Offers a look at the emergence of the study of the body. From prenatal genetic testing and 'manscaping' to televideo cybersex and the 'meth economy', this work digs into contemporary lifestyles and events to cover key concepts and theories about the body.
The recent nomination and confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice refocused public attention on the selection criteria that colleges and universities use to admit students. For decades the Supreme Court has repeatedly been asked to decide the constitutionality of racial and ethnic preferences in college admissions. However, this preoccupation with admissions neglects other important considerations in achieving campus diversity and narrowing gaps in educational attainment. What circumstances motivate students to attend and succeed in college? What factors influence individual students' decisions whether to apply and, if admitted, whether to enroll. Based on administrative data from the Texas Higher Education Opportunity Project (THEOP), recent studies have revealed these key insights: ? The high schools that students attend are highly decisive for predicting which students pursue postsecondary education. ? Application behavior (rather than admissions criteria) holds the key to diversification of college campuses along socioeconomic, geographic, and demographic lines. ? Campus diversity is an interim goal for the broader vision of opening the pathways to leadership. The compelling articles in this volume of The ANNALS go beyond the worn argument that admission criteria are solely responsible for determining campus diversity. The authors address a broad range of questions in college decision making - from application to enrollment, college performance, and graduation. The first section of this volume reviews the precursors to college attendance as the first step to campus diversification. The authors discuss the importance of a college habitus. Articles also focus on the strong association between the ethno-racial composition of high schools and first-college preference. Along with key articles on narrowing the gender and ethnic gaps in specific fields of study, academic performance, and graduation rates, this volume also includes an analysis of the consequences of Texas's Top Ten Percent Law guaranteeing admission to any Texas public university for high school seniors who graduated in the top decile of their high school class. This forward-looking volume of The ANNALS is a requisite for students and scholars who want to examine alternatives that narrow ethnic gaps throughout the postsecondary cycle and provide more opportunities for talented, ambitious youth from disadvantaged environments to succeed, as Justice Sotomayor did.
'This is a major and much needed sociological analysis of Europe. Roche captures very well the emerging shape of European society in all its complexity. It is an immensely readable book and will undoubtedly be a standard work of reference' - Gerard Delanty, Professor of Sociology and Social & Political Thought, University of Sussex The sociology ......
This book represents a distinctive approach to cultural analysis, using multi-dimensional methods for addressing issues of public interest. The approach, which deploys Jim McGuigan's original concept of the cultural public sphere, is demonstrated in several case studies, including: " celebrity death " festivals and urban regeneration " 'race' and multicultural controversy " popular television (for instance, Little Britain and The Apprentice) " social significance of the all-purpose mobile communication device in a privatised and individualised way of life " riskiness and uncertainty at both the levels of environmental politics and working life in the creative and media industries These various case studies are analysed with regard to the dialectic of production and consumption in cultural circulation and situated in relation to major issues of social change. The book stresses the impact of neoliberalism throughout the world since the 1970s and the formation of a cool-capitalist culture that has colonised everyday life around much of the globe. In effect, this is a radical intervention in the research agendas and conceptual development of cultural policy studies, cultural sociology and, more generally, in the broad field known as 'cultural studies'. It offers challenging theoretical arguments that are substantiated with concrete evidence of cultural and social processes.
We live in a society dominated by corporations. Whether working for one or pursuing leisure activities run by one, corporations have come to resonate through every aspect of our lives. Each chapter in Understanding Corporate Life supports the reader with a review of the relevant literature and research and a critique of how the theme under discussion fits into the bigger picture presented by the book.
We live in a society dominated by corporations. Whether working for one or pursuing leisure activities run by one, corporations have come to resonate through every aspect of our lives. Each chapter in Understanding Corporate Life supports the reader with a review of the relevant literature and research and a critique of how the theme under discussion fits into the bigger picture presented by the book.
The Sociology of Intellectual Life outlines a social theory of knowledge for the 21st century. With characteristic subtlety and verve, Steve Fuller deals directly with a world in which it is no longer taken for granted that universities and academics are the best places and people to embody the life of the mind. While Fuller defends academic privilege, he takes very seriously the historic divergences between academics and intellectuals, attending especially to the different features of knowledge production that they value. The boook's features include: - an account of the problematic relationship between postmodernism and the university as an institution - the problems facing an academic who wishes also to function as an intellectual - a critical survey of the emerging fields of social epistemology and the sociology of philosophy - a discussion of the ethics and politics of public intellectual life, especially given its largely improvisational (or as Fuller himself terms it, 'bullshit') character.
This book examines Fanti kinship terminology from a variety of analytic and formal perspectives. Based on work with a broad number of informants, David B. Kronenfeld details and analyzes internal variation in usage within the Fanti community, shows the relationship between terminology and social groups and communicative usage, and relates these ......
'This is a major and much needed sociological analysis of Europe. Roche captures very well the emerging shape of European society in all its complexity. It is an immensely readable book and will undoubtedly be a standard work of reference' - Gerard Delanty, Professor of Sociology and Social & Political Thought, University of Sussex The sociology ......
