Books On Social Structure
Social Structure, Abstracts, Syllabus, Journals
Social
Structures
Social Structure & Mobility in Economic Development Neil J. Smelser, Seymour Martin Lipset
The Social Structures Of The Economy Book by Pierre Bourdieu
Transition from School to Work: Individual Life Courses Within Social Structures (Issues In Education) Book by Chew Siew Ghee
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Marginality, Power and Social Structure : Issues in Race, Class, and Gender Analysis (Research in Race and Ethnic Relations) Book by Rutledge Dennis
Change And Stability: Cross-national Analysis Of Social Structure And Personality Melvin L. Kohn
The Social Structure of Postindustrial Societies : From Classes and Strata to Social Milieus and Lifestyles Book by Stefan Hradil
Human Behavior and the Larger Social Environment : A New Synthesis Book by Miriam McNown Johnson, Rita Rhodes
Social Structure and Party Choice in Western Europe : A Comparative Longitudinal Study Book by Oddbjorn Knutsen
Drug And Alcohol Consumption As Functions Of Social Structures: A Cross-cultural Sociology (Mellen Studies in Sociology) Book by James E. Hawdon, James Hawdon
Inequality: Structures, Dynamics and Mechanisms : Essays in Honor of Aage B. Sorensen (Research in Social Stratification and Mobility) Book by Arne L. Kalleberg, Stephen L. Morgan, John Myles, Rachel A. Rosenfeld
The Stag Hunt and the Evolution of Social Structure Brian Skyrms' study of ideas of cooperation and collective action.
Reviews:
Social
Structures
Social Structures is a book that examines how structural forms spontaneously arise from
social relationships. Offering major insights into the building blocks of social life, it
identifies which locally emergent structures have the capacity to grow into larger ones
and shows how structural tendencies associated with smaller structures shape and constrain
patterns of larger structures. The book then investigates the role such structures have
played in the emergence of the modern nation-state.
He looks at a range of social structures, from smaller ones like families and street gangs
to larger ones such as communes and, ultimately, nation-states. He finds that the
relationships best suited to forming larger structures are those that thrive in conditions
of inequality; that are incomplete and as sparse as possible, and thereby avoid the
problem of completion in which interacting members are required to establish too many
relationships; and that abhor transitivity rather than assuming it. Social Structures
argues that these "patronage" relationships, which often serve as means of loose
coordination in the absence of strong states, are nevertheless the scaffolding of the
social structures most distinctive to the modern state, namely the command army and the
political party.
The
Social Structures Of The Economy Book by Pierre Bourdieu
As Bourdieu shows, the market is constructed by the state, which can decide, for example,
whether to promote private housing or collective provision. And the individuals involved
in the transaction are immersed in symbolic constructions which constitute, in a strong
sense, the value of houses, neighbourhoods and towns.
Supply, demand, the market and even the buyer and seller are products of a process of
social construction, and so-called ‘economic' processes can be adequately described
only by calling on sociological methods. Instead of seeing the two disciplines in
antagonistic terms, it is time to recognize that sociology and economics are in fact part
of a single discipline, the object of which is the analysis of social facts, of which
economic transactions are in the end merely one aspect.
This brilliant study by the most original sociologist of post-war France will be essential
reading for students and scholars of sociology, economics, anthropology and related
disciplines
Marginality,
Power and Social Structure : Issues in Race, Class, and Gender Analysis (Research in
Race and Ethnic Relations) Book by Rutledge Dennis
The title of the volume comes into play here because, though many of the early marginality
theorists took the term into the realm of psychology, the contributors to this volume who
discussed the theory highlighted the social structural foundation of marginality.
Dennis sought a marriage of theory and research while assembling the articles for this
volume. For this reason he actively sought papers which used divergent research strategies
to uncover the existence of marginality in its various forms and contexts. Thus, some of
the papers utilize ethnographic and life history approaches, whereas others use
statistical analysis and historical data analysis. In addition to theoretical and
methodological concerns a major theme for this volume is the combination of both theory
and method towards an investigation of issues and problems emanate from the social
structure, and are closely linked to power and domination.
Change
And Stability: Cross-national Analysis Of Social Structure And Personality Melvin L.
Kohn
Kohn tests his incisive interpretation of the relationships between position in the larger
social structures of class and stratification and job conditions and personality.
Initially developed and tested in a longitudinal study of men employed in civilian
occupations in the United States, the interpretation is systematically tested and enlarged
in studies in Japan (to see whether it applies to a non-Western industrialized society)
and in Poland when it was socialist (to see whether it applies to the social and economic
system of Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe). Despite personality being highly unstable
during the process of radical social change in Ukraine from 1992 to 1996, the
relationships of social structure and personality remain remarkably stable and consistent
with those of countries studied during times of much greater social stability.
Human
Behavior and the Larger Social Environment : A New Synthesis Book by Miriam McNown
Johnson, Rita Rhodes
Human Behavior and the Larger Social Environment promotes critical thinking through
extensive review and analysis of macro-level systems and structures, highlighting both the
positive and negative impacts they have on individuals and families.
Social
Structure and Party Choice in Western Europe : A Comparative Longitudinal Study Book
by Oddbjorn Knutsen
This study is a comparative analysis of the relationship between social structure and
party choice in eight West European countries. Oddbjbliogørn Knutsen analyzes the
comparative strength of social structural variables, and how these have changed from the
early 1970s to the late 1990s. Other factors that are considered include for which parties
the structural variables have the largest impact within the various party systems and
across national contexts, and for which parties are the most significant changes in
support from various social groups found.
Inequality:
Structures, Dynamics and Mechanisms : Essays in Honor of Aage B. Sorensen (Research in
Social Stratification and Mobility) Book by Arne L. Kalleberg, Stephen L. Morgan, John
Myles, Rachel A. Rosenfeld
Aage Sorensen's research sought to understand the structures, dynamics and mechanisms that
underlie inequalities in industrial societies by focusing on how individuals' attainments
are shaped by characteristics of a society's or organization's opportunity structure, on
the one hand, and individuals' education, experience and other human capital resources, on
the other. He emphasized inequalities associated with education and schooling, class, and
stratification outcomes such as income and occupational status.
The chapters of this volume illustrate some of the major themes that characterized Aage's
research; these topics are also likely to constitute important concerns for future efforts
to understand structured social inequality in society. These themes include: the
development of explicit dynamic models to account for observed patterns of education,
career, and labor market outcomes; aspects of educational inequality such as school
effects and learning opportunities; issues related to intragenerational mobility and
careers; and the role of rents in generating structural inequality.
The
Stag Hunt and the Evolution of Social Structure
Brian Skyrms' study of ideas of cooperation and collective action.
"Rousseau's story of a stag hunt illuminates his vision of the social contract. Brian
Skyrms emulates the master by using the Stag Hunt Game to illustrate his very different
vision. Who would have thought there was so much to learn from such a simple game?"
Ken Binmore, California Institute of Technology
Brian Skyrms' study of ideas of cooperation and collective action explores the
implications of a prototypical story found in Rousseau's A Discourse on Inequality. It is
therein that Rousseau contrasts the pay-off of hunting hare (where the risk of
non-cooperation is small and the reward equally small) against the pay-off of hunting the
stag (where maximum cooperation is required but the reward is much greater.) Thus,
rational agents are pulled in one direction by considerations of risk and in another by
considerations of mutual benefit.