In an era when rapid social change, the disappearance of traditional communities, the rise of political populism and the threat posed by radical religious movements makes it appear that 'all that is solid melts into air', the classical sociological problem of how peaceable societies can be created and maintained assumes renewed urgency. Uncovering Social Life: Critical Perspectives from Sociology explores how contemporary institutional changes erode existing social relationships and identities but also create space for opposition to, or creative adaptation of, these broader shifts. Exploring the threats and opportunities associated with the contemporary age, this book identifies how sociology helps us understand the problems associated with social order and change before focusing on the most important institutional transformations to have occurred in: bodies and health; sex, gender and sexuality; employment; finance; the Internet and new social media; technology and artificial intelligence; religion; governance and terrorism. After a critical introduction placing these issues in their historical and sociological context, theoretical chapters analysing how sociology views the individual/society relationship, and the volatile processes endemic to the modern era, provide an innovative and comprehensive context for these explorations. This book provides a clear and engaging account of social life. Covering a broad range of sociological topics, the diverse chapters are united in a concern with three major themes: the growing complexity of the current era, and the 'doubled' identities with which it is associated; the opportunities and constraints such developments pose to different groups; and the capacity of institutional changes to both erode existing social relationships, and create space for the emergence of new collective identities that oppose these structural shifts.

In an era when rapid social change, the disappearance of traditional communities, the rise of political populism and the threat posed by radical religious movements makes it appear that 'all that is solid melts into air', the classical sociological problem of how peaceable societies can be created and maintained assumes renewed urgency. Uncovering Social Life: Critical Perspectives from Sociology explores how contemporary institutional changes erode existing social relationships and identities but also create space for opposition to, or creative adaptation of, these broader shifts. Exploring the threats and opportunities associated with the contemporary age, this book identifies how sociology helps us understand the problems associated with social order and change before focusing on the most important institutional transformations to have occurred in: bodies and health; sex, gender and sexuality; employment; finance; the Internet and new social media; technology and artificial intelligence; religion; governance and terrorism. After a critical introduction placing these issues in their historical and sociological context, theoretical chapters analysing how sociology views the individual/society relationship, and the volatile processes endemic to the modern era, provide an innovative and comprehensive context for these explorations. This book provides a clear and engaging account of social life. Covering a broad range of sociological topics, the diverse chapters are united in a concern with three major themes: the growing complexity of the current era, and the 'doubled' identities with which it is associated; the opportunities and constraints such developments pose to different groups; and the capacity of institutional changes to both erode existing social relationships, and create space for the emergence of new collective identities that oppose these structural shifts.

Through an analysis of successive reformations of the body, this innovative and penetrating book constructs a fascinating and wide-ranging account of how the creation and evolution of different patterns of human community are intimately related to the somatic experience of the sacred. The book places the relationship between embodiment and the sacred at the crux of social theory and casts a fresh light on the emergence and transformation of modernity. It critically examines the thesis that the rational projects of modern embodiment have died and gone to cyberspace and suggests that we are witnessing the rise of a virulent, effervescent form of the sacred that is changing how people see and keep in touch with the world around them. Grounded in classical and contemporary theory, Re-Forming the Body makes a seminal contribution to understanding the relationship between the sacred and profane: the world of religious and moral sentiment and the world of the body. It will be essential reading for graduates, postgraduates, and advanced undergraduates in sociology and social theory, the body, religious studies, cultural studies, and related areas.

Philip Mellor's ambition is to save sociology from itself...or to save society from the sociologists. He has written a brilliant polemic and theoretically rich argument against the many fashionable contemporary social theories that provide acquiescent 'post-societal' endorsements of the economic and technological forces that are 'hollowing out' the religious, moral and human dimensions of societies. I am tremendously impressed' - "Kenneth Thompson, Professor of Sociology at the Open University

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Religion, Realism and Social Theory challenges those contemporary sociologists who argue that the notion of 'society' is an outmoded basis for sociological analysis and instead revitalizes the idea that sociology is truly 'the study of society'.

Through a bold and original argument, Philip Mellor returns the human and religious aspects of social life to the centre of social theory, drawing on a vast range of contemporary social theoretical literature in the process. The book:

" comprehensively reassesses what societies are

" offers a detailed critique of current failings in social theory

" draws out the religious underpinnings of social life

" throws fresh light on the religious, cultural and social conflicts that appear to herald a new period of global disorder

Religion, Realism and Social Theory will stimulate debate amongst academics and students of sociology and social theory, cultural studies and the sociology of religion.

'The Sociological Ambition is a superb book... It is beautifully written, expertly edited and renders complex and original ideas entirely accessible... This is a modern classic' -Journal of Contemporary Religion

In a comprehensive reassessment of the field, Chris Shilling and Philip A Mellor examine the various attempts that have been made to reconstruct sociology over the last century, arguing that classical and contemporary social theories must be studied in relation to the ambition that first shaped and established the discipline.

The authors begin by situating sociology in its historical, philosophical and theological contexts; examining how the founders of the discipline developed competing analyses of the processes elementary to social and moral life through their unique contributions.

The result is a landmark work in recent sociological study. Accomplished and erudite, this book will be required reading for students of sociology, social theory, religious studies and cultural studies.

Through an analysis of successive reformations of the body, this innovative and penetrating book constructs a fascinating and wide-ranging account of how the creation and evolution of different patterns of human community are intimately related to the somatic experience of the sacred. The book places the relationship between embodiment and the sacred at the crux of social theory and casts a fresh light on the emergence and transformation of modernity. It critically examines the thesis that the rational projects of modern embodiment have died and gone to cyberspace and suggests that we are witnessing the rise of a virulent, effervescent form of the sacred that is changing how people see and keep in touch with the world around them. Grounded in classical and contemporary theory, Re-Forming the Body makes a seminal contribution to understanding the relationship between the sacred and profane: the world of religious and moral sentiment and the world of the body. It will be essential reading for graduates, postgraduates, and advanced undergraduates in sociology and social theory, the body, religious studies, cultural studies, and related areas.

"About time! Two key experts in the field remind us of the significance and power of religion as bio-political and bio-economic." - Beverley Skeggs, Goldsmiths, University of London "A welcome addition to a continuing body of work by two distinguished theorists of religion." - Grace Davie, University of Exeter "Mellor and Shilling cement their place at the pinnacle of the contemporary sociological theorisation of religion and the sacred. If sociological work is going to have any future it is to be found in the inspiration and excitement of this sophisticated and intelligent book." - Keith Tester, University of Hull "This book is ambitious, refreshing and rewarding. It offers the best available analysis of the complex interlacing of the sacred, religion, secularization and embodied experience." - James A. Beckford, University of Warwick Drawing on classical and contemporary social theory, Sociology of the Sacred presents a bold and original account of how interactions between religious and secular forms of the sacred underpin major conflicts in the world today, and illuminate broader patterns of social and cultural change inherent to global modernity. It demonstrates: How the bodily capacities help religions adapt to social change but also facilitate their internal transformation That the 'sacred' includes a diverse range of phenomena, with variable implications for questions of social order and change How proponents of a 'post-secular' age have failed to grasp the ways in which sacralization can advance secularization Why the sociology of the sacred needs to be a key part of attempts to make sense of the nature and directionality of social change in global modernity today. This book is key reading for the sociology of religion, the body and modern culture.