Социология

We are spurred into action by our troubles and fears; but all too often our action fails to address the true causes of our worries. When trying to make sense of our lives, we tend to blame our ow…

In this major theoretical statement, the author offers a new and provocative interpretation of the institutional transformations associated with modernity. We do not as yet, he argues, live in a …

This key work addresses one of the most central and controversial issues in contemporary feminist theory: the problem of difference.

In this book David Lyon analyses the various contexts of surveillance activity and offers a balanced account of the influence electronic information systems have on the social order today.

A Companion to Media Studies is a comprehensive collection that brings together new writings by an international team to provide an overview of the theories and methodologies that have produced t…

A Theory of Shopping offers a highly original perspective on one of our most basic everyday activities – shopping. We commonly assume that shopping is primarily concerned with individuals and mat…

In this path-breaking work, Mark Poster highlights the nature of the newly emerging forms of social life, in the current era. The flexibility of language which the computer allows makes the writt…

This highly topical book is a concise and accessible account of the relationship between technology and work. Firstly, it reviews and critically assesses a variety of recent approaches to the soc…

This textbook aims to give an introduction to the use of documentary sources in social research. It is designed to be a companion to courses in research methods in the social sciences and history…

In this important book Niklas Luhmann – one of the leading social thinkers of the late 20th century – analyses the emergence of ‘love' as the basis of personal relationships in modern societies. …

A Companion to Economic Forecasting provides an accessible and comprehensive account of recent developments in economic forecasting. Each of the chapters has been specially written by an expert i…

This major new book explores the peculiar place of feminism in contemporary culture.

In the midst of the current ecological crisis, there is often lofty talk of the need for humanity to ‘overcome its divisions’ and work together to tackle the big challenges of our time. But as th…

Pierre Bourdieu is arguably the most influential sociologist of the twentieth century, especially since the once common criticisms of his determinism and reproductionism have receded. Now, howeve…

The prison is a recent invention, hardly more than two centuries old, yet it has become the universal system of punishment. How can we understand the place that the correctional system occupies i…

Throughout the Western world, governments and financial elites responded to the financial crisis of 2008 by trying to restore the conditions of business as usual, but the economic, social and hum…

In this ground-breaking study, Sophie Body-Gendrot provides a comparative analysis of the growing problem of new forms of poverty and social marginalisation in contemporary advanced societies.

Urbanisation and urban development issues are the focus of this comprehensive account which introduces readers to the far-reaching changes now taking place in Chinese cities.

The Form of Cities offers readers a considered theoretical introduction to the art of designing cities. Demonstrates that cities are replete with symbolic values, collective memory, association a…

This is the first book in Polity's new 'Urban Futures' series. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, proclamations rang out that gentrification had gone global. But what do we mean by 'ge…