Sociology for the Twenty-first Century
Continuities and Cutting Edges
9780226001937
9780226001913
Sociology for the Twenty-first Century
Continuities and Cutting Edges
These original essays by eminent sociologists probe issues of central importance to North American societies in the twenty-first century.
The chapters in part 1 revise theory and methods to comprehend the economic and political institutions that increasingly dominate the lives of individuals and groups, arguing that these giants must be made more democratically accountable. Part 2 explores the social effects that growing globalization, transnationalization, and information technologies are having on politics, economics, and the environment. The final chapters compare how new immigrants from increasingly diversified backgrounds are being absorbed in Canada and the United States, exploring the impact that immigrants are having on preexisting ethnic minorities and on the dominant political culture.
While it is a major attempt to refocus the discipline of sociology, the book’s clear, nontechnical style and its attention to issues of central concern to all citizens make it also highly accessible to nonspecialists.
Contributors are Janet L. Abu-Lughod, Tomas Almaguer, Giovanni Arrighi, Gilles Bourque, Randall Collins, Jules Duchastel, Joe Feagin, Harriet Friedmann, Pierre Hamel, Moon-Kie Jung, Joel Levine, Henri Lustiger-Thaler, Louis Maheu, Joel Perlmann, Saskia Sassen, Gideon Sjoberg, Dorothy Smith, Roger Waldinger, and Barry Wellman.
The chapters in part 1 revise theory and methods to comprehend the economic and political institutions that increasingly dominate the lives of individuals and groups, arguing that these giants must be made more democratically accountable. Part 2 explores the social effects that growing globalization, transnationalization, and information technologies are having on politics, economics, and the environment. The final chapters compare how new immigrants from increasingly diversified backgrounds are being absorbed in Canada and the United States, exploring the impact that immigrants are having on preexisting ethnic minorities and on the dominant political culture.
While it is a major attempt to refocus the discipline of sociology, the book’s clear, nontechnical style and its attention to issues of central concern to all citizens make it also highly accessible to nonspecialists.
Contributors are Janet L. Abu-Lughod, Tomas Almaguer, Giovanni Arrighi, Gilles Bourque, Randall Collins, Jules Duchastel, Joe Feagin, Harriet Friedmann, Pierre Hamel, Moon-Kie Jung, Joel Levine, Henri Lustiger-Thaler, Louis Maheu, Joel Perlmann, Saskia Sassen, Gideon Sjoberg, Dorothy Smith, Roger Waldinger, and Barry Wellman.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Felice J. Levine
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part One - Theory (ies) and Method (s)
1. The Heritage and Future of Sociology in North America
Janet L. Abu-Lughod
2. The European Sociological Tradition and Twenty-First-Century World Sociology
Randall Collins
3. Some Observations on Bureaucratic Capitalism: Knowledge about What and Why?
Gideon Sjoberg
4. From Women’s Standpoint to a Sociology for People
Dorothy E. Smith
5. We Can Count, but What Do the Numbers Mean?
Joel H. Levine
6. From Little Boxes to Loosely Bounded Networks: The Privatization and Domestication of Community
Barry Wellman
Part Two - The New Realities of Scale
7. Globalization and Historical Macrosociology
Giovanni Arrighi
8. Cracked Casings: Notes toward an Analytics for Studying Transnational Processes
Saskia Sassen
9. The Social Terrain: The History and Future of Sociology’s Object
Harriet Friedmann
10. Is There a Role for Social Movements?
Pierre Hamel, Henri Lustiger-Thaler, and Louis Maheu
Part Three - The New Realities of Race/Ethnicity
11. Erosion of the Nation-State and the Transformation of National Identities in Canada
Gilles Bourque and Jules Duchastel
12. The Future of U.S. Society in an Era of Racism, Group Segregation, and Demographic Revolution
Joe R. Feagin
13. The Enduring Ambiguities of Race in the United States
Tomas Almaguer and Moon-Kie Jung
14. Second Generations: Past, Present, Future
Roger Waldinger and Joel Perlmann
Afterword by Immanuel Wallerstein
Contributors
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part One - Theory (ies) and Method (s)
1. The Heritage and Future of Sociology in North America
Janet L. Abu-Lughod
2. The European Sociological Tradition and Twenty-First-Century World Sociology
Randall Collins
3. Some Observations on Bureaucratic Capitalism: Knowledge about What and Why?
Gideon Sjoberg
4. From Women’s Standpoint to a Sociology for People
Dorothy E. Smith
5. We Can Count, but What Do the Numbers Mean?
Joel H. Levine
6. From Little Boxes to Loosely Bounded Networks: The Privatization and Domestication of Community
Barry Wellman
Part Two - The New Realities of Scale
7. Globalization and Historical Macrosociology
Giovanni Arrighi
8. Cracked Casings: Notes toward an Analytics for Studying Transnational Processes
Saskia Sassen
9. The Social Terrain: The History and Future of Sociology’s Object
Harriet Friedmann
10. Is There a Role for Social Movements?
Pierre Hamel, Henri Lustiger-Thaler, and Louis Maheu
Part Three - The New Realities of Race/Ethnicity
11. Erosion of the Nation-State and the Transformation of National Identities in Canada
Gilles Bourque and Jules Duchastel
12. The Future of U.S. Society in an Era of Racism, Group Segregation, and Demographic Revolution
Joe R. Feagin
13. The Enduring Ambiguities of Race in the United States
Tomas Almaguer and Moon-Kie Jung
14. Second Generations: Past, Present, Future
Roger Waldinger and Joel Perlmann
Afterword by Immanuel Wallerstein
Contributors