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Imagining Society
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Imagining Society
An Introduction to Sociology

Second Edition

Other Titles in:
Sociology (General)

December 2023 | 528 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Imagining Society, Second Edition?is an introductory text that presents sociology as a distinctly human enterprise. In every chapter, as they are learning the discipline’s foundational concepts, readers are led on a journey, across time and space, to encounter some of sociology's key "makers"—the creative individuals whose representations of the social world enable us to make sense of it and change it for the better. At each stop they will be immersed in the actions, ideas, and original thoughts of these diverse and seminal thinkers, whose empirical methods and theoretical insights have inspired other sociologists and form the building blocks of the discipline.

Exercises in the text create opportunities for students to activate their own imaginations and to also see familiar contemporary culture and society—TV shows, popular music, advertising, organizations, thought-leaders and authority figures, fads and movements, etc.—through fresh eyes.
 
Part I: Understanding Society
 
Chapter 1: The Sociological Imagination
Society and Culture

 
The Sociological Imagination

 
Three Core Foci of Sociology

 
Three Core Aims of Sociology

 
Émile Durkheim and Social Facts

 
Is Sociology Just Common Sense?

 
Research Methods: How Do Sociologists Study Society?

 
 
Chapter 2: Socialization and Social Interaction
The Individual and Society

 
Socialization

 
Aging and Socialization

 
The Performance of Social Roles

 
 
Chapter 3: Deviance, Law, and Crime
What Is Deviance?

 
Social Construction

 
Why Are People Deviant?

 
The Power of the Situation

 
Punishment

 
 
Part II: Social Inequality
 
Chapter 4: Social Stratification and Social Class
Conflict Theory and Karl Marx

 
Class Struggles

 
Class Consciousness

 
Max Weber and the Multiple Bases of Power

 
Income and Wealth Inequality in the United States

 
Poverty

 
 
Chapter 5: Race and Ethnicity
Race and Ethnicity

 
The Consequences of Social Constructions

 
Where Does Prejudice Come From?

 
Immigration

 
 
Chapter 6: Gender at the Intersections
Sex and Gender

 
Gender and Institutions

 
Feminism and Feminist Theory

 
Intersectionality

 
Sexuality

 
 
Part III: The Role of Institutions
 
Chapter 7: Language, Media, and Culture
Language

 
Media and Culture

 
Corporate Concentration and the Media

 
New Media and Social Media

 
Media Effects

 
 
Chapter 8: The Family and Intimate Relationships
What Are Families?

 
Larger Social Changes That Impact the Family

 
Theorizing the Family

 
Intimate Relationships

 
 
Chapter 9: Education
The Schooled Society

 
The Functions of Education

 
Education and Social Inequality

 
Education, Cultural Capital, and Social Capital

 
Education Around the World

 
 
Chapter 10: Work and Rationalization
The Rationalized World

 
Commodification

 
The Division of Labor in Society

 
Changes in Work in the United States

 
 
Chapter 11: Health
The Sociology of Health

 
The Social Determinants of Health

 
Health Inequality

 
Health Care Systems

 
 
Chapter 12: Globalization and Global Inequality
What Is Globalization?

 
Understanding Globalization

 
Global Inequality

 
 
Part IV: Social Change
 
Chapter 13: Change Through Policy and the Law
How Does Society Reproduce Itself?

 
The Rise of the State

 
The Welfare State

 
Reparation Programs

 
How the State Involves the Public

 
 
Chapter 14: Social Movements
Social Movements

 
Trends in Social Movement Participation

 
The Media and Social Movements

 
Success in Social Movements

 
Public Sociology and Using Our Sociological Imagination

 
 
Appendix 1: Readings in Imagining Society
 
Appendix 2: Methods in Imagining Society
 
Glossary
 
References
 
Index

Supplements

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LMS cartridge included with this title for use in Blackboard, Canvas, Brightspace by Desire2Learn (D2L), and Moodle

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  • All tables and figures from the textbook
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