Product Description: Elementary Forms of Social Relations introduces the reader to social life as a perpetual quest by individuals to gain attention, respect and regard (status) accompanied by an effort to marshal defensive and offensive means (power) to overcome the reluctance of others to grant status...read more

Describes the activities of a group of freak-out surfers and other personalities in the psychedelic life style in America and England

Product Description: Intersectionality, the attempt to bring theories on race, gender, disability and sexuality together, has existed for decades as a theoretical framework. The essays in this volume explore how intersectionality can be applied to modern philosophy, as well as looking at other disciplines...read more

Gender and Social Hierarchies offers a fresh and coherent picture of applied research from within social psychology on the intricate relationship between gender and social status. It comprises a collection of innovative approaches which seek to understand the pervasiveness of status asymmetry between gender categories. Drawing upon recent theoretical advances in gender psychology, the book provides tools for developing practical and political recommendations to address and resolve status inequality today. Each chapter examines a different aspect of the impact that gender-based social hierarchies have on people’s lives. Part One explores the consequences of gender stereotypes in school, higher education, and in professional settings. The struggles faced by women in the workplace are discussed in Part Two, featuring topics such as work-life balance, the ‘glass cliff’, and the lack of support for affirmative action. Part Three is devoted to the antecedents and consequences of gender-based forms of prejudice, such as discrimination against gay men, and against women within cultural minorities. The book concludes with some practical suggestions for working towards lasting and beneficial change. Gender and Social Hierarchies will appeal to scholars and students across the social sciences and offers important insights to practitioners and policy-makers.

Product Description: Prestige examines whether social prestige is still an important axis of the stratification hierarchy. It appears that prestige has lost some of the close connection with social position it had in estates societies. Prestige distribution patterns have changed and individualized gradations emerged, while agreement in the occupational prestige in Poland is lower than in the West and still declining...read more

Product Description: Does everyone in the US have an equal chance to "make it"? What explains the enduring power of racism and sexism? How does our sociopolitical system generate inequality? These are just a few of the questions explored in this accessible introduction to the complex problem of social stratification...read more

Social media technologies such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook promised a new participatory online culture. Yet, technology insider Alice Marwick contends in this insightful book, “Web 2.0” only encouraged a preoccupation with status and attention. Her original research—which includes conversations with entrepreneurs, Internet celebrities, and Silicon Valley journalists—explores the culture and ideology of San Francisco’s tech community in the period between the dot com boom and the App store, when the city was the world’s center of social media development.   Marwick argues that early revolutionary goals have failed to materialize: while many continue to view social media as democratic, these technologies instead turn users into marketers and self-promoters, and leave technology companies poised to violate privacy and to prioritize profits over participation. Marwick analyzes status-building techniques—such as self-branding, micro-celebrity, and life-streaming—to show that Web 2.0 did not provide a cultural revolution, but only furthered inequality and reinforced traditional social stratification, demarcated by race, class, and gender.

Product Description: A philosophical-cultural exploration, this book expands the discussion of "class" from a novel perspective. Following the current debates about wealth and class, the contributors address the social and cultural phenomena of class from a uniquely innovative philosophical approach and reconsider philosophical "givens" within the context of culture...read more

The field of stratification is being transformed and reshaped by advances in theory and quantitative modeling as well as by new approaches to the analysis of economic, racial, and gender inequality. Although these developments are revolutionary in their implications, until now there has been no comprehensive effort to bring together the classic articles that have defined and redefined the contours of the field.In this up-to-date anthology, the history of stratification research unfolds in systematic fashion, with the introductory articles in each section providing examples of the major research traditions in the field and the concluding essays (commissioned from leading scholars) providing broader programmatic statements that identify current controversies and unresolved issues. The resulting collection of articles both celebrates the diversity of theoretical approaches and reveals the cumulative nature of ongoing research.This comprehensive reader is designed as a primary text for introductory courses on social stratification and as a supplementary text for advanced courses on social classes, occupations, labor markets, or social mobility. The following types of questions and debates are addressed in the six sections of the reader:1. Is stratification inevitable? Do the recent “experiments with destratification in Eastern Europe and elsewhere provide new insights into the functionalist theory of inequality?2. Can we identify a set of organized and cohesive “social classes” in advanced industrial societies? Does it make sense to refer to a ruling class, a “political class,” or a “power elite” in these societies?3. Are the basic contours of occupational mobility the same within all advanced industrial societies? Have the “new structuralists” led us astray in our attempts to understand the sources and causes of occupational attainment?4. Are there fundamental differences across social classes in styles of life, patterns of consumption, and attitudes toward work? Are these “class-specific cultures” attenuating as we move into advanced industrialism?5. Is there an emerging underclass in America? What are the principal sources of racial, ethnic, and gender inequality?6. Can we identify a “teleological dynamic” driving the development of stratification systems? Are new forms of stratification and inequality emerging as Eastern Europe enters its postsocialist stage?The volume offers essential reading for undergraduates who need an introduction to the field, for graduate students who wish to broaden their understanding of stratification research, and for advanced scholars who seek a basic reference guide. Although most of the selections are middle-range theoretical pieces suitable for introductory courses, the anthology also includes advanced contributions on the cutting edge of research. The editor outlines a modified study plan for undergraduate students requiring a basic introduction to the field.

Product Description: How does cultural hierarchy relate to social hierarchy? Do the more advantaged consume 'high' culture, while the less advantaged consume popular culture? Or has cultural consumption in contemporary societies become individualised to such a degree that there is no longer any social basis for cultural consumption? Leading scholars from the UK, the USA, Chile, France, Hungary and the Netherlands systematically examine the social stratification of arts and culture...read more

Product Description: Sociologists Émile Durkheim, Erving Goffman and Randall Collins broadly suppose that ritual is foundational for social life. By contrast, this book argues that ritual is merely surface, beneath which lie status and power, the behavioral dimensions that drive all social interaction...read more

This major new contribution to the study of consumption examines how dominant groups express and display their sense of superiority through material and aesthetic attributes, demonstrating that differences from one society to another, and across historical periods, challenge current understandings of elite distinction.

Product Description: Why are elite jewelers reluctant to sell turquoise, despite strong demand? Why did leading investment bankers shun junk bonds for years, despite potential profits? Status Signals is the first major sociological examination of how concerns about status affect market competition...read more

Drawing from the fields of history, psychology, politics, and economics, a look at the anxieties associated with a pursuit of status explains how humans have sought to cope with their fears and offers suggestions on ways to deal with the problem.

Drawing from the fields of history, psychology, politics, and economics, a close up look at the anxieties we suffer associated with a pursuit of status explains how humans have sought to cope with their fears through philosophy, art, religion, and bohemia and offers thought-provoking suggestions on other ways to deal with the problem. Read by Simon Vance. Book available.

This book presents results of a cross-national research project on self-employment in eleven advanced economies and demonstrates how and why the practice is reemerging in modern societies. While traditional forms of self-employment, such as skilled crafts work and shop keeping, are in decline, they are being replaced by self-employment in both professional and unskilled occupations. Differences in self-employment across societies depend on the extent to which labor markets are regulated and the degree to which intergenerational family relationships are a primary factor structuring social organization. For each of the eleven countries analyzed, the book highlights the extent to which social background, educational attainment, work history, family status, and gender affect the likelihood that an individual will enter--and continue--a particular type of self-employment. While involvement with self-employment is becoming more common, it is occurring for individuals in activities that are more diverse, unstable and transitory than in years past.

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