2nd Edition

Introducing Sociology Using the Stuff of Everyday Life

612 Pages 273 Color Illustrations
by Routledge

612 Pages 273 Color Illustrations
by Routledge

612 Pages 273 Color Illustrations
by Routledge

The challenges of teaching a successful introductory sociology course today demand materials very different from the norm. It is a question of making the practice of sociological thinking meaningful, rigorous, and relevant to today’s world of undergraduates. This comparatively concise, highly visual, and engaging book offers a refreshingly new way forward to reach students, using one of the... Read more

Preface: for Instructors
Preface: for Students
Acknowledgements

1. A Day in the Life of Your Jeans: Using Our Stuff to Discover Sociology

Part I: Surviving (and Thriving) in Consumer Culture

2. You are What You Eat: Culture, Norms, and Values
3. Fast-Food Blues: Work in a Global Economy
4. Coffee: Class, Distinction, and “Good” Taste

Part II: Fitting in: Being Part of the Group

5. Shopping Lessons: Consuming Social Order
6. Get in the Game: Race, Merit, and Group Boundaries
7. Barbies and Monster Trucks: Socialization and “Doing Gender”
8. Dreaming of a White Wedding: Marriage, Family, and Heteronormativity
9. I <3 My Phone: Technology and Social Networks

Part III: Standing Out: Individuals Negotiating the Social World

10. Branding Your Unique Identity™: Consumer Culture And the Social Self
11. Looking Good: Ideology, Intersectionality, and the Beauty Industry
12. What’s on Your Playlist? Subcultures, Racism, and Cultural Appropriation
13. Our Love–Hate Relationship with the Car: Masculinity, Industry, and Environmental Sustainability

Appendix: Advertising and Society: An Overview of Sociological Methods

References
Glossary/Index

Biography

Josée Johnston is Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto. She is co-author of Happy Meat: The Sadness and Joy of a Paradoxical Idea and Food and Femininity.

Kate Cairns is a feminist sociologist of childhood and youth. She is co-author of Food and Femininity

Shyon Baumann is Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto. He is co-author of Foodies: Democracy and Distinction in the Gourmet Foodscape, second edition, and Happy Meat: The Sadness and Joy of a Paradoxical Idea.

“With a remarkable gift for storytelling, the authors show us how the things we use reflect the conflict between our private lives and the public issues structuring them. After reading this book, it will be impossible to see a marketing campaign or a PR event in quite the same way. I can’t wait to teach Introducing Sociology Using the Stuff of Everyday Life in my classroom!”

Frederick F. Wherry, The Townsend Martin Class of 1917 Professor of Sociology, Princeton University and Director of Debt Collection Lab

“One of the reasons I love this textbook, and students do too: it’s really applicable and up to date with their everyday lives. By using the objects of everyday life the book makes sociological topics accessible and easy to understand, and shows the applicability of methods and theory throughout – it shows students not only how to think but also how to practice sociology. I will definitely continue to use this book as long as I teach Introduction to Sociology.”

Meredith Katz, Associate Professor of Sociology, Virginia Commonwealth University