The fourth edition of this best-selling introductory reader has been thoroughly revised and updated to offer a stimulating and wide-ranging set of readings for anyone who wishes to engage with the scope of sociological thought and practice today.The book delivers a productive mix of classic, contemporary and provocative readings that are highly readable and lively, while retaining their critical bite. Ideal as a companion to the ninth edition of Giddens and Sutton's Sociology, the reader can equally be used independently or alongside other textbooks.Readings are grouped around ten key sociological themes, with a sustained emphasis on comparative, globally and historically informed work. The carefully curated collection ranges from studies of face-to-face interaction through to the analysis of large-scale global systems, covering both the theory and the practice of sociology. Among the new selections in this volume are readings on the decolonial turn; the persistence of racism and its consequences; global health issues and the social impact of COVID-19; digital sociology and the digitization of social life; feminist research and shifting forms of misogyny; climate change and the emerging Anthropocene era; income and wealth inequalities, national populist movements and the spread of 'fake news'. Each of the thematic sections is preceded by a discussion and followed by further reading to facilitate students' comprehension and critical reflection.The result is an exciting new companion that encompasses the major themes and debates in both classical and contemporary sociology. Sociology: Introductory Readings will be an essential resource for all students of sociology.

Introduction: The Sociological Perspective1. Sociology as the Science of Social Life - W.E.B. Du Bois2. The Promise of Sociology - C. Wright Mills3. Sociology as the Study of Figurations: Beyond Individual and Society? - Norbert Elias4. Decolonizing Sociology - Raewyn Connell5. Understanding Ourselves and Others - Zygmunt Bauman & Tim MayFurther ReadingPART 1 Thinking Sociologically6. The Capitalist Revolution - Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels7. Tastes, Distinctions and Social Structure - Pierre Bourdieu8. Learning from the Outsiders Within - Patricia Hill Collins9. The Consequences of Modernity - Anthony Giddens10. Sociology after the Postcolonial Turn - Gurminder K. BhambraFurther ReadingPART 2 Doing Sociology11. Treat Social Facts as Things - Émile Durkheim12. Sociology's Historical Imagination - Philip Abrams13. Mixing Methods in Empirical Research - Emma Pullen, Daniel Jackson & Michael Silk14. Digital Sociology: Opportunities and Dangers - Noortje Marres15. What is Feminist Research? - Patricia Leavy & Anne HarrisFurther ReadingPART 3 Environment and Urbanism16. The Metropolis and Mental Life - Georg Simmel17. A Sociology of Climate Change - John Urry18. Navigating the 'White Space' - Elijah Anderson19. Urban Transitions in the Global South - AbdouMaliq Simone & Edgar Pieterse20. Entering an Anthropocene Era? - Rolf Lidskog & Claire WatertonFurther ReadingPART 4 Structures of Society21. Religion and the Origins of Capitalism - Max Weber22. The Feminization of Work - Teri L. Caraway23. Families and Personal Life - Deborah Chambers & Pablo Gracia24. Schools: Challenging or Reproducing Social Inequalities? - Christy Kulz25. Capitalism and the Digital Revolution - Shoshana ZuboffFurther ReadingPART 5 Social Inequalities26. Intersectionality: Structural and Political - Kimberlé Crenshaw27. Producing Disability and Abledness - Fiona Kumari Campbell28. Wealth Concentration and Inequality - Thomas Piketty29. Racial Distinctions and Social Structures - Michael Banton30. 'Doing Gender' via Domestic Labour - Clare Lyonette & Rosemary CromptonFurther ReadingPART 6 Relationships and the Life Course31. I, Me and the Social Self - George Herbert Mead32. Towards a Sociology of Personal Life - Carol Smart33. Love as a Sociological Problem - Eva Illouz34. From the Life Cycle to the Life Course - Stephen J. Hunt35. The Significance of Generational Experience - Lorraine GreenFurther ReadingPART 7 Interaction and Communication36. Self Presentation and Impression Management - Erving Goffman37. Violence in Sociological Perspective - Randall Collins38. Misogyny, Beauty and Body Modification - Sheila Jeffreys39. Constructing and Negotiating Social Identity - Susie Scott40. Knowledge Production in a Post-Truth World - Dominic MalcolmFurther ReadingPART 8 Health, Illness and the Body41. The Medical Re-definition of Social Life - Peter Conrad42. Does Inequality Cause Poor Health Outcomes? - Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett43. Challenging the Dominance of Biomedicine - Sarah Nettleton44. Health and Illness in Sociological Perspective - William C. Cockerham45. The Exceptional and the Normal After COVID-19 - Jens O. ZinnFurther ReadingPART 9 Crime and Social Control46. The Social Construction of Outsiders - Howard S. Becker47. The Shifting Politics of Punishment - David Garland48. Race, Blackness and Exclusion in the USA - Loïc Wacquant49. The Digital Transformation of Criminality - David S. Wall50. Back to the Future: The Return of Banishment - Katherine Beckett & Steve HerbertFurther ReadingPART 10 Political Sociology51. Conceptualizing Power in Sociological Theory - Steven Lukes52. Ethnic Cleansing and the Dark Side of Democracy - Michael Mann53. Populist Politics and Mobilization - Bart Bonikowski54. Representations of British Muslims During the Covid-19 Pandemic - Elizabeth Poole & Milly Williamson55. Social Media Use in Black Lives Matter Activism - Marcia Mundt, Karen Ross & Charla M. Burnett Further Reading