Drawing from a wide selection of classic and contemporary works, the 60 selections in this best-selling reader represent a plurality of voices and views within sociology.

Preface

I. The Sociological Perspective
1. C. Wright Mills, The Promise--classic piece on the sociological imagination
*2. Donna Gaines, Teenage Wasteland: Suburbia's Dead-End Kids--applying the sociological imagination to teen suicide
3. Mary Romero, An Intersection of Biography and History: My Intellectual Journey--applying the sociological imagination to domestic service
Social Research
4. Michael Schwalbe, Finding Out How the Social World Works--a summary of what it means to be sociologically mindful
5. Craig Haney, W. Curtis Banks, and Philip G. Zimbardo, Interpersonal Dynamics in a Simulated Prison--classic piece on the research design of Zimbardo's famous experiment
6. Mitchell Duneier, Sidewalk--an ethnographic study of street vendors in New York City

II. Culture
7. Barry Glassner, The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Fear the Wrong Things--one perspective of American culture
*8. Paula England and Ruben J. Thomas, The Decline of the Date and the Rise of the College Hook Up--an investigation into the dating culture on one college campus
*9. Sabeen Sandhu, Instant Karma: The Commercialization of Asian Indian Culture--how culture and identity are transformed when commercialized
10. Haunani-Kay Trask, Lovely Hula Hands: Corporate Tourism and the Prostitution of Hawaiian Culture--an examination of cultural commodification and exploitation

III. Socialization
11. Judith Lorber, "Night to His Day": The Social Construction of Gender--the socialization of gender identity
*12. Betsy Lucal, What It Means to Be Gendered Me: Life on the Boundaries of a Dichotomous Gender System--one woman's narrative of gender identity and performance
13. Robert Granfield, Making It By Faking It: Working-Class Students in an Elite Academic Environment--working class identity and law school socialization
14. Gwynne Dyer, Anybody's Son Will Do--resocialization into the total institution of the military

IV. Groups and Social Structure
15. Patricia A. Adler and Peter Adler, Peer Power: Clique Dynamics among School Children--a study of the structure and interactional dynamics among groups of school children
16. Martin Sanchez Jankowski, Gang Business--a functional analysis of a primary group
17. Christine L. Williams, Shopping as Symbolic Interaction: Race, Class, and Gender in the Toy Store--a study of secondary group relationships and social interaction
18. Mark Colvin, Descent Into Madness: The New Mexico State Prison Riot--an example of social structure breaking down

V. Deviance, Crime, and Social Control
19. David L. Rosenhan, On Being Sane in Insane Places--classic piece on labeling and social deviance
20. Penelope E. McLorg and Diane E. Taub, Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia: The Development of Deviant Identities--the social construction of deviant identities
*21. Paul Draus and Robert G. Carlson, Down on Main Street: Drugs and the Small-Town Vortex--an ethnographic study of the social networks of illicit drug use in rural small towns
22. A. Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade, Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture: Why Are Some Fraternities More Dangerous Places for Women?--the social organization of crime

VI. Social Inequality
Social Class
23. Kingsley Davis, Wilbert E. Moore, and Melvin Tumin, Some Principles of Stratification --classic piece on the functions of social stratification
24. G. William Domhoff, Who Rules America?: The Corporate Community and the Upper Class--the lifestyles and social institutions of the upper class
25. Thomas M. Shapiro, The Hidden Cost of Being African American: How Wealth Perpetuates Inequality--an examination of social class and racial differences in wealth
26. Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel-and-Dimed on (Not) Getting by in America--an exploration of the lives of the working poor
Gender
27. Barbara Risman, Gender as Structure--a review of four theories that explain sex and gender
*28. C.J. Pascoe, 'Dude, You're a Fag': Adolescent Masculinity and the Fag Discourse--an examination of masculinity and homophobia in high schools
*29. Amy Young et al., Drinking Like a Guy: Frequent Binge Drinking Among Undergraduate Women--research on drinking and gender identity among college women
30. Meika Loe, Working at Bazooms: The Intersection of Power, Gender, and Sexuality--an investigation of gender and sexuality in the workplace
Race and Ethnicity
31. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, "New Racism," Color-Blind Racism, and the Future of Whiteness in America --the persistence of whiteness and racial inequality in America
32. Charlie LeDuff, At a Slaughterhouse, Some Things Never Die--an examination of the racial dynamics at one workplace site
33. Katherin M. Flower Kim, Out of Sorts: Adoption and (Un)Desirable Children--how race and racism influence adoption decisions
*34. Elijah Anderson, The Cosmopolitan Canopy--an enthnographic account of how urban spaces can transform race relations

VII. Social Institutions
Power and Politics
35. C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite--classic piece on the power elite
36. Dan Clawson, Alan Neustadtl,and Mark Weller, Dollars and Votes: How Business Campaign Contributions Subvert Democracy--an application of Mills' power elite
37. Charles Derber, One World Under Business--the financial dynamics and politics of globalization
Mass Media
38. Gregory Mantsios, Media Magic: Making Class Invisible--how the mass media distorts social class
*39. Brigitte L. Nacos and Oscar Torres-Reyna, Muslim Americans in the News before and after 9/11--the U.S. media's treatment of Muslim Americans
40. Karen Sternheimer, It's Not the Media: The Truth About Pop Culture's Influence On Children--an examination of media violence and its effects on children
The Economy and Work
41. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Manifesto of the Communist Party--classic piece on the relationship between the capitalists and the workers
42. Robin Leidner, Over the Counter: McDonald's--an ethnographic study of the routinization of work
43. Arlie Russell Hochschild, The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work--how individuals combine their work and home lives
Religion
44. Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism--classic piece on the influence of religion on the economy
*45. Steven P. Dandaneau, Religion and Society: Of Gods and Demons--a sociological overview of the institution of religion
46. Russell Shorto, Faith at Work--how some Christians are bringing faith into the workplace
Health and Medicine
*47. Lillian B. Rubin, Sand Castles and Snake Pits--an examination of how deinstitutionalization increased the numbers of mentally ill among the homeless
48. Eric Klinenberg, Dying Alone: The Social Production of Urban Isolation--the health consequences of the 1995 Chicago heat wave
49. David A. Karp, Illness and Identity--an interview study of people with depression
Education
50. Mary Crow Dog and Richard Erdoes, Civilize Them With A Stick--education as an institution of social control
51. Jonathan Kozol, Still Separate, Still Unequal: America's Educational Apartheid--racial segregation in American schools
52. Ann Arnett Ferguson, Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity--racial and gender stereotyping in American schools
The Family
53. Andrew J. Cherlin, The Deinstitutionalization of American Marriage--an examination of the weakening of social norms in the institution of marriage
54. Ann Crittendon, The Mommy Tax--the income discrimination faced by working mothers
55. Annette Lareau, Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life--a study of social class differences in parenting and child rearing in African American and white families

VIII. Social Change
*56. Charles L. Harper and Kevin T. Leicht, American Social Trends--an overview of social change in America
57. D. Stanley Eitzen, The Atrophy of Social Life--how social isolation is affecting society
58. Allan G. Johnson, What Can We Do? Becoming a Part of the Solution--social change strategies to deal with privilege and oppression