Essentials of Sociology

The author is a proud sponsor of the 2020 SAGE Keith Roberts Teaching Innovations Award enabling graduate students and early career faculty to attend the annual ASA pre-conference teaching and learning workshop. Join the conversation with one of sociology’s best-known thinkers. In the fully updated Fourth Edition of Essentials to Sociology, bestselling author George Ritzer shows students the relevance of sociology to their lives. Adapted from Ritzer’s Introduction to Sociology, this text provides students with a rock-solid foundation in a shorter and more streamlined format. Students will learn about traditional sociological concepts and theories, as well as some of the most compelling contemporary social phenomena: globalization, consumer culture, the Internet, and the "McDonaldization" of society. Packed with current examples and the latest research of how "public" sociologists are engaging with the critical issues of today, this new edition encourages students to apply a sociological perspective to their worldview—empowering them to participate in a global conversation about current social problems. Digital Option / Courseware SAGE Vantage is an intuitive digital platform that delivers this text’s content and course materials in a learning experience that offers auto-graded assignments and interactive multimedia tools, all carefully designed to ignite student engagement and drive critical thinking. Built with you and your students in mind, it offers simple course set-up and enables students to better prepare for class. Assignable Video with Assessment Assignable video (available with SAGE Vantage) is tied to learning objectives and curated exclusively for this text to bring concepts to life. LMS Cartridge (formerly known as SAGE Coursepacks): Import this title’s instructor resources into your school’s learning management system (LMS) and save time. Don’t use an LMS? You can still access all of the same online resources for this title via the password-protected Instructor Resource Site. SAGE Lecture Spark Designed to save you time and ignite student engagement, these free weekly lecture launchers focus on current event topics tied to key concepts in Sociology.

Table of Contents:
Letter from the Author Acknowledgments About the Author CHAPTER 1: An Introduction to Sociology in the Global Age A Sociology of Revolutions and Counterrevolutions The Changing Nature of the Social World—and Sociology Central Concerns for a Twenty-First-Century Sociology Sociology: Continuity and Change The Social Construction of Reality Sociology’s Purpose: Science or Social Reform? Sociology, the Other Social Sciences, and Common Sense Summary Key Terms Review Questions CHAPTER 2: Thinking About and Researching the Social World Do Sociological Theory and Research Help Us Understand Today’s Overheated Politics? Theorizing the Social World Contemporary Sociological Theory Researching the Social World Issues in Social Research Summary Key Terms Review Questions CHAPTER 3: Culture A Reflection of U.S. Culture A Definition of Culture The Basic Elements of Culture Cultural Differences Global Culture Summary Key Terms Review Questions CHAPTER 4: Socialization and Interaction Socialization and Variance The Individual and the Self The Individual as Performer Socialization Interaction Micro-Level Social Structures Summary Key Terms Review Questions CHAPTER 5: Organizations, Societies, and Global Relationships Questioning Governmental Authority Organizations Contemporary Organizational Realities Societies Global Relationships Summary Key Terms Review Questions CHAPTER 6: Deviance and Crime Norms, Labels, and Judgment Deviance Theories of Deviance Crime Globalization and Crime Summary Key Terms Review Questions CHAPTER 7: Social Stratification in the United States and Globally Student “Haves” and “Have-Nots” in Higher Education Dimensions of Social Stratification Economic Inequality Social Mobility Theories of Social Stratification Consumption and Social Stratification Global Stratification Other Global Inequalities Changing Positions in Global Stratification Theories of Global Stratification Summary Key Terms Review Questions CHAPTER 8: Race and Ethnicity Minorities Acquire Political Power The Concepts of Race and Ethnicity Majority–Minority Relations Racism Race and Ethnicity in a Global Context Summary Key Terms Review Questions CHAPTER 9: Gender and Sexuality Challenging Gender Stereotypes Gender and Sex The Sociology of Sexuality Sexuality, Gender, and Globalization Global Flows Related to Gender Summary Key Terms Review Questions CHAPTER 10: Families Fictional Families Get Real Family, Marriage, and Intimate Relationships Broad Changes in Marriage and the Family Theorizing the Family Problems in the Family Global Families Summary Key Terms Review Questions CHAPTER 11: Education and Religion Science versus Religion in the Public Schools Education Inequality in Education Globalization and Education Religion Types of Religious Institutions Religion and Globalization Summary Key Terms Review Questions CHAPTER 12: Politics and the Economy The Interrelationship of Government and the Economy Politics: Democracy or Dictatorship Who Rules the United States? Global Politics The U.S. Economy: From Industrial to Postindustrial Work, Consumption, and Leisure Globalization and the Economy Summary Key Terms Review Questions CHAPTER 13: The Body, Medicine, Health, and Health Care The Opioid Crisis The Sociology of Health The Body The Sociology of Medicine Globalization and Health Summary Key Terms Review Questions CHAPTER 14: Population, Urbanization, and the Environment Too Few, Too Old Population Urbanization Cities and Globalization The Environment Summary Key Terms Review Questions CHAPTER 15: Social Change, Social Movements, and Collective Action Workers’ Rights, Consumer Activism, and Social Change Social Movements Emergence, Mobilization, and Impact of Social Movements Collective Action Social Change: Globalization, Consumption, and the Internet Summary Key Terms Review Questions Glossary References: Chapter-Opening Vignettes References: Comprehensive List Index

About the Author :
George Ritzer is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, where he has also been a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and won a Teaching Excellence Award. He was awarded the Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award by the American Sociological Association, an honorary doctorate from LaTrobe University in Australia, and the Robin Williams Lectureship from the Eastern Sociological Society. His best-known work, The McDonaldization of Society (8th ed.), has been read by hundreds of thousands of students over two decades and translated into over a dozen languages. Ritzer is also the editor of McDonaldization: The Reader; and author of other works of critical sociology related to the McDonaldization thesis, including Enchanting a Disenchanted World, The Globalization of Nothing, Expressing America: A Critique of the Global Credit Card Society, as well as a series best-selling social theory textbooks and Globalization: A Basic Text. He is the Editor of the Encyclopedia of Social Theory (2 vols.), the Encyclopedia of Sociology (11 vols.; 2nd edition forthcoming), the Encyclopedia of Globalization (5 vols.), and is Founding Editor of the Journal of Consumer Culture. In 2016 he will publish the second edition of Essentials of Sociology with SAGE.