Critical Sociology / Edition 2

by Steven M. Buechler

Overview

Critical Sociology is a thoroughly revised, updated, and sophisticated introduction to the sociological perspective as a critical lens on society. Much has happened since the first edition: the Great Recession, the Obama presidency, the burgeoning role of social media, and recent global social movements such the Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street, and the Arab Spring. In this second edition, Buechler discusses the changing relationship between social movements and democracy. The book contains chapters on how to think sociologically; an overview of scientific, humanistic, and critical schools of sociology; and a detailed exposition of the critical tradition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612056258
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/30/2014
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	721,854
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Steven M. Buechler is Professor of Sociology at Minnesota State University, Mankato. His recent books include the critically acclaimed Understanding Social Movements: Theories from the Classical Era to the Present (Paradigm 2011).

Table of Contents

Preface     ix
Sociological Perspectives
How to Think Sociologically     3
Sociology and Modernity     3
Thinking Sociologically     6
Sociology's Double Critique     12
The Legacy of the Discipline     17
Scientific Sociology     17
Humanistic Sociology     22
Critical Sociology     26
Conclusion     32
Toward a Critical Sociology     35
The Frankfurt School Revisited     35
Habermas's Contributions     42
Conclusion     50
Power and Domination
A Late Capitalist World     55
Marx's Analysis of Capitalism     55
From Liberal to Advanced Capitalism     60
Crisis Tendencies in Advanced Capitalism     61
Capitalism Unbound     70
The State of the State     73
Dimensions of the State     74
The Power Structure Debate     77
States in Decline?     87
A Mass-Mediated World     91
Culture 101     91
Culture Meets Critical Sociology     93
The Political Economy of Mass Media     96
News, Propaganda, and Journalism     99
An All-Consuming Culture     103
A Note on Domination and Resistance     106
Inequality and Difference
The Crucible of Class     111
Marx's Model of Class Formation     111
Class or Stratification?     115
Contemporary Class Analysis     118
Enriching the Story     121
Further Complications     125
The Social Construction of Race     127
What Is Race?     127
Race vs. Ethnicity     130
Forms of Discrimination     134
Racial Formation     137
The Construction of Whiteness     141
Gendered Selves and Worlds     143
A Little History     144
The Sex/Gender System     146
Feminist Frameworks     151
New Permutations     155
Self and Society
The Emergence of the Individual     163
From "We" to "I"     164
Too Much of a Good Thing?     166
A Note on Adolescence     169
Individualism and Its Discontents     170
Habits of the Heart     174
How We Become Who We Are     179
Cooley's Contributions     180
Mead's Synthesis      182
Symbolic Interactionism     187
Identity Theory     189
People as Reflexive Actors     191
Conclusion     193
The Sociology of Everyday Life     195
Phenomenological Sociology     195
The Social Construction of Reality     198
The Ethnomethodological Turn     200
Social Life as Drama     202
The Self as Project, Commodity, and Story     204
Patterns of Change
The Challenge of Globalization     211
The Rise and Fall of Modernization Theory     212
The Global World System     215
Globalization: What's New?     218
Recent World System Dynamics     220
Globalization: An Assessment     223
The Role of Social Movements     227
Sociology and Social Movements: Siblings of Modernity     227
Understanding Social Movements     230
Social Movements and Progressive Politics     234
A Note on Globalization and Resistance     239
The Case for Democracy     241
The Limits on Democracy     241
Toward a Richer Democracy     244
Social Movements as Incubators of Democratic Politics     245
Sociology and Democracy      250
References     253
About the Author     261
Index     263

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the first edition

“Critical Sociology is highly accessible and may be suitable as a textbook for undergraduate or graduate level sociology courses. It may otherwise be of interest to sociologists interested in how sociology can contribute to progressive social change.”
—Contemporary Sociology

“A well-written and accessible introduction to critical sociology. It manages to be strong theoretically and to deal with some of the most pressing social issues of the day from a well-developed critical perspective.”
—George Ritzer, University of Maryland

“Steven Buechler’s new text, Critical Sociology, is a very well written, very well thought out, careful, and sophisticated book. The material is clearly presented, the arguments are well thought through.”
—Michael Kimmel, SUNY Stony Brook

From the Publisher