In 1760 no polity in the world was democratic in any way we would now recognize. In 1995 there were democratic states on every continent and in every region. The struggle to create, sustain, and entrench democratic political systems is one of the ce…
As an unprecedented global pandemic sweeps the planet, who better than the supercharged Slovenian philosopher Slavoj ?i?ek to uncover its deeper meanings, marvel at its mind-boggling paradoxes and speculate on the profundity of its consequences? We…
What is politics? Is it a universal feature of all human societies, past and present? Is it tied to specific institutional arenas? Or is it found in all groups and organizations, large or small, formal or informal? This new textbook seeks to provide…
Few of us have been spared the agonies of intimate relationships. They come in many shapes: loving a man or a woman who will not commit to us, being heartbroken when we're abandoned by a lover, engaging in Sisyphean internet searches, coming back lo…
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, s…
In an era of accelerating technology and increasing complexity, how should we reimagine the emancipatory potential of feminism? How should gender politics be reconfigured in a world being transformed by automation, globalization and the digital revo…
With irrepressible humor, Slavoj i ek dissects our current political and social climate, discussing everything from Jordan Peterson and sex "unicorns" to Greta Thunberg and Chairman Mao. Taking aim at his enemies on the Left, Right, and Center, he a…
Human Rights 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…
What is life like for workers in the gig economy? Is it a paradise of flexibility and individual freedom? Or is it a world of exploitation and conflict? Callum Cant took a job with one of the most prominent platforms, Deliveroo, to find out. His viv…
The pace of modern life is undoubtedly speeding up, yet this acceleration does not seem to have made us any happier or more content. If acceleration is the problem, then the solution, argues Hartmut Rosa in this major new work, lies in "resonance."…
Debates about the role and nature of the state are at the heart of modern politics. However, the state itself remains notoriously difficult to define, and the term is subject to a range of different interpretations. In this book, distinguished state…
The days of the Other are over in this age of excessive communication, information and consumption. What used to be the Other, be it as friend, as Eros or as hell, is now indistinguishable from the self in our narcissistic desire to assimilate every…
Beauty today is a paradox. The cult of beauty is ubiquitous but it has lost its transcendence and become little more than an aspect of consumerism, the aesthetic dimension of capitalism. The sublime and unsettling aspects of beauty have given way to…
Zygmunt Baumana s new book is a brilliant exploration, from a sociological point of view, of the a tabooa subject in modern societies: death and dying. The book develops a new theory of the ways in which human mortality is reacted to, and dealt with…
In this book, the founder of object-oriented ontology develops his view that aesthetics is the central discipline of philosophy. Whereas science must attempt to grasp an object in terms of its observable qualities, philosophy and art cannot proceed…
This timely and engaging book argues that technoscientific advances are radically transforming the woman--machine relationship. However, it is feminist politics rather than the technologies themselves that make the difference. TechnoFeminism fuses t…
The Posthuman offers both an introduction and major contribution to contemporary debates on the posthuman. Digital 'second life', genetically modified food, advanced prosthetics, robotics and reproductive technologies are familiar facets of our glob…
The second edition of Mildred Blaxter's successful and highly respected book offers a comprehensive and engaging introduction to the key debates surrounding the concept of health today. It discusses how health is defined, constructed, experienced an…
This text moves beyond the time of clocks and calendars in order to study time as embedded in social interactions, structures, practices and knowledge, in artefacts, in the body, and in the environment.
In Post-Democracy (Polity, 2004) Colin Crouch argued that behind the facade of strong institutions, democracy in many advanced societies was being hollowed out, its big events becoming empty rituals as power passed increasingly to circles of wealthy…
This path--breaking study will become the standard work on the history of reading in the West. It will be indispensable to students of cultural history, and to all those who want a fresh perspective on the history of books and their uses. * Wide--ra…
An account of the changing practices of reading from the ancient world to the present day. An international team of historians analyze the transformations of reading methods and material over the ages, and show that revolutions in reading generally…
Peter Sloterdijk s reputation as one of the most original thinkers of our time has grown steadily since the early 1980s. This volume of over thirty conversations and interviews spanning two decades illuminates the multiple interconnections of his li…
This new book by Richard Ericson explores the alarming trend across Western societies of treating every imaginable source of harm as a crime. It locates this trend in the 21st century obsession with insecurity fostered by neo-liberal governments. It…
Crime in an Insecure World investigates the alarming trend across Western societies of treating every imaginable source of harm as a crime. It locates this trend in the 21st century obsession with insecurity fostered by neo-liberal governments. It e…
In the usual order of things, lives run their course and eventually one becomes who one is. Bodily and psychic transformations do nothing but reinforce the permanence of identity. But as a result of serious trauma, or sometimes for no reason at all,…
This book gives a comprehensive yet easily accessible introduction to risk and uncertainty as they have been analysed in sociology and related social sciences. The book draws extensively on the wide array of contemporary social theories of risk and…
Ever since humans sketched primitive maps in the dirt, the quest to understand our surroundings has been fundamental to our survival. Studying geography revealed that the earth was round, showed our ancestors where to plant crops, and helped them ap…
This text presents an account of the dynamic relationship between society and science. That line separating society from science is regularly transgressed, and the closer interaction between the two signals the emergence of a new kind of science - c…
Solitude has always had an ambivalent status: the capacity to enjoy being alone can make sociability bearable, but those predisposed to solitude are often viewed with suspicion or pity. Drawing on a wide array of literary and historical sources, Dav…
The present ecological mutation has organized the whole political landscape for the last thirty years. This could explain the deadly cocktail of exploding inequalities, massive deregulation, and conversion of the dream of globalization into a nightm…
Since the end of the Cold War, conflict prevention and resolution, peacekeeping and peacebuilding have risen to the top of the international agenda. The fourth edition of this hugely popular text explains the key concepts, charts the development of…
Social life is in a constant process of change, and sociology can never stand still. As a result, sociology today is a theoretically diverse enterprise, covering a huge range of subjects and drawing on a broad array of research methods. Central to t…
This inspiring and stimulating book confronts contemporary challenges facing social workers. Many of the forms of human, social and environmental degradation addressed arise from social problems that have persisted over time, such as social work s o…
Contrary to optimistic visions of a free internet for all, the problem of the 'digital divide' - the disparity between those with access to internet technology and those without - has persisted for close to twenty-five years. In this textbook, Jan v…
The third edition of What is Military History? has been thoroughly updated, and includes a new bibliography and new case studies on naval warfare and the origins of war, as well as expanded sections on historiography, environmental history and world…
This bold and important new book presents current and emerging thinking on the social dimensions of climate change. Using clear language and powerful examples, it introduces key concepts and frameworks for understanding the multifaceted connections…
This is the second of five volumes based on the lectures given by Pierre Bourdieu at the College de France in the early 1980s under the title 'General Sociology'. In these lectures, Bourdieu sets out to define and defend sociology as an intellectual…
What if our civilization were to collapse? Not many centuries into the future, but in our own lifetimes? Most people recognize that we face huge challenges today, from climate change and its potentially catastrophic consequences to a plethora of soc…
The far right is back with a vengeance. After several decades at the political margins, far-right politics has again taken center stage. Three of the world's largest democracies - Brazil, India, and the United States - now have a radical right leade…
In the context of profound transformations in the professional, business, technological and social context of journalism, it is crucial for journalism studies and education to move beyond limited approaches to the discipline. Among the most signific…
Radio s influence can be found in almost every corner of new media. Radio in the Digital Age assesses a medium that has not only survived the challenges of a new technological age but indeed has extended its reach. This is not a book about digital r…
In Southern Theory Raewyn Connell presents the case for a new 'world social science' - one that is inclusive of many voices - by arguing for a more democratic global recognition of social theory from societies outside the dominant European and North…
The work of Michel Houellebecq - one of the most widely read and controversial novelists of our time - is marked by the thought of Schopenhauer. When Houellebecq came across a copy of Schopenhauer's Aphorisms in a library in his mid-twenties, he was…
Now available in paperback, this book offers a major statement of Bourdieua s theoretical approach, illustrating it with examples from anthropology. It will consolidate his reputation as one of the most original and exciting theorists in the social…
In the new edition of this widely praised text, Alan Aldridge examines the complex realities of religious belief, practice and institutions. Religion is a powerful and controversial force in the contemporary world, even in supposedly secular societi…
The global response to the Covid-19 pandemic is the greatest science policy failure in a generation. We knew this was coming. Warnings about the threat of a new pandemic have been made repeatedly since the 1980s and it was clear in January that a da…
The first three editions of this bestselling book have established A Social History of the Media as a classic, providing a masterful overview of communication media and of the social and cultural contexts within which they emerged and evolved over t…
All of a sudden, everybody's talking about the gig economy. From taxi drivers to pizza deliverers to the unemployed, we are all aware of the huge changes that it is driving in our lives as workers, consumers and citizens. This is the first comprehen…
In this exciting new book, Carol Smart proposes a new way of understanding families and relationships. It is born out of frustration with commentators who proclaim the supposed decline of commitment, and even the decline of the possibility of family…
For more than a decade, Carol Smart has been at the forefront of debates about the sociology of the family. Yet she has become frustrated by the fixation of many commentators with the supposed decline of commitment, and even the decline of the possi…
'Why are you making this about race?' This question is repeated daily in public and in the media. Calling someone racist in these times of mounting white supremacy seems to be a worse insult than racism itself. In our supposedly post-racial society,…
From Gandhi's salt march to the US civil rights movement and Occupy Wall Street, nonviolent campaigns to promote democracy, human rights and social justice have long played an important transformative role in local, national and global politics. Som…
