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Imagining Society
An Introduction to Sociology

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Sociology (General)
November 2019 | 528 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
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Explore sociology's key concepts, theories, methods, and original voices--all in one innovative text.

 Imagining Society: An Introduction to Sociology is an versatile and economical resource for your introductory course. With this single text, you can:

  • Teach the discipline’s history, key concepts, subfields, and contributions to social science.
  • Expose students to the central building blocks of sociology—short excerpts from the original works of classical and contemporary sociologists.
  • Explain sociology’s key theoretical insights by connecting them to specific issues.
  • Describe and illustrate the methods used by sociologists—not just in the opening chapter, but throughout the entire text.
  • Engage students in thoughtful, self-directed projects and activities.
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PREFACE
 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
 
PART I: UNDERSTANDING SOCIETY
 
Chapter 1: The Sociological Imagination
Society and Culture

 
The Sociological Imagination

 
Reading: From The Sociological Imagination by C. Wright Mills

 
Three Core Foci of Sociology

 
Three Core Aims of Sociology

 
Reading: Body Ritual among the Nacirema by Horace Miner

 
Émile Durkheim and Social Facts

 
Is Sociology Just Common Sense?

 
Research Methods: How Do Sociologists Study Society?

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
For Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 2: Socialization and Social Interaction
The Individual and Society

 
Reading: “Review of Albert Schaeffle, Bau und Leben des Sozialen Körpers: Erster Band” by Émile Durkheim

 
Socialization

 
Methods in Depth: The Socialization of Women in the Hate Movement

 
Aging and Socialization

 
The Performance of Social Roles

 
Reading: “The Presentation of Self” by Erving Goffman

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
For Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 3: Deviance, Law, and Crime
What Is Deviance?

 
Social Construction

 
Why Are People Deviant?

 
Reading: “On Being Sane in Insane Places” by D.L. Rosenhan

 
The Power of the Situation

 
Punishment

 
Reading: “The Body of the Condemned” by Michel Foucault

 
Methods in Depth: The Effects of Mass Incarceration After Release

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
For Further Reading

 
 
PART II: SOCIAL INEQUALITY
 
Chapter 4: Social Stratification and Social Class
Karl Marx: The Basics

 
Class Struggles

 
Reading: “Manifesto of the Communist Party” by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

 
Class Consciousness

 
Max Weber and the Multiple

 
Methods in Depth: Women Without Class by Julie Bettis

 
Bases of Power

 
Income and Wealth Inequality in the United States

 
Reading: From Nickel-and-Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

 
Poverty

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
For Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 5: Race and Ethnicity
Race and Ethnicity

 
Reading: “Optional Ethnicities: For Whites Only?” by Mary C. Waters

 
The Consequences of Social Constructions

 
Methods in Depth: Racial Stereotypes and Voting

 
Where Does Prejudice Come From?

 
Immigration

 
Reading: “Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism” by Benedict Anderson

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
For Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 6: Gender at the Intersections
Sex and Gender

 
Gender as a Social Construction

 
Methods in Depth: Learning Gender From Our Parents

 
Gender and Institutions

 
Reading: “Commanding the Room in Short Skirts: Cheering as the Embodiment of Ideal Girlhood” by Natalie Adams and Pamela Bettis

 
Feminism and Feminist Theory

 
Intersectionality

 
Sexuality

 
Reading: “The Invention of Heterosexuality” by Johnathan Ned Katz

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
For Further Reading

 
 
PART III: THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS
 
Chapter 7: Language, Media, and Culture
Language

 
Reading: “Racism in the English Language” by Robert B. Moore

 
Methods in Depth: News Coverage of Refugees

 
Media and Culture

 
Corporate Concentration and the Media

 
Reading: From “The Power Elite” by C. Wright Mills

 
New Media and Social Media

 
Media Effects

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
For Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 8: The Family and Intimate Relationships
What Are Families?

 
Larger Social Changes That Impact the Family

 
Reading: “What About Love?” from Getting Married: The Public Nature of Our Private Relationships by Carrie Yodanis and Sean Lauer

 
Theorizing the Family

 
Intimate Relationships

 
Reading: “One’s a Crowd” by Erik Klinenberg

 
Methods in Depth: Surveying Hookup Culture Among Youths

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
For Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 9: Education
The Schooled Society

 
The Functions of Education

 
Reading: “A Matter of Degrees” by William Beaver

 
Education and Social Inequality

 
Reading: “The Not-So-Pink Ivory Tower” by Ann Mullen

 
Methods in Depth: Testing the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

 
Education, Cultural Capital, and Social Capital

 
Education Around the World

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
For Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 10: Work and Rationalization
The Rationalized World

 
Reading: “The ‘McDonaldization’ of Society” by George Ritzer

 
Commodification

 
The Division of Labor in Society

 
Methods in Depth: Worker Productivity and the Hawthorne Effect

 
Changes in Work in the United States

 
Reading: “Feeling Management: From Private to Commercial Uses” by Arlie Russell Hochschild

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
For Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 11: Health
The Sociology of Health

 
The Social Determinants of Health

 
Reading: “The Health Gap” by Michael Marmot

 
Health Inequality

 
Reading: “Big Business in the School Cafeteria” by Ivy Ken

 
Health-Care Systems

 
Methods in Depth: Testing Solutions to Overdose Deaths

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
For Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 12: Globalization and Global Inequality
What Is Globalization?

 
Reading: “The Uses of Global Poverty: How Economic Inequality Benefits the West” by Daina Stukuls Eglitis

 
Understanding Globalization

 
Methods in Depth: Motivating Action on Climate Change

 
Global Inequality

 
Reading: “The Problem with Fair Trade Coffee” by Nicki Lisa Cole and Keith Brown

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
For Further Reading

 
 
PART IV: SOCIAL CHANGE
 
Chapter 13: Change Through Policy and the Law
How Does Society Reproduce Itself?

 
The Rise of the State

 
The Welfare State

 
Methods in Depth: Assessing the Effectiveness of Means-Tested Social Programs

 
Reparation Programs

 
Reading: “Forty Acres and a Mule: What if America Pays Reparations?” By Dalton Conley

 
How the State Involves the Public

 
Reading: “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital” by Robert D. Putnam

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
For Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 14: Social Movements
Social Movements

 
Reading: Excerpt from Facebook Feminism by Alison Dahl Crossley

 
Trends in Social Movement Participation

 
Methods in Depth: How Can Activism Change You?

 
The Media and Social Movements

 
Success in Social Movements

 
Reading: “The Meaning of Success from the Strategy of Social Protest” by William Gamson

 
Public Sociology and Using Our Sociological Imagination

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
For Further Reading

 
 
APPENDIX 1: READINGS IN IMAGINING SOCIETY
 
APPENDIX 2: METHODS IN IMAGINING SOCIETY
 
GLOSSARY
 
REFERENCES
 
INDEX

Supplements

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    • Comprehensive, downloadable, easy-to-use Media Guide in the Coursepack for every video resource, listing the chapter to which the video content is tied, matching learning objective(s), a helpful description of the video content, and assessment questions 
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  • All tables and figures from the textbook 
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Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 5: Understanding Socialization

Chapter 7: Confronting Economic Inequality

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