21st Century Sociology - 9781412916080

The intent of Bryant (Virginia Polytechnic U.) and Peck (U. of Alabama) in presenting this two-volume reference work is to provide readers with a broad survey of the main specialty areas within international sociology as it is presently constituted. They have gathered 106 articles reviewing different subfields, methodological approaches, schools of thought, and areas of study. The chapters in the first volume are grouped in sections covering the development of sociology as a discipline, international perspectives, scientific approaches to sociology, the fabric of social life, social aggregations, social distinctions and diversity, social institutions, societal problems and disaffections, locality and social life, the quantification of social life, collective behavior and social movements, and social dynamics and change. The second volume contains sections dealing with nontraditional perspectives, theory, and methodology; the sociology of the self; the sociology of the life course; the sociology of normative behavior; creative behavior; macrolevel issues (sociologies of mental health, technology, violence, the environment, etc.); and applied and interdisciplinary uses of sociology. For each chapter, authors have been asked to review the historical development of their particular area, summarize the current state of knowledge, and suggest future research directions. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)