Series: Key Concepts

The concept of intersectionality has become a central topic in academic and activist circles alike. But what exactly does it mean, and why has it emerged as such a vital lens through which to explore how social inequalities of race, class, gender, sexuality, age, ability, and ethnicity shape one another? In this fully revised and expanded second edition of their...

Who was Martha Bernays, the Hamburg-born woman who, after a long and turbulent engagement and against the opposition of her mother, married the Viennese doctor Sigmund Freud and lived at his side for more than fifty years as wife and mother of six? How did she feel, coming from a traditional Jewish family but living in a household with no...

People often yearn for a sense of belonging and connection: they long to live in a meaningful community. In the modern age, however, this often seems to be a chimera. Does modernity doom us to be atomised individuals? Does the promise of community imply a loss of autonomy and freedom and entrench inequality and hierarchy? In Community, J. Toby Reiner...

In The Network Society, Darin Barney provides a compelling examination of the social, political, and economic implications of network technologies and their application across a wide range of practices and institutions. Are we in the midst of a digital revolution? Have new information and communication technologies given birth to a new form of society, or do they reinforce and extend...

In this accessible and engagingly written book, Vanessa May invites readers into the rich world of thought, research, and study of the highly diverse phenomenon of families and family life. The book explores what is and has been understood by family in different sociocultural contexts and how family life intersects with social spheres such as the state, the labour market,...

Over its long history, the concept of ideology has acquired a vast and at times incommensurable roster of meanings: positive and negative, analytic and critical, philosophical, psychological, and scientific. But how precisely should we understand and study ideology today? What is its connection to key issues in social life and social research, such as capitalism and class, democracy and partisanship,...

Poverty remains one of the most urgent issues of our time. In this fully updated edition of her important and widely acclaimed intervention on the topic, Ruth Lister introduces readers to the meaning and experience of poverty in the contemporary world. The book opens with a lucid discussion of current debates around the definition and measurement of poverty in industrialised...

How does society form and transform individuals? Sociology has been asking this question since its inception, and socialization has been analysed from different vantage points by various prominent thinkers. Socialization offers an overview of some of these perspectives in the classic work of key theorists and in contemporary research that has either developed or challenged these ideas. The book argues...

This book is a fresh and engaging analysis of the city as a central concept in contemporary social thought. It probes the contested and negotiated ways in which cities are built, understood, lived and imagined. Taking a thematic approach and drawing on a range of theoretical, methodological and empirical points of reference, it examines such subjects as urban inequality, public...

Social capital is a principal concept across the social sciences and has readily entered into mainstream discourse. In short, it is popular. However, this popularity has taken its toll. Social capital suffers from a lack of consensus because of the varied ways it is measured, defined, and deployed by different researchers. It has been put to work in ways that...

This third edition, which contains updated material, additional discussion of critical terms and approaches and a revised further reading list, is a guide to the study of English literature. This text offers a comprehensive introduction to English poetry, drama and the novel, complete with practical advice on how to analyze texts.

Class is not only amongst the oldest and most controversial of all concepts in social science, but also a topic which has fascinated, amused, incensed and galvanised the general public. But what exactly is a ‘class’? How do sociologists study and measure it, and how does it correspond to everyday understandings of social difference in the twenty-first century? In a...

A comprehensive writers' guide to the terminology used across the creative writing industries and in the major literary movements. Packed with practical tips for honing writing skills and identifying opportunities for publication and production, it also explains the workings of publishing houses, literary agencies and producing theatres.

Welfare is an important concept in the social sciences. It is also challenged and contested not only by alternative concepts but also as a political goal in itself. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, this book takes a fresh look at the continuing relevance of welfare in the context of public policy, recent scholarly developments and changes in popular attitudes and behaviour....

Arranged alphabetically, this accessible glossary provides a quick source of reference for a range of readers, from students of linguistics to educators who need help navigating the vocabulary of bilingualism. Cross-referenced throughout, this guide considers a range of concepts that relate to the interdisciplinary nature of the field. Refer to Key Concepts in Bilingualism for an insightful exploration into bilingual...

Social Mobility has long been one of the central topics of sociology. It has been the subject of major theoretical contributions from the earliest generations of scholars, as well as being of persistent political interest and concern. Social mobility is frequently used as a key measure of fairness and social justice, given the central role that modern liberal democracies give...

Human Rights, now in its fourth edition, is an introductory text that is both innovative and challenging. Its unique interdisciplinary approach invites students to think imaginatively and rigorously about one of the most important and influential political concepts of our time. Tracing the history of the concept, the book shows that there are fundamental tensions between legal, philosophical, and social-scientific...

Mental Illness is a highly controversial and contested field, informed by the ideas and research of academics and practitioners working in psychiatry, psychology, pharmacology, sociology, genetics, and the neurosciences. This book brings clarity to a complex field, exploring core issues ranging from debates about the way the concept has been developed and expanded over time to controversies over the causes...

A tension between the desire to be respected as an equal and the desire to distinguish oneself as a unique person lies at the heart of the modern social order. Everyone cares about recognition: no one wants to be treated with disrespect, insulted, humiliated, or simply ignored. This basic motivation drives the ‘politics of recognition’ which we see in those...

Jacques Derrida: Key Concepts presents a broad overview and engagement with the full range of Derrida's work—from the early phenomenological thinking to his preoccupations with key themes, such as technology, psychoanalysis, friendship, Marxism, racism, and sexism, to his ethico-political writings and his deconstruction of democracy. Presenting both an examination of the key concepts central to his thinking and a broader...

Emerging from the disruption of the First World War, surrealism confronted the resulting ‘crisis of consciousness’ in a way that was arguably more profound than any other cultural movement of the time. The past few decades have seen an expansion of interest in surrealist writers, whose contribution to the history of ideas in the twentieth century is only now being...

The quest for sustainability has generated lifestyle changes for individuals across the globe, transformations within the arts, sciences, business, design, engineering, and agriculture, innovative policies and laws, and historic international agreements. Yet the means to achieving sustainability remain unsettled and disputed, even as its crucial importance in the face of the climate crisis grows. The third edition of this popular...

This new, updated edition provides a lively, lucid and compelling introduction to contemporary controversies over the self and self-identity in the social sciences and humanities. In an accessible and concise format, the book ranges from classical intellectual traditions of symbolic interactionism, psychoanalysis and Foucauldian theory, through feminism and postfeminism, to postmodernism and the mobilities paradigm. With characteristic verve and clarity,...

Human Rights, now in its fourth edition, is an introductory text that is both innovative and challenging. Its unique interdisciplinary approach invites students to think imaginatively and rigorously about one of the most important and influential political concepts of our time. Tracing the history of the concept, the book shows that there are fundamental tensions between legal, philosophical and social-scientific...