Seeing Ourselves Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology

As a number of analysts see it, the twenty-first century actually began on September 11, 2001, when the terrorist attacks destroyed the World Trade Center, damaged the Pentagon, and killed almost 3,000 people. This assertion is reasonable because this tragic event changed the way most of us look at just about everything, shaking our certainty about the present and challenging our optimism about the future. At the same time, September 11th also renewed our sense of community, reminding us that we are all linked to those around us. In addition, we were prompted to rethink some of our assumptions, realizing, for example, that the work of firefighters is often far more important than that of corporate executives, especially in light of the recent Enron, WorldCom, and other large companies' accounting scandals. In short, those who live in this new century are likely to display a renewed attention to the society around them. Indeed, change and, especially, crisis always encourages the use of the sociological perspective. We hope this new edition ofSeeing Ourselvescan play a small part in the important work of examining the society around us. This revision presents the very best of sociological thought, from the work of the discipline's pioneers to the men and women who are doing today's cutting-edge research. The selections explore both U.S. society as well as global trends. This reader provides excellent material for a wide range of courses, including introductory sociology, social problems, cultural anthropology, social theory, social stratification, American studies, women's studies, and marriage and the family. THE THREE C'S: CLASSIC, CONTEMPORARY, AND CROSS-CULTURAL Since its introduction a decade ago,Seeing Ourselveshas been the most popular reader in the discipline. The new, sixth edition offers seventy-seven selections that represent the breadth and depth of sociology.Seeing Ourselvesis not only the most extensive anthology available, it is the only one that systematically weaves together three kinds of selections. For each general topic typically covered in a sociology course, three types of articles are included:classic, contemporary,andcross-cultural. Classicarticles--thirty in all--are sociological statements of recognized importance and lasting significance. Included here are the ideas of sociology's founders and shakers--including Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Georg Simmel, Ferdinand Tunnies, as well as Margaret Mead, W E. B. Du Bois, Louis Wirth, George Herbert Mead, Thomas Robert Malthus, and Charles Horton Cooley. Also found here are more recent contributions by Alfred Kinsey, Jessie Bernard, Robert Merton, Erving Goff-man, Peter Bergen Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore, C. Wright Mills, Talcott Parsons, and Leslie White. We recognize that not everyone will agree about precisely which selections warrant the term "classic:" We hope, however, that instructors will be pleased to see the work of so many outstanding men and women--carefully edited with undergraduate students in mind-available in a single, affordable source. Twenty-fourcontemporaryselections focus on current sociological issues, controversies, and applications. These articles show sociologists at work and demonstrate the importance of ongoing research. They make for stimulating reading and offer thought-provoking insights about ourselves and the surrounding world. Among the contemporary selections inSeeing Ourselvesare Earl Babbie explaining the importance of sociological research, Becky Thompson on our cultural obsession with thinness, Deborah Tannen on how men and women (mis)communicate, George Ritzer on McDonaldization and jobs, David Rosenhan on diagnosing mental illness, Andrew Hacker on patterns of inequality in the United States, Nijole Benokraitis on subtle patterns of gender discrimination, Patricia HMacionis, John J. is the author of 'Seeing Ourselves Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology', published 2003 under ISBN 9780131115576 and ISBN 013111557X.