combined with selected further readings, to facilitate their own discovery, exploration, and critical analysis of the rich tapestry of common law judgment.

Taking up the study of legal education in distinctly biopolitical terms, this book provides a critical and political analysis of resistance in the law school. Legal education concerns the complex pathways by which an individual becomes a lawyer, making the journey from lay-person to expert, from student to practitioner. To pose the idea of a biopolitics of legal education is not only to recognise the tensions surrounding this journey, but also to recognise that legal education is a key site in which the subject engages, and is engaged by, a particular structure - and here the particular structure of the law school. This book explores the resistance to that structure, including: different ways in which law's pedagogic structures might be incomplete, or are being fought against; the use of less conventional elements of cultural discourse to resist the abstraction of the lawyer in students' subject formation; the centralisation of queer and feminist discourses to disrupt the hierarchies of the legal curriculum; the use of digital technologies; the place of embodiment in legal education settings, and the impacts of post-human knowledges and contexts on legal learning. Assembling original, field-defining essays by both leading international scholars as well as emerging researchers, it constitutes indispensable resource in legal education research and scholarship that will appeal to legal academics everywhere.

Judgment is simple, right? This book begs to differ. Written for all students of the law-from undergraduate to supreme court justice-it opens the reader to a broad landscape of ideas surrounding common law judgment. Short and accessible, it touches upon the many pathways that lead out from the phenomenon of judgment in common law jurisdictions. This book is unique in its brevity and scope. It engages not only with the core operation of judgment as legal decision, but considers questions of authority and reason, and broader issues of interpretation, rhetoric, and judicial improvisation. The aim of this book is not to present a summary of research or a comprehensive 'theory' of judgment, nor is it bounded by the divisions of different legal subjects. Instead, it is a handbook or companion for students of the law to read and return to in their studious journeys across all common law topic areas, providing readers with a robust and open-ended set of tools, combined with selected further readings, to facilitate their own discovery, exploration, and critical analysis of the rich tapestry of common law judgment.

The fourth edition of this best-selling introductory reader has been thoroughly revised and updated to offer a stimulating and wide-ranging set of readings for anyone who wishes to engage with the scope of sociological thought and practice today. The book delivers a productive mix of classic, contemporary and provocative readings that are highly readable and lively, while retaining their critical bite. Ideal as a companion to the ninth edition of Giddens and Sutton's Sociology, the reader can equally be used independently or alongside other textbooks. Readings are grouped around ten key sociological themes, with a sustained emphasis on comparative, globally and historically informed work. The carefully curated collection ranges from studies of face-to-face interaction through to the analysis of large-scale global systems, covering both the theory and the practice of sociology. Among the new selections in this volume are readings on the decolonial turn; the persistence of racism and its consequences; global health issues and the social impact of COVID-19; digital sociology and the digitization of social life; feminist research and shifting forms of misogyny; climate change and the emerging Anthropocene era; income and wealth inequalities, national populist movements and the spread of 'fake news'. Each of the thematic sections is preceded by a discussion and followed by further reading to facilitate students' comprehension and critical reflection. The result is an exciting new companion that encompasses the major themes and debates in both classical and contemporary sociology. Sociology: Introductory Readings will be an essential resource for all students of sociology.

Social life is in a constant process of change, and sociology can never stand still. As a result, sociology today is a theoretically diverse enterprise, covering a huge range of subjects and drawing on a broad array of research methods. Central to this endeavour is the use of core concepts and ideas which allow sociologists to make sense of societies, though our understanding of these concepts necessarily evolves and changes. This clear and jargon-free book introduces a careful selection of essential concepts that have helped to shape sociology and others that continue to do so. Going beyond brief, dictionary-style definitions, Anthony Giddens and Philip W. Sutton provide an extended discussion of each concept which sets it in historical and theoretical context, explores its main meanings in use, introduces relevant criticisms, and points readers to its ongoing development in contemporary research and theorizing. Organized in ten thematic sections, the book offers a portrait of sociology through its essential concepts, ranging from capitalism, identity and deviance to globalization, the environment and intersectionality. It will be essential reading for all those new to sociology as well as anyone seeking a reliable route map for a rapidly changing world.

Taking up the study of legal education in distinctly biopolitical terms, this book provides a critical and political analysis of structure in the law school. Legal education concerns the complex pathways by which an individual becomes a lawyer, making the journey from lay-person to expert, from student to practitioner. To pose the idea of a biopolitics of legal education is not only to recognise the tensions surrounding this journey, but also to recognise that legal education is a key site in which the subject engages, and is engaged by, a particular structure - and here the particular structure of the law school. This book explores that structure by addressing the characteristics of the biopolitical orders engaged in legal education, including: understanding the lawyer as a commodity, unpicking the force relations in legal education, examining the ways codes of conduct in higher education impact academic freedom, as well as putting the distinctly western structures of legal learning within a wider context. Assembling original, field-defining, essays by both leading international scholars as well as emerging researchers, it constitutes indispensable resource in legal education research and scholarship that will appeal to legal academics everywhere.

What is space? And why are questions of space important to social theory? "Society, Action and Space" is the first English translation of a book which has been widely recognized in Europe as a major contribution to the interface between geography and social theory.
Benno Werlen focuses on the issues which are at the heart of the most important debates in human and social geography today. One of the most significant recent developments in social analysis has been the increasing interchange among geographers, sociologists, anthropologists and social philosophers concerning "the spatial." This debate involves the work of Giddens, Foucault, Bourdieu, Lefebvre, Harvey, Gregory, Soja, and many others. From these new developments a whole series of new forms and empirical work, as well as theoretical innovations, have come into being. Spatial considerations are no longer confined to the realm of geography, but are now seen as fundamental to all forms of social theorizing, especially under conditions of late modernity and globalization.
"Society, Action and Space" links discussions in the philosophy of social science with theories of action which have direct relevance to concepts of space. Benno Werlen provides a discussion of Popper's critical rationalism, and connects it to ideas drawn from phenomenology. This epistemological debate is linked with the sociological action theories of Pareto, Weber, Parsons, and Schutz. The book closes with an evaluation of how "the spatial" can be systematically integrated into action theory. Ambitious, original, and persuasive in its arguments, it raises exciting new implications for the study of space and social theory.

What is space? And why are questions of space important to social theory? "Society, Action and Space" is the first English translation of a book which has been widely recognized in Europe as a major contribution to the interface between geography and social theory.
Benno Werlen focuses on the issues which are at the heart of the most important debates in human and social geography today. One of the most significant recent developments in social analysis has been the increasing interchange among geographers, sociologists, anthropologists and social philosophers concerning "the spatial." This debate involves the work of Giddens, Foucault, Bourdieu, Lefebvre, Harvey, Gregory, Soja, and many others. From these new developments a whole series of new forms and empirical work, as well as theoretical innovations, have come into being. Spatial considerations are no longer confined to the realm of geography, but are now seen as fundamental to all forms of social theorizing, especially under conditions of late modernity and globalization.
"Society, Action and Space" links discussions in the philosophy of social science with theories of action which have direct relevance to concepts of space. Benno Werlen provides a discussion of Popper's critical rationalism, and connects it to ideas drawn from phenomenology. This epistemological debate is linked with the sociological action theories of Pareto, Weber, Parsons, and Schutz. The book closes with an evaluation of how "the spatial" can be systematically integrated into action theory. Ambitious, original, and persuasive in its arguments, it raises exciting new implications for the study of space and social theory.

This major study develops a new account of modernity and its relation to the self. Building upon the ideas set out in "The Consequences of Modernity," Giddens argues that 'high' or 'late' modernity is a post traditional order characterised by a developed institutional reflexivity. In the current period, the globalising tendencies of modern institutions are accompanied by a transformation of day-to-day social life having profound implications for personal activities. The self becomes a 'reflexive project', sustained through a revisable narrative of self identity. The reflexive project of the self, the author seeks to show, is a form of control or mastery which parallels the overall orientation of modern institutions towards 'colonising the future'. Yet it also helps promote tendencies which place that orientation radically in question - and which provide the substance of a new political agenda for late modernity.

In this book Giddens concerns himself with themes he has often been accused of unduly neglecting, including especially the psychology of self and self-identity. The volumes are a decisive step in the development of his thinking, and will be essential reading for students and professionals in the areas of social and political theory, sociology, human geography and social psychology.

Anthony Giddens has been in the forefront of developments in social theory for the past decade. In The Constitution of Society he outlines the distinctive position he has evolved during that period and offers a full statement of a major new perspective in social thought, a synthesis and elaboration of ideas touched on in previous works but described here for the first time in an integrated and comprehensive form. A particular feature is Giddensa s concern to connect abstract problems of theory to an interpretation of the nature of empirical method in the social sciences. In presenting his own ideas, Giddens mounts a critical attack on some of the more orthodox sociological views. The Constitution of Society is an invaluable reference book for all those concerned with the basic issues in contemporary social theory.

Europe's social model - its system of welfare and social protection - is regarded by many as the jewel in the crown. It is what helps to give the European societies their distinctive qualities of social cohesion and care for the vulnerable. Over recent years, however, the social model has come under great strain in many states within the European Union - unemployment, for example, remains stubbornly high. The resulting tensions have fuelled dissatisfaction with the European project as a whole, culminating in the rejection of Europe's proposed new constitution.

Reform of the social model is therefore a matter of urgency. It has to go hand in hand with the quest to regenerate economic growth. The weaker performers in Europe over the past few years can learn a good deal from states that have coped more effectively. But more radical changes need to be contemplated in the face of the impact of globalization, rapidly increasing cultural diversity and changing demography. The author argues that the traditional welfare state needs to be rethought. We have to bring lifestyle change into the heart of what welfare means. Moreover, environmental issues must be directly connected to other citizenship obligations. These innovations have to be made at the same time as Europes competitive position is upgraded.

This original and path-breaking book will rank alongside "Beyond Left and Right, " "The Third Way" and other works by Anthony Giddens that have helped reshape social and political thinking over recent decades.

What are the implications of comics for law? Tackling this question, On Comics and Legal Aesthetics explores the epistemological dimensions of comics and the way this once-maligned medium can help think about - and reshape - the form of law. Traversing comics, critical, and cultural legal studies, it seeks to enrich the theorisation of comics with a critical aesthetics that expands its value and significance for law, as well as knowledge more generally. It argues that comics' multimodality - its hybrid structure, which represents a meeting point of text, image, reason, and aesthetics - opens understanding of the limits of law's rational texts by shifting between multiple frames and modes of presentation. Comics thereby exposes the way all forms of knowledge are shaped out of an unstructured universe, becoming a mask over this chaotic 'beyond'. This mask of knowing remains haunted - by that which it can never fully capture or represent. Comics thus models knowledge as an infinity of nested frames haunted by the chaos without structure. In such a model, the multiple aspects of law become one region of a vast and bottomless cascade of perspectives - an infinite multiframe that extends far beyond the traditional confines of the comics page, rendering law boundless.

The intersections of law and contemporary culture are vital for comprehending the meaning and significance of law in today's world. Far from being unsophisticated mass entertainment, comics and graphic fiction both imbue our contemporary culture, and are themselves imbued, with the concerns of law and justice. Accordingly, and spanning a wide variety of approaches and topics from an international array of contributors, Graphic Justice draws comics and graphic fiction into the range of critical resources available to the academic study of law. The first book to do this, Graphic Justice broadens our understanding of law and justice as part of our human world-a world that is inhabited not simply by legal concepts and institutions alone, but also by narratives, stories, fantasies, images, and other cultural articulations of human meaning. Engaging with key legal issues (including copyright, education, legal ethics, biomedical regulation, and legal personhood) and exploring critical issues in criminal justice and perspectives on international rights, law and justice-all through engagement with comics and graphic fiction-the collection showcases the vast breadth of potential that the medium holds. Graphic Justice will be of interest to academics and postgraduate students in: cultural legal studies; law and the image; law, narrative and literature; law and popular culture; cultural criminology; as well as cultural and comics studies more generally.

The studies which comprise this book are essentially organized around a critical encounter with European social theory in its 'classical period' - i.e. from the middle years of the nineteenth century until the First World War - and have the aim of working out some of the implications of that encounter for the position and prospects of the social sciences today. The issues involved relate to the following series of problems: method and epistemology; social development and transformation; the origins of 'sociology' in nineteenth-century social theory; and the status of social science as critique. In each of these areas, Giddens develops views that challenge existing orthodoxies, and connects these ideas to a reconstruction of social theory in the contemporary era.

Establishing the medium of graphic fiction as a critical resource for interdisciplinary legal studies, this collection is the first to address the intersection of comics and law. Graphic fiction has gained enormous cultural capital and academic interest over recent years. Comics-inspired films fill our cinemas and superhero merchandise fills the shelves of supermarkets. In short, our culture is suffused with a comic-book aesthetic: as, for example, the Occupy movement appropriates the mask of V, from the comic work "V for Vendetta"; and, tragically, as James Holmes s murderous rampage through a Colorado movie theatre, seemingly sees him styling himself after Batman s arch-nemesis, the Joker. From mass entertainment and consumerism to political activism and violence, we are surrounded by emanations of graphic storytelling. Meanwhile, the rise of academic disciplines such as comics studies demonstrates that the medium contains much more depth than the common assumption of its simplicity and juvenility might suggest." "Against this background, comics offer an important resource for making sense of the contemporary place and role of law. Whether in their representations of lawyers and the legal system, their dystopian imaginations, their treatment of issues of justice and social order, or in their superheroic investment in the protection of the innocent and the punishment or capture of those who would harm them, like other narrative forms literature, film, theatre graphic fiction explores and expresses human life in all its social, moral and legal complexity. In the context of a now well established interest in cultural legal studies, this book showcases the critical potential of comics and graphic fiction as a resource for interdisciplinary legal studies and legal theory. "

In a world of globalised media, Japanese popular culture has become a signifi cant fountainhead for images, narrative, artefacts, and identity. From Pikachu, to instantly identifi able manga memes, to the darkness of adult anime, and the hyper- consumerism of product tie- ins, Japan has bequeathed to a globalised world a rich variety of ways to imagine, communicate, and interrogate tradition and change, the self, and the technological future. Within these foci, questions of law have often not been far from the surface: the crime and justice of Astro Boy; the property and contract of Pokemon; the ecological justice of Nausicaa; Shinto's focus on order and balance; and the anxieties of origins in J- horror. This volume brings together a range of global scholars to refl ect on and critically engage with the place of law and justice in Japan's popular cultural legacy. It explores not only the global impact of this legacy, but what the images, games, narratives, and artefacts that comprise it reveal about law, humanity, justice, and authority in the twenty-first century.

The third edition of this best-selling introductory reader in sociology has been thoroughly restructured, and fully revised and updated to offer a stimulating and wide-ranging set of readings for students approaching sociology for the first time. A strong emphasis has been placed on creating a productive mixture of classic and contemporary readings which is highly readable and lively, yet remains challenging. Whilst particularly useful as a companion to the sixth edition of Giddens's Sociology, the reader is designed for use independently or alongside other textbooks. The reader maintains the distinctive approach which Sociology pioneered: strongly comparative and historically informed, it stresses the influence of globalizing trends in social life. The carefully selected readings range from studies of face-to-face interaction through to the analysis of large-scale global systems, and cover sociological theories of society as well as research methods. Amongst the new selections in this volume are readings on the Internet and virtual communities, the impact of ecological thinking and climate change on social science, offshoring and the future of work, global cities, patriarchy and shifting gender relations, intersecting social inequalities, the idea and practice of restorative justice, new forms of cybercrime, war, terrorism and the prospects for a global cosmopolitan democracy. The readings are arranged in ten thematic sections and each section is preceded by a summary in order to facilitate students' comprehension and critical reflection. The result is an exciting new text that encompasses the major themes and debates in both classical and contemporary sociology. Sociology: Introductory Readings will be an essential resource for anyone who wishes to engage with the scope of sociological thought today.