This timely resource, written by a team of authors who are working at the forefront of the public sociology movement, provides a contemporary analysis of public sociology. The book highlights a variety of ways in which sociology brings about social change in community settings, assists nonprofit and social service organizations in their work, and influences policy at the local, regional, and national levels. The book also spotlights sociology that informs the general public on key policy issues through media and creates research centers that develop and carry out collaborative research.

This is a genuine innovation, because it is the ONLY text available which demonstrates how social science theory/research can be APPLIED to successful collaborative work with community groups. "Sustainable Communities on an Aging Planet is a course I am designing for Fall, 1996. This text is exactly what I need for the course. I was very impressed with the case material." --Stan Ingman, University of North Texas "I will be teaching a new course next semester entitled 'Community Building.' I would love to have a text that emphasizes case studies, while providing some information on needs assessment and evaluation research. It looks like [this book] would be exactly what I need." --Roland Liebert, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana Twenty-seven instructive cases, originally written for this volume, are framed by two introductory chapters and a concluding chapter, which draw out the principles and perspectives underlying the case materials. Each case also concludes with extensive editorial commentary.