Download or read book Towards a Critical Sociology Routledge Revivals written by Zygmunt Bauman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-02-08 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the better part of its history sociology shared with commonsense its assumption of the ‘nature-like’ character of society – and consequently developed as the science of unfreedom. In this powerful and engaging work, first published in 1976, Professor Bauman outlines the historical roots of such a science and describes how the new trends in sociology emerging from phenomenology and existentialism do not challenge this preoccupation. Rather, he claims, they deepen and extend it by stressing the key role of commonsense, particularly the ways in which it is sustained and embedded in the routines and assumptions of everyday life. Professor Bauman sets out the form of a critical sociology, based on emancipatory reason. His main concerns are the `validity' of commonsense and the truth of a theory which would resolve to transcend the limitations of commonsensical evidence. Aimed at human liberation A Critical Sociology is designed to question the very same routines and assumptions of everyday life informed by commonsense.
Download or read book Sociology as Social Criticism Routledge Revivals written by Tom B. Bottomore and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-09-10 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1975, this collection of essays embodies a conception of sociological thought as a critical analysis of social theories and doctrines, of social institutions and political regimes, of recent social movements. They deal, in particular, with some conservative versions of sociology and with attempts to develop more radical theories; they extend the author's previous writings on classes, elites and politics; and they analyse some of the problems of socialism in the late twentieth century. There is a close unity of theme througout the book in its critical attempt to formulate new intellectual bases for future radical and egalitarian politics. It is written with that quiet wisdom and impressive command of sources which readers have come to associate with Professor Bottomore's work.
Download or read book Towards a Critical Sociology written by Zygmunt Bauman and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the better part of its history, sociology shared with commonsense its assumption of the 'nature-like' character of society - and consequently developed as the science of unfreedom. This work describes how the various trends in sociology emerging from phenomenology and existentialism do not challenge this preoccupation.
Download or read book Systematic Mixed Methods Research for Social Scientists written by Wendy Olsen and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-07-28 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This textbook provides clear and accessible guidance on the importance and practical application of mixed-methods research. Professor Olsen presents a range of multiple mixed-methods techniques using quantified data. Critical realism underpins key arguments. She offers detailed examples based on wide experience with international applied social-science projects. The book shows readers how to join quantitative and qualitative data together. Detailed methods include: using multiple-level data; constructing new indices based on mixing survey responses and personal interviews; and using focus groups alongside a large survey. The book provides readers with linkages of data between different software packages. It explains the analysis stage in mixed-methods research, interprets complex causality, shows how to transform data, and helps with interpreting social structures, institutions, and discourses. Finally, the book covers some epistemological issues. These include the nature and value of data. The author discusses validity and techniques for ensuring relevant, innovative conclusions. The book also touches on action research as an overarching participatory method. This book is based on clear and explicit definitions, is accessible to students and researchers across disciplines, and shows the appeal of mixed-methods research to those trained in quantitative methods.
Download or read book Hermeneutics and Social Science Routledge Revivals written by Zygmunt Bauman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-03-23 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1978, this important work, by one of the leading European social theorists, is arguably the best introduction to the hermeneutic tradition as a whole. It is designed to help students of sociology and philosophy place the problems of "understanding social science" in their historical and philosophical context. It does so by presenting the major current in sociological thought as responses to the challenge of hermeneutics. The idea that true knowledge of social life can be attained only if human conduct is seen as meaningful action whose meaning is accordingly grasped has been presented as a discovery of recent sociology. In fact its history is long and its connections plentiful, reaching beyond the boundaries of sociology itself. Yet it is in sociology that the hermeneutic tradition has attracted most interest but most misinterpretation. The debate is in full swing and there is no attempt to offer "correct" solutions - the emphasis instead is upon revealing the strengths and weaknesses of each of the main approaches. However it is Bauman's view that the theory of understanding may achieve valid results only if it treats the problem of understanding as an aspect of the ongoing process of social life.
Download or read book The Return of the Native written by Jan Willem Duyvendak and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-11-04 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth analysis that demonstrates how and why there has been a resurgence of nativist logic. It was once thought that liberalism and globalization would consign nativist logics to the fringes of societies and eventually to history. But if it ever left, nativism has well and truly returned, spreading across nations, across the political spectrum, and from the fringes back into the mainstream. In The Return of the Native, Jan Willem Duyvendak, Josip Kesic, and Timothy Stacey explore how nativist logics have infiltrated liberal settings and discourses, primarily in the Netherlands as well as other countries with strong liberal traditions like the US and France. They deconstruct and explain the underlying logic of nativist narratives and show how these narratives are emerging in the discourses of secularism (a religious nativism that problematizes Islam and Muslims), racism (a racial nativism that problematizes black anti-racism), populism (a populist nativism that problematizes elites), and left-wing politics (a left nativism that sees religious, racial, and populist nativists themselves as a threat to national culture). By moving systematically through these key iterations of nativism, the authors show how liberal ideas themselves are becoming tools for claiming that some people do not belong to the nation. A unique analysis of the most fundamental political transformation of our days, this book illuminates the resurgence of the figure of the "native," who claims the country at the expense of those perceived as foreign.
Download or read book Nonreligious Imaginaries of World Repairing written by Lori G. Beaman and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-08-12 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world is confronted with multiple intersecting crises including exploitation, inequality, political polarization and climate change. World-repairing work is vitally needed. But just at a time when humans most obviously require robust moral imaginaries on which to draw, it is no longer clear what kinds of beliefs, meanings, stories and encounters inspire them to act. We know that nonreligious identities are on the rise in numerous countries throughout the world. But with so much focus on the “non” part of nonreligion, what we don’t know is what nonreligious imaginaries actually look, sound and feel like. What do nonreligious people believe in? What stories inspire them? In what moments do they find meaning? This book seeks to answer these questions through a series of short essays exploring the nonreligious imaginaries that emerge in a range of world-repairing practices, including ethical consumption, community organizing, eating habits, and environmental activism. In so doing, the book provides a crucial contribution to two areas of increasing social and political concern: First, the need to understand not only what nonreligious people are rejecting but also their sources of meaning and action. Second, the urgent need for cultural tools for mobilizing people towards more compassionate and sustainable practices.
Download or read book Saving Liberalism from Itself written by Stacey, Timothy and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2022-06-01 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the wake of populism, Timothy Stacey’s book critically reflects on what is missing from the liberal project with the aim of saving liberalism. It explains that populists have harnessed myth, ritual, magic and tradition to advance their ambitions, and why opponents need to embrace rather than eschew them. Using examples of liberally oriented activists in Vancouver, it presents an accessible theorization of these quasi-religious concepts in secular life. The result is to provide both a new theoretical understanding of why liberalism fails to engage people, and a toolkit for campaigners, policymakers and academics seeking to bridge the gap between liberal aspirations and lived experiences, in order to promote political engagement and to create unity out of division.
Download or read book Routledge Revivals Towards a New Theory of Organizations 1994 written by John Hassard and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-09-19 with total page 451 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1994, the essays collected in this book explore the impact and current status of the ideas put forth in David Silverman’s The Theory of Organizations, and how they relate to future directions in organization theory. After opening with a chapter by Silverman himself, the subsequent chapters investigate key issues in the study of organizations, including structure and agency, the politics of organization theory, and the meanings of post-positivist organizational analysis. Contemporaneous debates on postmodernism, the emotions, gender and structuration are discussed in the context of the development of organizational theory in the preceding twenty-five years — providing insights into the continuities within organizational theory and provoking thought about future directions.
Download or read book Giddens Theory of Structuration written by Christopher Bryant and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-06-03 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anthony Giddens is one of the most respected and influential social theorists at work today. This wide-ranging and stimulating volume, first published in 1991, provides an authoratative and penetrating critical assessment of social theory. It will be of use to all students of sociology and social theory.
Download or read book Sociology as Social Criticism Routledge Revivals written by Tom B. Bottomore and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-09-10 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1975, this collection of essays embodies a conception of sociological thought as a critical analysis of social theories and doctrines, of social institutions and political regimes, of recent social movements. They deal, in particular, with some conservative versions of sociology and with attempts to develop more radical theories; they extend the author's previous writings on classes, elites and politics; and they analyse some of the problems of socialism in the late twentieth century. There is a close unity of theme througout the book in its critical attempt to formulate new intellectual bases for future radical and egalitarian politics. It is written with that quiet wisdom and impressive command of sources which readers have come to associate with Professor Bottomore's work.
Download or read book The Sociology of Belief Routledge Revivals written by Keith Dixon and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-12-19 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1980, this book presents a study of knowledge and the patterns of social and scientific thought. Keith Dixon argues that traditional and contemporary formulations of the sociology of knowledge involve a series of fallacies, and the claim to reduce knowledge to ideology devalues the role of reasoned inquiry. Chapters discuss such areas as the theories of Marx and Mannheim, the sociology of science and of religious belief. With a detailed conclusion analysing the foundations and limits of the sociology of knowledge, this reissue will provide an interesting and useful analysis for students of Sociology.
Download or read book The Status of Everyday Life Routledge Revivals written by Fiona Mackie and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-12 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 2010. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Download or read book Capitalism and Leisure Theory Routledge Revivals written by Chris Rojek and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-12-19 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1985, this title explores theories of leisure in a capitalist society. Basing his argument on a refutation of the conventional association of leisure with freedom and free time, Chris Rojek examines the four main structural characteristics of modern leisure practice: privatisation, individuation, commercialisation and pacification. The writings of Marx, Durkheim, Weber, and Freud are used to locate the question of leisure in more mainstream social theory. This interesting reissue will be of particular value to students of sociology and leisure studies, and those with an interest in the relationship between leisure and power.
Download or read book Class Politics and the Economy Routledge Revivals written by Stewart Clegg and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-11-06 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study, first published in 1986, provides a systematic account of the processes and structure of class formation in the major advanced capitalist societies. The focus is on the organizational mechanisms of class cohesion and division, theoretically deriving from a neo-Marxian perspective. Chapters consider the organization and structure of the ‘corporate ruling class’, the middle class and the working class, and are brought together in an overarching analysis of the organization of class in relation to the state and the economy. This title will be of particular interest to students researching the impact of recession on societal structure and the processes of political class struggle, as well as those with a more general interest in the socio-economic theories of Marx, Engels and Weber.
Download or read book Knowledge Ideology Discourse written by Tim Dant and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-12-19 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This student textbook, originally published in 1991, tackles the traditional problems of the sociology of knowledge from a new perspective. Drawing on recent developments in social theory, Tim Dant explores crucial questions such as the roles of power and knowledge, the status of rational knowledge, and the empirical analysis of knowledge. He argues that, from a sociological perspective, knowledge, ideology and discourse are different aspects of the same phenomenon, and reasserts the central thesis of the sociology - that knowledge is socially determined.
Download or read book Millennium and Charisma Among Pathans written by Akbar Ahmed and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2011 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1976, this Routledge Revivals reissue presents an analysis of the Swat Pathans, the people of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, who belong administratively to Pakistan despite being a fiercely independent group, with their own codes and ways of life. Akbar S. Ahmed, who knows the Swat Pathans well through his family connections, presents a clear and sophisticated analysis of their complex society. The study provides an anthropological and critical re-examination of the ethnography of the Swat Pathans and the author suggests specific alternative models of social organization. The book also represents an important contribution to the general debate in the social sciences between the âe~methodological individualistsâe(tm) and the âe~methodological holistsâe(tm), and challenges some of the theoretical and methodological premises in anthropology. In particular the author is critical of Professor Fredrik Barthâe(tm)s study of Swat Pathans, for he believes that the âe~Swat modelsâe(tm) have inadvertently become the basis for generalized, and often incorrect, understanding of models of Pathan socio-political organization in the social sciences.
