Introduction to Sociology

by George Ritzer, J. Michael Ryan

Overview

In the fully updated Fifth Edition of Introduction to Sociology, bestselling author George Ritzer shows you the relevance of sociology to your life. While providing a rock-solid foundation, the text illuminates traditional sociological concepts and theories, as well as some of the most compelling contemporary social phenomena: globalization, consumer culture, the Internet, and the “Mc Donaldization” of society. Packed with current examples and the latest research of how “public” sociologists are engaging with the critical issues of today, this new edition encourages you to apply a sociological perspective to your worldview—empowering you to participate in a global conversation about current social problems.

Also available as a digital option (courseware). Learn more about Introduction to Sociology - Vantage Digital Option, Fifth Edition [ISBN: 978-1-0718-2909-7]

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781071875179
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	10/10/2023
Edition description:	Sixth Edition
Pages:	512
Product dimensions:	8.38(w) x 10.88(h) x (d)

About the Author

George Ritzer is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, where he has also been a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and won a Teaching Excellence Award. He was awarded the Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award by the American Sociological Association, an honorary doctorate from La Trobe University in Australia, and the Robin Williams Lectureship from the Eastern Sociological Society. His best-known work, The Mc Donaldization of Society (8th ed.), has been read by hundreds of thousands of students over two decades and translated into over a dozen languages. Ritzer is also the editor of Mc Donaldization: The Reader; and author of other works of critical sociology related to the Mc Donaldization thesis, including Enchanting a Disenchanted World, The Globalization of Nothing, Expressing America: A Critique of the Global Credit Card Society, as well as a series best-selling social theory textbooks and Globalization: A Basic Text. He is the Editor of the Encyclopedia of Social Theory (2 vols.), the Encyclopedia of Sociology (11 vols.; 2nd edition forthcoming), the Encyclopedia of Globalization (5 vols.), and is Founding Editor of the Journal of Consumer Culture. In 2016 he will publish the second edition of Essentials of Sociology with SAGE.

Wendy Wiedenhoft Murphy is a Professor of Sociology at John Carroll University, specializing in Environmental Sociology, Consumer Culture, and Sociological Theory. She is the author of Consumer Culture and Society (2017), co-editor (with George Ritzer) of the Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Sociology, 2nd Edition (2020), and co-author (with George Ritzer) of Introduction to Sociology, 5^th Edition (2019).

Table of Contents

Letter from the Authors
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
CHAPTER 1. AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY IN THE GLOBAL AGE
A Sociology of Revolutions and Counterrevolutions
The Changing Nature of the Social World—and Sociology
Central Concerns for a Twenty-First-Century Sociology
Sociology: Continuity and Change
Sociology’s Purpose: Science or Social Reform?
Sociology, the Other Social Sciences, and Common Sense
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
CHAPTER 2. THINKING SOCIOLOGICALLY
How Do Theories Help Us Understand Politics and Other Social Institutions?
The Giants of Classical Sociological Theory
Other Important Early Theorists
Contemporary Sociological Theory
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
CHAPTER 3. RESEARCHING THE SOCIAL WORLD
Sociology as a Science
The Scientific Method
The Development of Scientific Knowledge
Sociological Research
Secondary Data Analysis
Issues in Social Research
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
CHAPTER 4. CULTURE
A Reflection of U.S. Culture
A Definition of Culture
The Basic Elements of Culture
Cultural Differences
Major Types of Culture
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
CHAPTER 5. SOCIALIZATION AND INTERACTION
Socialization and Variance
The Individual and the Self
The Individual as Performer
Socialization
Interaction
Micro-Level Social Structures
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
CHAPTER 6. ORGANIZATIONS, SOCIETIES, AND GLOBAL RELATIONSHIPS
Questioning Governmental Authority
Organizations
Contemporary Organizational Realities
Societies
Global Relationships
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
CHAPTER 7. DEVIANCE AND CRIME
Norms, Labels, and Judgment
Deviance
Theories of Deviance
Crime
Globalization and Crime
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
CHAPTER 8. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Student “Haves” and “Have-Nots” in Higher Education
Dimensions of Social Stratification
Economic Inequality
Social Mobility
Theories of Social Stratification
Consumption and Social Stratification
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
CHAPTER 9. GLOBAL STRATIFICATION
Something Is Right in Denmark
Positions in Global Stratification
Other Global Inequalities
Changing Positions in Global Stratification
Theories of Global Stratification
Consumption and Global Stratification
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
CHAPTER 10. RACE AND ETHNICITY
Minorities Acquire Political Power
The Concepts of Race and Ethnicity
Majority–Minority Relations
Racism
Race and Ethnicity in a Global Context
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
CHAPTER 11. GENDER AND SEXUALITY
Challenging Gender Stereotypes
Gender and Sex
The Sociology of Sexuality
Sexuality, Gender, and Globalization
Global Flows Related to Gender
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
CHAPTER 12. FAMILIES
Fictional Families Get Real
Family, Marriage, and Intimate Relationships
Broad Changes in Marriage and the Family
Theorizing the Family
Problems in the Family
Global Families
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
CHAPTER 13. EDUCATION
Going to the “Right” Parties on Campus
Thinking about Education
Education and Consumption
Inequality in Education
Globalization and Education
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
CHAPTER 14. RELIGION
Commercialism Encroaches on a Holy City
Early Sociologists and Religion
What Is Religion?
Components of Religion
Types of Religious Institutions
Theorizing Religion
Religion and Globalization
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
CHAPTER 15. POLITICS AND THE ECONOMY
The Interrelationship of Government and the Economy
Politics: Democracy or Dictatorship
Who Rules the United States?
Global Politics
The Economy: Major Forms and Changes
Work, Consumption, and Leisure
Globalization and the Economy
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
CHAPTER 16. THE BODY, MEDICINE, HEALTH, AND HEALTH CARE
The Opioid Crisis
The Body
The Sociology of Health and Medicine
Globalization and Health
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
CHAPTER 17. POPULATION, URBANIZATION, AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Too Few, Too Old
Population
Urbanization
Cities and Globalization
The Environment
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
CHAPTER 18. SOCIAL CHANGE, SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, AND COLLECTIVE ACTION
Workers’ Rights, Consumer Activism, and Social Change
Social Movements
Emergence, Mobilization, and Impact of Social Movements
Collective Action
Social Change: Globalization, Consumption, and the Internet
Summary
Key Terms
Review Questions
Glossary
References: Chapter-Opening Vignettes
References: Comprehensive List
Index