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Living On The Edge: Rethinking Poverty, Class And Schooling (PDF)
by John Smyth Terry WrigleyThis book confronts one of the most enduring and controversial issues in education - the nexus between poverty and underachievement. The topic has become a key contemporary battleground in the struggle to raise standards. Living on the Edge maps and compares a number of competing explanations, critiques inadequate and deficit accounts, and offers a more convincing and useful theory. The authors challenge the view that problems can be fixed by discrete initiatives, which in many instances are deeply rooted in deficit views of youth, families and communities. The book systematically interrogates a range of explanations based outside as well as inside schools. It draws upon positive examples of schools which are succeeding in engaging marginalized young people, providing worthwhile forms of learning, and improving young lives. It is a 'must read' for anyone concerned about or implicated in the struggle for more socially just forms of education.
Understanding Social Divisions
by Shaun BestThe study of social divisions has dominated research within the social sciences since the nineteenth century. Early stratification categories of class, race, and gender, have in more recent years been joined by issues such as sexuality and disability.
Social Problems in the UK: An Introduction (PDF)
by Stuart IsaacsSocial Problems in the UK: An Introduction is the first textbook on contemporary social issues to contextualise social problems within the disciplines of sociology, social policy, criminology and applied social science. Drawing on the research and teaching experience of academics in these areas, this much-needed textbook brings together a comprehensive range of expertise. Social Problems in the UK discusses the strengthening and changing character of social construction, providing a new and invigorated way of studying the issues for all social science students. This clear, accessible textbook guides students in approaching the methodology, theory and research of social problems, and introduces the key topics in the area: migration and 'race' work and unemployment poverty drugs, violence and policing youth, sub-culture and gangs childhood and education Social Problems in the UK provides a number of helpful pedagogical features for ease of teaching and learning, including: case studies; links to data sources; textboxes highlighting examples, key figures etc.; study questions, and tips on how to undertake literature reviews and use journals and databases.
Questioning Identity: Gender, Class, Ethnicity (PDF)
by Kath WoodwardOur world is an increasingly unstable place, but current changes offer new opportunities as well as new challenges. This key volume provides an accessible exploration of identity as a contemporary concern in everyday life and as a key concept in social science. Drawing on work from a range of disciplines and focusing on the key social divisions of gender, class and nation, it shows how these challenges and opportunities work out in practice.
Using Research Instruments: A Guide for Researchers (PDF)
by Peter BirminghamClear, accessible and practical, this guide introduces the first-time researcher to the various instruments used in social research. It assesses a broad range of research instruments - from the well-established to the innovative - enabling readers to decide which are particularly well suited to their research.The book covers: questionnaires interviews content analysis focus groups observation researching the things people say and do. This book is particularly suitable for work-based and undergraduate researchers in education, social policy and social work, nursing and business administration. It draws numerous examples from actual research projects, which readers can adapt for their own purposes. Written in a fresh and jargon-free style, the book assumes no prior knowledge and is firmly rooted in the authors' own extensive research experience.Using Research Instruments is the ideal companion volume to The Researcher's Toolkit. Together they offer a superb practical introduction to conducting a social research project.
Subculture: The Meaning of Style (PDF)
by Dick Hebdige'Hebdige's Subculture: The Meaning of Style is so important: complex and remarkably lucid, it's the first book dealing with punk to offer intellectual content. Hebdige [...] is concerned with the UK's postwar, music-centred, white working-class subcultures, from teddy boys to mods and rockers to skinheads and punks.' - Rolling Stone With enviable precision and wit Hebdige has addressed himself to a complex topic - the meanings behind the fashionable exteriors of working-class youth subcultures - approaching them with a sophisticated theoretical apparatus that combines semiotics, the sociology of devience and Marxism and come up with a very stimulating short book - Time Out This book is an attempt to subject the various youth-protest movements of Britain in the last 15 years to the sort of Marxist, structuralist, semiotic analytical techniques propagated by, above all, Roland Barthes. The book is recommended whole-heartedly to anyone who would like fresh ideas about some of the most stimulating music of the rock era - The New York Times
Global Sociology, 2nd Edition (PDF)
by Robin CohenThe first, pioneering edition of Global Sociology put global issues at the heart if the sociological discussion. A lot has changed in the world since then: recessions and revolutions, social media and new migration networks have developed as causes and symptoms of an increasingly global society. This new edition is fully updated to explore just how these global issues can help us to understand sociology in our world today. Making clear connections between everyday experiences and global processes at each step, the third edition: carefully guides you through essential and cutting-edge topics in the discipline from family and feminism to environment and economy introduces core theory and the great minds of the discipline with Global Thinkers biography boxes supports your learning with study-friendly features, including Pause to Reflect questions, Key Concept highlights and Definition glossary boxes - offers extra online resources at http://www.palgrave.com/companion/Cohen-And-Kennedy-Global-Soci ology/nbsp; With clear writing and infectious enthusiasm for its topic, this book remains the authority on global issues in sociology for students across the world.
Sociology of Personal Life (PDF)
by Vanessa MayWhat can Sociology tell us about our personal lives, families and intimate relationships? This book explains how key theoretical perspectives and relevant contemporary research in the discipline can shed new light on even the most familiar areas of our everyday worlds. From friendships and pets, to political engagement and social legislation, the text shows how distinctions and connections can be drawn between our public and private lives. Each chapter explores a familiar topic that illustrates how individual relationships and lives can be shaped by social contexts, and how personal choices shape the wider social world. Using vivid case examples drawn from topical areas of debate, such as marriage rights and the role of social networking, the book is clearly laid out and easy to read. It gives useful explanations of theory and invaluable advice on how to carry out research on personal lives and relationships. This is essential reading for students of Sociology interested in family, relationships and beyond.
Social Research Methods (PDF)
by Alan BrymanStudying a social science degree? Need to know how to develop your research methods and write up your results more effectively? In the fourth edition of this lively and engaging textbook, Alan Bryman presents students with an updated and all-encompassing guide to the principle techniques and methodology in the field of Social Research.
Social Capital and Economics: Social Values, Power and Social Identity
by Asimina Christoforou John DavisThis volume provides a collection of critical new perspectives on social capital theory by examining how social values, power relationships, and social identity interact with social capital. This book seeks to extend this theory into what have been largely under-investigated domains, and, at the same time, address long-standing, classic questions in the literature concerning the forms, determinants, and consequences of social capital. Social capital can be understood in terms of social norms and networks. It manifests itself in patterns of trust, reciprocity, and cooperation. The authors argue that the degree to which and the different ways in which people exhibit these distinctively social behaviours depend on how norms and networks elicit their values, reflect power relationships, and draw on their social identities. This volume accordingly adopts a variety of different concepts and measures that incorporate the variety of contextually-specific factors that operate on social capital formation. In addition, it adopts an interdisciplinary outlook that combines a wide range of social science disciplines and methods of social research. Our objective is to challenge standard rationality theory explanations of norms and networks which overlook the role of values, power, and identity. This volume appeals to researchers and students in multiple social sciences, including economics, sociology, political science, social psychology, history, public policy, and international relations, that employ social capital concepts and methods in their research. It can be seen as a set of new extensions of social capital theory in connection with its themes of social values, power, and identity that would advance the scholarly literature on social norms and networks and their impact on social change and public welfare. This volume provides a collection of critical new perspectives on social capital theory by examining how social values, power relationships, and social identity interact with social capital. This book seeks to extend this theory into what have been largely under-investigated domains, and, at the same time, address long-standing, classic questions in the literature concerning the forms, determinants, and consequences of social capital. Social capital can be understood in terms of social norms and networks. It manifests itself in patterns of trust, reciprocity, and cooperation. The authors argue that the degree to which and the different ways in which people exhibit these distinctively social behaviours depend on how norms and networks elicit their values, reflect power relationships, and draw on their social identities. This volume accordingly adopts a variety of different concepts and measures that incorporate the variety of contextually-specific factors that operate on social capital formation. In addition, it adopts an interdisciplinary outlook that combines a wide range of social science disciplines and methods of social research. Our objective is to challenge standard rationality theory explanations of norms and networks which overlook the role of values, power, and identity. This volume appeals to researchers and students in multiple social sciences, including economics, sociology, political science, social psychology, history, public policy, and international relations, that employ social capital concepts and methods in their research. It can be seen as a set of new extensions of social capital theory in connection with its themes of social values, power, and identity that would advance the scholarly literature on social norms and networks and their impact on social change and public welfare.
Disability Rights and Wrongs Revisited (2nd edition) (PDF)
by Tom ShakespeareOver the last forty years, the field of disability studies has emerged from the political activism of disabled people. In this challenging review of the field, leading disability academic and activist Tom Shakespeare argues that disability research needs a firmer conceptual and empirical footing. This new edition is updated throughout, reflecting Shakespeare's most recent thinking, drawing on current research, and responding to controversies surrounding the first edition and the World Report on Disability, as well as incorporating new chapters on cultural disability studies, personal assistance, sexuality, and violence. Using a critical realist approach, Disability Rights and Wrongs Revisited promotes a pluralist, engaged and nuanced approach to disability. Key topics discussed include: dichotomies - going beyond dangerous polarizations such as medical model versus social model to achieve a complex, multi-factorial account of disability identity - the drawbacks of the disability movement's emphasis on identity politics bioethics - choices at the beginning and end of life and in the field of genetic and stem cell therapies relationships - feminist and virtue ethics approaches to questions of intimacy, assistance and friendship. This stimulating and accessible book challenges disability studies orthodoxy, promoting a new conceptualization of disability and fresh research agenda. It is an invaluable resource for researchers and students in disability studies and sociology, as well as professionals, policy makers and activists.
Handbook of Youth and Young Adulthood: New Perspectives and Agendas (PDF)
by Andy FurlongThe parameters within which young people live their lives have changed radically. Changes in education and the labour market have led to an increased complexity of the youth phase and to an overall protraction in dependency and transitions. Written by leading academics from several countries, this Handbook introduces up to date perspectives on a wide range of issues that affect and shape youth and young adulthood. It provides an authoritative and multi-disciplinary overview of a field of study that offers unique insight on social change in advanced societies and is aimed at academics, students, researchers and policy-makers. The Handbook introduces some of the key theoretical perspectives used within youth studies and sets out future research agendas. Each of the ten sections covers an important area of research - from education and the labour market to youth cultures, health and crime whilst discussing change and continuity in the lives of young people. This work introduces readers to some of the most important work in the field while highlighting the underlying perspectives that have been used to understand the complexity of modern youth and young adulthood.
Key Ideas: Citizenship (PDF)
by Keith FaulksThis book presents a clear and comprehensive overview of citizenship, which has become one of the most important political ideas of our time. The author, an experienced textbook writer and teacher, uses a postmodern theory of citizenship to ask topical questions as: * Can citizenship exist without the nation-state? * What should the balance be between our rights and responsibilities? * Should we enjoy group as well as individual rights? * Is citizenship relevant to our private as well as our public lives? * Have processes of globalisation rendered citizenship redundant?
Unequal Childhoods: Children's Lives in Developing Countries (PDF)
by Helen PennAn expert in her field, Helen Penndiscusses the inequalities between and within countries of childhood poverty and how this poverty is recognized and defined through the following case-studies: Kazakhstan - once part of the Soviet Union Swaziland - a country in Southern Africa devastated by HIV and AIDS Himalayan India Brazil - one of the world's most unequal countries. These four case studies illustrate the diversity and complexity of the responses to the attempts to globalise childhood and highlight the need to address the inequalities of childhood experience.
Multimodality: Exploring Contemporary Methods of Communication (PDF)
by Gunther R. KressThe 21st century is awash with ever more mixed and remixed images, writing, layout, sound, gesture, speech, and 3D objects.nbsp;Multimodality looks beyond language and examines these multiple modes of communication and meaning making. Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication represents a long-awaited and much anticipated addition to the study of multimodality from the scholar who pioneered and continues to play a decisive role in shaping the field. Written in an accessible manner and illustrated with a wealth of photos and illustrations to clearly demonstrate the points made, Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication deliberately sets out to locate communication in the everyday, covering topics and issues not usually discussed in books of this kind, from traffic signs to mobile phones. In this book, Gunther Kress presents a contemporary, distinctive and widely applicable approach to communication. He provides the framework necessary for understanding the attempt to bring all modes of meaning-making together under one unified theoretical roof. This exploration of an increasingly vital area of language and communication studies will be of interest to advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students in the fields of English language and applied linguistics, media and communication studies and education. The 21st century is awash with ever more mixed and remixed images, writing, layout, sound, gesture, speech, and 3D objects. Multimodality looks beyond language and examines these multiple modes of communication and meaning making. Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication represents a long-awaited and much anticipated addition to the study of multimodality from the scholar who pioneered and continues to play a decisive role in shaping the field. Written in an accessible manner and illustrated with a wealth of photos and illustrations to clearly demonstrate the points made, Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication deliberately sets out to locate communication in the everyday, covering topics and issues not usually discussed in books of this kind, from traffic signs to mobile phones. In this book, Gunther Kress presents a contemporary, distinctive and widely applicable approach to communication. He provides the framework necessary for understanding the attempt to bring all modes of meaning-making together under one unified theoretical roof. This exploration of an increasingly vital area of language and communication studies will be of interest to advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students in the fields of English language and applied linguistics, media and communication studies and education.
Stratification: Social Division and Inequality (PDF)
by Wendy BotteroOffering a fresh and exciting new perspective on differentiation and inequality, this absorbing book investigates how our most personal choices (of sexual partners, friends, consumption items and lifestyle) are influenced by hierarchy and social difference. Exploring the topics of assortative mating; social capital; friendship networks and cultural identity; the book examines how hierarchy affects our tastes and leisure time activities, and who we choose (and hang on to) as our friends and partners. This book: * introduces debates on stratification by exploring its effect on everyday social relations * relates class inequalities to broader processes of social division and cultural differentiation, exploring the associational and cultural aspects of hierarchy * explores how groups draw on social, economic and cultural resources, using cultural 'cues', to admit some and exclude others from their social circle * explores new theoretical approaches to stratification: drawing on cultural theories of class, social interaction approaches, and research on differential association The book has a novel and fresh new way of looking at a well-established area in sociology - social stratification. Offering a fresh and exciting new perspective on differentiation and inequality, this absorbing book investigates how our most personal choices (of sexual partners, friends, consumption items and lifestyle) are influenced by hierarchy and social difference. Exploring the topics of assortative mating; social capital; friendship networks and cultural identity; the book examines how hierarchy affects our tastes and leisure time activities, and who we choose (and hang on to) as our friends and partners. This book: * introduces debates on stratification by exploring its effect on everyday social relations * relates class inequalities to broader processes of social division and cultural differentiation, exploring the associational and cultural aspects of hierarchy * explores how groups draw on social, economic and cultural resources, using cultural 'cues', to admit some and exclude others from their social circle * explores new theoretical approaches to stratification: drawing on cultural theories of class, social interaction approaches, and research on differential association The book has a novel and fresh new way of looking at a well-established area in sociology - social stratification.
Class Strategies and the Education Market: The Middle Classes and Social Advantage (1st edition) (PDF)
by Stephen J. BallExamines the ways in which the middle classes maintain and improve their social advantages in and through education. Drawing on an extensive series of interviews with parents and children, this book identifies key moments of decision making in the construction of the educational trajectories of middle class children. Stephen J. Ball organises his analysis around the key concepts of social closure, social capital, values and principles and risk, while bringing a broad range of up-to-date sociological theory to bear upon his subject. From this thorough analysis, valuable and thought-provoking insights emerge into the assiduous care and considerable effort and expenditure which goes into ensuring the educational success of the middle class child. The middle classes are a sociological enigma, presenting the social researcher with considerable analytic and theoretical difficulties. Class Strategies and the Education Market provides a set of working tools for class analysis and the examination of class practices. Above all, it offers new ways of thinking about class theory and the relationships between classes in late modern society.
Madness and Civilization (Routledge Classics) (2nd edition) (PDF)
by Michel FoucaultIn this classic account of madness, Michel Foucault shows once and for all why he is one of the most distinguished European philosophers since the end of World War II. Madness and Civilization, Foucault's first book and his finest accomplishment, will change the way in which you think about society. Evoking shock, pity and fascination, it might also make you question the way you think about yourself.
Consumer Society: Critical Issues and Environmental Consequences (PDF)
by Barry SmartWhat factors are contributing to the continuing growth in consumption of goods and services? At what point do the costs associated with consumerism begin to call our way of life into question? How are the problems of resource depletion, waste and pollution, and environmental impact being addressed? What is to be done about the consequences of our all-consuming way of life? Ever-increasing consumption and a relentless pursuit of growth in output are the twin pillars on which the modern economy and contemporary social life rest. But the consumer way of life is globally unsustainable. We can't all live the consumer dream. This comprehensive, lively and informative book will quickly be recognized as a benchmark in the field. It brings together a huge set of resources for thinking about the development of consumer culture, its defining features, and global consequences. Adept in handling a complex range of classical and contemporary theoretical sources, the book draws on an impressive range of comparative material and provides a variety of contemporary examples to inform and enhance understanding of our consuming way of life. Smart writes with verve and feeling and has produced a stimulating book that enlarges our understanding of consumer culture and provides a timely critical analysis of its consequences. Clear, engaging, and original this book will be essential reading for all those interested in and concerned about our global culture of consumption including researchers and students in sociology, politics, cultural studies, economics, and social geography.
Contested Natures (PDF)
by Phil MacnaghtenDemonstrating that all notions of nature are inextricably entangled in different forms of social life, the text elaborates the many ways in which the apparently natural world has been produced from within particular social practices. These are analyzed in terms of different senses, different times and the production of distinct spaces, including the local, the national and the global. The authors emphasize the importance of cultural understandings of the physical world, highlighting the ways in which these have been routinely misunderstood by academic and policy discourses. They show that popular conceptions of, and attitudes to, nature are often contradictory and that there are no simple ways of prevailing upon people to `save the environment'.
Understanding Material Culture (PDF)
by Ian Woodward'In his interdisciplinary review of material culture, Ian Woodward goes beyond synthesis to offer a theoretically innovative reconstruction of the field. Understanding Material Culture is filled with gems of conceptual insight and empirical discovery. A wonderful book' - Jeffrey C. Alexander, Yale University. nbsp;
Understanding Judith Butler (PDF)
by Anita BradyAcknowledged as one of the most influential thinkers of modern times, an understanding of Judith Butler's work is ever more essential to an understanding of not just the landscape of cultural and critical theory, but of the world around us.
Understanding Representation (PDF)
by Jen Webb'This is an extraordinarily lucid book. I am not sure that there is anyone who can do this sort of thing better than Jen Webb. It is a gift to students; extremely accessible yet complex and sophisticated in its treatment of theories and concepts of representation' - Jim McGuigan, Loughborough University.
Understanding Qualitative Research And Ethnomethodology (PDF)
by Paul Ten HaveThis book provides a discussion of qualitative research methods from an ethnomethodological perspective.
Effective Communication: A Guide for the People Professions (PDF)
by Neil ThompsonCommunication is at the heart of all work with people and their problems. Whatever the setting, poor communication can prove very damaging in its consequences. However, at its most effective, it has the power to ensure the promotion of equality and well-being. This new edition of an essential text offers a clear and informative introduction to the subtleties and practical complexities of communication. Drawing on a wide-ranging theory base from across the social sciences, it demonstrates how key ideas from a number of disciplines provide a sound foundation for informed and sensitive practice. This edition includes: A consistent focus on the importance of communication within interprofessional and multidisciplinary contexts; New chapters on communication within specific settings, such as working with children and with groups; New discussion of potential difficulties in communication - for example, as a result of disability issues or the challenges of intercultural communication; A broad range of learning resources, such as activities, 'points to ponder' and 'voice of experience' comments, reflecting practitioners' real-world experience. With its clear practice focus and emphasis on reflection throughoutnbsp;Effective Communication is a key text for everyone across the people professions. It is an ideal introduction for students and practitioners of social work, nursing,health and social care, counselling and pastoral care, teaching and educational support, probation work, youth and community work, and advice studies, as well as managers, leaders, supervisors and human resource professionals.