This book examines key trends, debates, and challenges in twenty-first-century sociology. To this end, it focuses on significant issues surrounding the nature of sociology (‘What is sociology?’), the history of sociology (‘How has sociology evolved?’), and the study of sociology (‘How can or should we make sense of sociology?’). These issues have been, and will continue to be, essential to the creation of conceptually informed, methodologically rigorous, and empirically substantiated research programmes in the discipline. Over the past years, however, there have been numerous disputes and controversies concerning the future of sociology. Particularly important in this respect are recent and ongoing discussions on the possibilities of developing new – and, arguably, post-classical – forms of sociology. The central assumption underlying most of these projects is the contention that a comprehensive analysis of the principal challenges faced by global society requires the construction of a sociology capable of accounting for the interconnectedness of social actors and social structures across time and space. This book provides a cutting-edge overview of crucial past, present, and possible future trends, debates, and challenges shaping the pursuit of sociological inquiry. ‘Simon Susen – one of the most knowledgeable scholars in the contemporary social sciences – examines the key challenges with which sociology is confronted today. This book is a must-read for professional sociologists as well as for those studying the subject.’ – Luc Boltanski, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France ‘Simon Susen provides a balanced update on sociology’s theoretical, methodological, and institutional resources as well as challenges in today’s complicated local and global social worlds. Fortunately, he has innovative and practical recommendations for ensuring the cutting-edge relevance of sociological thinking. This book is an excellent choice for undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as for the general reader.’ – Sandra Harding, University of California, Los Angeles, USA ‘A comprehensive and judicious account of the intellectual and material state of sociology, based on omnivorous reading and incisive analysis. The writing is beautifully clear, and the book is a major contribution to the self-understanding of the discipline.’ – William Outhwaite, Newcastle University, UK

These original essays by eminent sociologists probe issues of central importance to North American societies in the twenty-first century. The chapters in part 1 revise theory and methods to comprehend the economic and political institutions that increasingly dominate the lives of individuals and groups, arguing that these giants must be made more democratically accountable. Part 2 explores the social effects that growing globalization, transnationalization, and information technologies are having on politics, economics, and the environment. The final chapters compare how new immigrants from increasingly diversified backgrounds are being absorbed in Canada and the United States, exploring the impact that immigrants are having on preexisting ethnic minorities and on the dominant political culture. While it is a major attempt to refocus the discipline of sociology, the book's clear, nontechnical style and its attention to issues of central concern to all citizens make it also highly accessible to nonspecialists. Contributors are Janet L. Abu-Lughod, Tomas Almaguer, Giovanni Arrighi, Gilles Bourque, Randall Collins, Jules Duchastel, Joe Feagin, Harriet Friedmann, Pierre Hamel, Moon-Kie Jung, Joel Levine, Henri Lustiger-Thaler, Louis Maheu, Joel Perlmann, Saskia Sassen, Gideon Sjoberg, Dorothy Smith, Roger Waldinger, and Barry Wellman.

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Fifty years ago, familiar images of the lottery would have been strange, as no state lottery existed then. Few researchers have uncovered the obscure role lotteries play in the changing composition of American taxation. Even less is known about what role race plays in this process. More than simply taxing those on the social margins, the emergence of state lotteries in contemporary American history represents something much more fundamental about state fiscal policy. This book not only uncovers the underlying racial factors that contextualize lottery proliferation in the U.S., but also reveals the racial consequences that lotteries have in terms of redistributing tax liability.

Ahlia University contributes to the advancement and propagation of knowledge by encouraging its academics and research students to publish their original research that can be applied to real-life situations. Co-operation with Brunel University London in the United Kingdom led to the establishing of a Ph.D. programme at Ahlia University in 2005.An i

It is zero hour for a new US water policy! At a time when many countries are adopting new national approaches to water management, the United States still has no cohesive federal policy, and water-related authorities are dispersed across more than 30 agencies. Here, at last, is a vision for what we as a nation need to do to manage our most vital resource. In this book, leading thinkers at world-class water research institution the Pacific Institute present clear and readable analysis and recommendations for a new federal water policy to confront our national and global challenges at a critical time. What exactly is at stake? In the 21st century, pressures on water resources in the United States are growing and conflicts among water users are worsening. Communities continue to struggle to meet water quality standards and to ensure that safe drinking water is available for all. And new challenges are arising as climate change and extreme events worsen, new water quality threats materialize, and financial constraints grow. Yet the United States has not stepped up with adequate leadership to address these problems. The inability of national policymakers to safeguard our water makes the United States increasingly vulnerable to serious disruptions of something most of us take for granted: affordable, reliable, and safe water. This book provides an independent assessment of water issues and water management in the United States, addressing emerging and persistent water challenges from the perspectives of science, public policy, environmental justice, economics, and law. With fascinating case studies and first-person accounts of what helps and hinders good water management, this is a clear-eyed look at what we need for a 21st century U.S. water policy.

Co-authored by an international team of researchers and drawing on interviews with senior officials, The European Commission of the Twenty-First Century tests, challenges and refutes many widely held myths about the Commission and the people who work for it.

This introduction to sociology helps individuals explore how they learn and how to use learning strategies for more effective study. Its four-part organization covers specific topics under the headings of: perspective and method, social inequality, social institutions, and working for change. A focus on deviance and crime includes an extensive discussion of crime, crime rates, and the criminal justice system. For those pondering some of the many issues facing society today.

CSA Sociological Abstracts abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,800+ serials publications, and also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers.

The book explores the complex and shifting geographies of rural Wales in the twenty first century. It draws on a broad range of recent academic and policy research to provide the most comprehensive and critical account of the spaces, places and environments of rural Wales to date. The book highlights recent processes of change as well as important continuities with the past. It also indicates the ways in which the contemporary geographies of rural Wales are bound up with rather complex connections between society, culture, economy and environment. The book consists of 16 specially commissioned chapters written by human geographers and sociologists with considerable expertise in rural studies. It is structured around five main themes. The first is concerned with society and community and explores changing rural demographics, the cultural impacts of in-migration, alternative communities and community action in rural Wales. The second theme is economy and employment, with chapters on labour markets, the eco-economy, migrant workers and market towns. The focus of the third theme is farming and food and the changing agri-food agenda in Wales. Welfare and services constitutes the fourth theme of the book with attention given to poverty and community responses to service provision in rural areas. The final theme of the book is environment, which is explored through discussions of environmental sustainability and the post-productivist turn in forestry. The book uses these accounts of the social, economic and environmental geographies of rural Wales to provide a broader critique of rural geography and rural studies in the UK and other developed countries.