Sociology & Social Policy Books

New and Published Books

1. Sociology in Action (Routledge Revivals)

   A Critique of Selected Conceptions of the Social Role of the Sociologist

   By Christopher Bryant

   Series: Routledge Revivals

   This book, first published in 1976, discusses four classical paradigms for sociology – the positivism of Saint-Simon and Comte, Durkheim, Marx and Weber – and four contemporary developments or revisions of them – the sociologie active of Dumazedier and his colleagues in France, sociology in...

   Published April 4th 2013 by Routledge
2. The Routledge Companion to Advertising and Promotional Culture

   Edited by Matthew P. McAllister, Emily West

   The Routledge Companion to Advertising and Promotional Culture provides an essential guide to the key issues, methodologies, concepts, debates, and policies that shape our everyday relationship with advertising. The book contains eight sections: Historical Perspectives considers the historical...

   Published April 3rd 2013 by Routledge
3. Gambling, the State and Society in Thailand, c.1800-1945

   By James A. Warren

   Series: Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia

   During the nineteenth century there was a huge increase in the level and types of gambling in Thailand. Taxes on gambling became a major source of state revenue, with the government establishing state-run lotteries and casinos in the first half of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, over the same...

   Published April 3rd 2013 by Routledge
4. Strong and Hard Women

   An ethnography of female bodybuilding

   By Tanya Bunsell

   Series: Routledge Advances in Ethnography

   Females with large muscles evoke strong reactions from men and women, often involving disgust, discomfort, anger and threat. The controversial nature of female bodybuilding has caused a significant rupture on feminist ground. Whilst proponents claim that female bodybuilding is a way of empowering...

   Published April 3rd 2013 by Routledge
5. Gender, Modernity and Male Migrant Workers in China

   Becoming a 'Modern' Man

   By Xiaodong Lin

   Series: Routledge Contemporary China Series

   Rural-urban migration within China has transformed and reshaped rural people’s lives during the past few decades, and has been one of the most visible phenomena of the economic reforms enacted since the late 1970s. Whilst Feminist scholars have addressed rural women’s experience of struggle and...

   Published April 3rd 2013 by Routledge
6. Changing Gay Male Identities

   By Andrew Cooper

   Series: Routledge Advances in Sociology

   As the world changes, so sexual identities are changing. In a context of globalisation, mass communication and technological advances, individuals find themselves able to make lifestyle choices in new and different ways. In this increasingly confusing world, sociologists have argued that identities...

   Published April 3rd 2013 by Routledge
7. Sport in Capitalist Society

   A Short History

   By Tony Collins

   Why are the Olympic Games the driving force behind a clampdown on civil liberties? What makes sport an unwavering ally of nationalism and militarism? Is sport the new opiate of the masses? These and many other questions are answered in this new radical history of sport by leading historian of...

   Published April 3rd 2013 by Routledge
8. Water and Climate Change in Africa

   Challenges and Community Initiatives in Durban, Maputo and Nairobi

   Edited by Patricia E. Perkins

   Series: Routledge Advances in Climate Change Research

   In the coming decades, countries around the world will face increasingly severe challenges related to global climate change. While the details vary from country to country, the impacts will be especially grave for marginalized people, whose access to food, potable water, and safe shelter may be...

   Published April 3rd 2013 by Routledge
9. Risk

   Second Edition

   By Deborah Lupton

   Series: Key Ideas

   Risk (second edition) is a fully revised and expanded update of a highly-cited, influential and well-known book. It reviews the three major approaches to risk in social and cultural theory, devoting a chapter to each one. These approaches were first identified and described by Deborah Lupton in the...

   Published April 2nd 2013 by Routledge
10. National Myths

    Constructed Pasts, Contested Presents

    Edited by Gérard Bouchard

    National myths are now seriously questioned in a number of societies. In the West, for instance, a number of factors have combined to destabilise the symbolic foundation of nations and collective identities. As a result, the diagnosis of a deep cultural crisis has become commonplace. Indeed, who...

    Published April 1st 2013 by Routledge