Sociology : A Global Introduction - John J. Macionis & Ken Plummer (Other Sociology Textbooks)

Member Name: wampyrii

Product:	Other Sociology Textbooks
Date:	06/02/01 (157 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: accessible, lively

Disadvantages: price

This is an excellent introductory book for first year undergraduates and the more adventurous A-Level student alike. It is a general text focusing on giving an overview of the main areas which sociologists are concerned with today and tackles them in such a way as to be both informative and interesting at the same time. The authors declare that they wish to make sociology more accessible to all, believing that the discipline has a lot to contribute to the modern world and with this textbook they do just that.

The book is split into 5 main sections, covering all the major areas studied by sociologists in the modern world. The emphasis here is upon recent times and at applying sociology to the real world rather than bogging down in historical navel gazing(although this is also achieved where necessary) and makes the study of sociology far more 'relevant' than other similar textbooks. The authors claim that there are 3 major differences to be found between this and the rest:

1) The book doesn't just focus on Britain, but instead looks at things from a global perspective. The recurrent theme is that the world is becoming more globalised, although the main emphasis is upon the West, focusing upon Europe, UK and North America.

2) It looks at impoatnt issues which are often overlooked by other introductory texts but will be of interest to the new student and critical to understand for a 21st century sociologist: the aging population, the rising global power of the mass media, the significance of non-Western poverty and environmental issues.

3) It si user friendly. There is none of the overcomplicated use of language or over-bloated definitions of concepts which often closes this dicscipline from study by any one but the most dedicated student - just simply the facts discussed in a friendly accessible manner.

Another high point for me about this textbook, which makes it a far more entertaining read than most, is the n
umerous textboxes and pictoral information which accompanies the subject matter and brings it to life. These do not only help to illustrate the points being made but often highly entertaining as well. For example in a chapter about culture a section on handsignals illustrates the multitudinous differences which exist between cultures. We are shown, for example, that the American hand signal for A-OK is an insult to both the French and German races. To the French is means that the recipient is worth nothing, a zero in the eyes of the signaller and to the Germans it is a crude symbol for the rectum...

Overall, there is a wealth of information here which will be an excellent accompaniment for any first year undergraduate sociology course which is presented in a lively and accessible manner. One which every sociology student should own.

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