Social Blueprints

Description

Social Blueprints is a concise introduction to sociological thought that is a refreshing alternative to the approaches of traditional textbooks and other brief introductions to the field. David K. Brown introduces students to concepts and theories that form the foundation of sociological reasoning. In a highly engaging style, he uses personal experiences, salient cultural examples, and pressing social issues to ground these ideas in the everyday experiences of students.
In five cogent chapters, Brown explores how core sociological ideas such as culture, social structure, identities, power, and globalization can better inform our understanding of the social world. He uses contemporary, historical, and global examples drawn from realms such as music, professional sports, fashion, film, government, warfare, protests, corporations, workplaces, education, crime, poverty, architecture, and tourism to lend immediate relevance to sociological endeavor. Acutely focused and written with a clear, critical point of view, Social Blueprints is ideal for use in introductory and other sociology courses as either a primary or supplemental text.

Table of Contents

Each chapter ends with Suggestions for Further Study
1. Individuality, Society, and Identity: Cornerstones of Sociological Reasoning
Vivifying the Mundane: The Sociological Imagination
The Sociological Imagination: C. Wright Mills
Individual v. Social Problems
The Sociology of Celebrities: Individuals in Social Context
The American Preoccupation with Individualism in Cultural, Political, & Economic Life
The Sociology of Identities
Individuals as Webs of Group Affiliation
Social Identities: Repertoire Selection, Multiple Consciousness, and Ambiguity
The Contested Terrain of Sociological Knowledge
Some Cautionary Notes about Sociology v. Psychology
The Reality of the Social: Social Facts
The Logical Gulf Between Fact and Value Statements
Muddying the Waters: The Politics of Social Knowledge
Conclusion
2. Social Theories: Their Interplay and Contradictions
The Nature and Relevance of Social Theories
Theories as Paradigms
Theoretical Reasoning: Inductive and Deductive
Four Broad Types of Social Theory
Rational Choice Theories: Individuals Pursuing Interests
Where Do Desires Come From?
The Free-Rider Problem: Are Rational People Honest?
Do People Choose to be Unequal?
Functional Theories: Harmony and Necessary Differences
Basic Functionalist Imagery
Is Social Inequality Simply Necessary?
Symbolic Interactionist and Social Constructionist Theories
Interaction, Meaning, and Everyday Life
Mind, Self, and Society
Modern Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic Interactionism/Constructionism: Are the Trees Hiding the Forest?
Conflict Theories: Arenas of Power and Inequality
The Interplay of Conflict Theory with Other Perspectives
Karl Marx's Enduring Legacy
Weber's Multidimensional Conflict Theory
Conflict Theories: Too Much Pessimism, or Sober Realism?
Conclusion
3. Culture, Structure, and Interaction: Unraveling the Fibers of Everyday Life
Distinguishing Social Structure, Culture, and Interaction
Social Structural Determinism or Cultural Autonomy
Beyond Good and Evil: Religion as an Emblem of Society
Beyond Cold Hard Cash: The Sociology of Money
Understanding Culture and Social Power
Cashing in on Culture: The Flow of Cultural, Social, and Economic Capital
Roads Between High Culture and Popular Culture
Interpreting Pink Flamingoes: Everyday Expressions of Social Positions
"Lions & Tigers & Bears--Oh My!": The Cultural and Political Construction of Social Problems
Cultural Production, Distribution, and Interpretation
A Basic Model of Cultural Production Processes
Making Chili Peppers: Organizational Processes in the Rise of a Band
Pets or Meat? The Interpretation of Cultural Products
Conclusion
4. Power and Authority: In Social Movements, States, and Organization
A Sociological Perspective on Power
The Power Prism and its Refractions: An analytical Tool
Social Power and Social Movements
Reading Power into Political Protests
Power, States, and Legitimacy
Spreading Social Power in Authoritarian Regimes
Theaters of War: The Social Construction of State Legitimacy
Power in Organizations
Power and Control in Work Places
Bureaucratic Organizations and Abstract Social Power
The Symbolic Architecture of Organizational Power
Conclusion
5. Globalization: Conteptualizing 21st Century Social Change
Introduction
Is Globalization Really New?
Economic and Political Aspects of Globalization
The Ideological and Policy Basis of The New World Order: Neoliberalism and It's Critics
The Global Power of Transnational Corporations
International Governmental and Non-governmental Organizations: International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade Organization, and the G-8
Bittersweet Chocolate: Abuse of Child Slave Labor in West Africa
So Long Nation, Hello Corporation
International Social Movements
Mexico: Poverty and Protest in a "Model" free Trade Nation
Cultural Globalization
Limiting Factors Concerning Cultural Globalization
Global Consumerism: You Gotta Shop Around, Even If It's All the Same
Global Tourism: Individual Freedom or Structural Determinism?
Conclusion