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International Library of Sociology

About the Book Series

The International Library of Sociology (ILS) is the most important series of books on sociology ever published. Founded in the 1940s by Karl Mannheim, the series became the forum for pioneering research and theory, marked by comparative approaches and the identification of new directions in sociology, publishing major figures in Anglo-American and European sociology, from Durkheim and Weber to Parsons and Gouldner, and from Ossowski and Klein to Jasanoff and Walby.

Its new editors, John Holmwood (University of Nottingham, UK) and Vineeta Sinha (National University of Singapore), plan to develop the series as a truly global project, reflecting new directions and contributions outside its traditional centres, and connecting with the original aim of the series to produce sociological knowledge that addresses pressing global social problems and supports democratic debate.

340 Series Titles


After Method Mess in Social Science Research

After Method: Mess in Social Science Research

1st Edition

By John Law
September 28, 2004

John Law argues that methods don't just describe social realities but are also involved in creating them. The implications of this argument are highly significant. If this is the case, methods are always political, and it raises the question of what kinds of social realities we want to create. Most...

States of Knowledge The Co-production of Science and the Social Order

States of Knowledge: The Co-production of Science and the Social Order

1st Edition

Edited By Sheila Jasanoff
March 26, 2004

In the past twenty years, the field of science and technology studies (S&TS) has made considerable progress toward illuminating the relationship between scientific knowledge and political power. These insights are now ready to be synthesized and presented in forms that systematically highlight ...

Between Sex and Power Family in the World 1900-2000

Between Sex and Power: Family in the World 1900-2000

1st Edition

By Göran Therborn
March 25, 2004

The institution of the family changed hugely during the course of the twentieth century. In this major new work, Göran Therborn provides a global history and sociology of the family as an institution and of politics within the family, focusing on three dimensions of family relations: on the rights ...

Consuming the Caribbean From Arawaks to Zombies

Consuming the Caribbean: From Arawaks to Zombies

1st Edition

By Mimi Sheller
April 11, 2003

From sugar to indentured labourers, tobacco to reggae music, Europe and North America have been relentlessly consuming the Caribbean and its assets for the past five hundred years. In this fascinating book, Mimi Sheller explores this troublesome history, investigating the complex mobilities of ...

Indian Village

Indian Village

1st Edition

By S.C. Dube
January 31, 2003

Published in 1998, Indian Village ;is a valuable contribution to the field of Sociology & Social Policy....

Risk and Technological Culture Towards a Sociology of Virulence

Risk and Technological Culture: Towards a Sociology of Virulence

1st Edition

By Joost Van Loon
January 14, 2003

The question as to whether we are now entering a risk society has become a key debate in contemporary social theory. Risk and Technological Culture presents a critical discussion of the main theories of risk from Ulrich Becks foundational work to that of his contemporaries such as Anthony Giddens ...

Adorno on Popular Culture

Adorno on Popular Culture

1st Edition

By Robert W. Witkin
December 27, 2002

Robert W. Witkin unpacks Adorno's notoriously difficult critique of popular culture in an engaging and accessible style, looking first at the development of the overarching theories of authority, commodification and negative dialectics. He then goes on to consider Adorno's writing on specific ...

Reconnecting Culture, Technology and Nature From Society to Heterogeneity

Reconnecting Culture, Technology and Nature: From Society to Heterogeneity

1st Edition

By Mike Michael
November 07, 2000

In this exciting new book, Mike Michael uses case studies of mundane technologies such as the walking boot, the car and the TV remote control to question some of the fundamental dichotomies through which we make sense of the world. Drawing on the insights of Bruno Latour, Donna Haraway and Michel ...

Sociology Beyond Societies Mobilities for the Twenty-First Century

Sociology Beyond Societies: Mobilities for the Twenty-First Century

1st Edition

By John Urry
January 04, 2000

In this ground-breaking contribution to social theory, John Urry argues that the traditional basis of sociology - the study of society - is outmoded in an increasingly borderless world. If sociology is to make a pertinent contribution to the post societal era it must forget the social rigidities of...

Informality Social Theory and Contemporary Practice

Informality: Social Theory and Contemporary Practice

1st Edition

By Barbara Misztal
December 02, 1999

For most of the twentieth century, modernity has been characterised by the formalisation of social relations as face to face interactions are replaced by impersonal bureaucracy and finance. As we enter the new millennium, however, it becomes increasingly clear that it is only by stepping outside ...

The Sociology of Nationalism Tomorrow's Ancestors

The Sociology of Nationalism: Tomorrow's Ancestors

1st Edition

By David McCrone
September 21, 1998

In recent years nationalism has emerged as one of the dominant issues of our time. In this lucid and balanced account, David McCrone lays out the key issues and debates around a subject which is too often obscured by polemic. Among topics covered are:* classical and contemporary theories of ...

Tourists at the Taj Performance and Meaning at a Symbolic Site

Tourists at the Taj: Performance and Meaning at a Symbolic Site

1st Edition

By Tim Edensor
August 13, 1998

Clearly written and fascinatingly illustrated, Tourists at the Taj describes the conflicting narratives which surround the site. For some the Taj is an evocative symbol of the colonial past. For others it is a symbolic centre of Islamic power. For many of the thousands of tourists that visit it ...

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