Showing titles in Social Theory

Slavoj Žižek's first book is a provocative and original work looking at the question of human agency in a postmodern world. In a thrilling tour de force that made his name, he explores the ideological fantasies of wholeness and exclusion which make up human society. 

Madness, sexuality, power, knowledge—are these facts of life or simply parts of speech? In a series of works of astonishing brilliance, historian Michel Foucault excavated the hidden assumptions that govern the way we live and the way we think. The Archaeology of Knowledge begins at the level of things aid and moves quickly to illuminate the connections between knowledge, language, and action in a style at once profound and personal. A summing up of Foucault's own methodological assumptions, this book is also a first step toward a genealogy of the way we live now.

If you cut off a spider's leg, it's crippled; if you cut off its head, it dies. But if you cut off a starfish's leg it grows a new one, and the old leg can grow into an entirely new starfish. The Starfish and the Spider argues that organizations fall into two categories: "spiders", which have a rigid hierarchy, and "starfish", which rely on the power of peer relationships.

The social contract shapes everything: our political institutions, legal systems and material conditions, but also the organisation of family and community, our well-being, relationships and life prospects. But accelerating changes in technology, demography and climate will reshape our world in ways many of us have yet to grasp. In this landmark study, Minouche Shafik, director of the London School of Economics, draws on evidence from across the globe to identify the key principles every society must adopt if it is to meet the challenges of the coming century.

ただの紙切れやデジタル数字が世界を動かす力を持つ理由——それは、私たちが無意識に共有する「共同幻想」という壮大な経済の歴史に隠されています。毎日の通勤電車の中で社会の複雑さに戸惑う時、この知的好奇心...

Desentraña la manipulación psicológica y protege tu autonomía mental frente al control absoluto de las sectas. Cuando buscas entender por qué personas razonables caen en dinámicas sociales tóxicas, la respuesta rara vez es la ignorancia, sino un magnetismo oscuro y calculador. Este...

Cette analyse sociologique révèle comment une simple croyance collective dicte tous nos rapports de pouvoir. Idéal pour enrichir vos trajets quotidiens, cet essai critique déconstruit le mythe de la monnaie pour vous offrir une grille de lecture inédite. Plongez dans une réflexion...

Bloomsbury presents How to Be a Social Worker: Developing Your Professional Identity by Priscilla Dunk-West read by Esmee Cooke When studying social work, it can be difficult to find the time to step back and think about what it actually means to be a social worker. Now in its third edition, How...

Across the nation, Americans are undergoing an intense period of self-examination. How are our identities and behaviors shaped by the groups to which we belong? How can we reach past our own biases to better understand others? The study of sociology can help us answer these questions, making us better citizens in the process.

Reservation or affirmative action is a hugely controversial policy in India. While constitutionally mandated and with historians, political scientists and social activists convinced of its need, many resist it and consider it as compromising 'merit' and against the principle of equality of...

Deeply revealing and insightful, The Mattering Instinct is a must-listen for those curious about why we seek to matter to ourselves and others—and how this insatiable longing that drives us apart may be the key to finally understanding each other.

“Its theme is political fanaticism, with which it deals severely and brilliantly.” —New Yorker The famous bestseller with “concise insight into what drives the mind of the fanatic and the dynamics of a mass movement” (Wall Street Journal) by the legendary San Francisco longshoreman. A...

A work of striking originality, The Human Condition is in many respects more relevant now than when it first appeared in 1958. In her study of the state of modern humanity, Hannah Arendt considers humankind from the perspective of the actions of which it is capable. The problems Arendt identified then - diminishing human agency and political freedom, the paradox that as human powers increase through technological and humanistic inquiry, we are less equipped to control the consequences of our actions - continue to confront us today.  

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Philip Stevens. This definitive recording includes an introduction by Christopher Brooke. Thomas Hobbes lived through the Thirty Years War and Britain's civil wars, and the trauma of these events led to his great masterpiece of...

Brought to you by Penguin. Frantz Fanon's urgent, dynamic critique of the effects of racism on the psyche is a landmark study of the black experience in a white world. Drawing on his own life and his work as a psychoanalyst to explore how colonialism's subjects internalize its prejudices...

This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice. This is an audio adaptation of the ⁠OpenStax Introduction to Sociology 3e textbook⁠. The audiobook is produced by ⁠Audileo⁠. What OpenStax says about their textbook: Introduction to Sociology 3e aligns to the topics and objectives of many...

Brought to you by Penguin. The Extinction of Experience reveals the true cost of our digital age – and shows us how to return to the real world, while we still can. Human experiences are disappearing. Community is now found online; schools prioritise typing; and with headphones in and eyes...

While millions face hunger, malnutrition, and starvation, the world's population is increasing by over 225,000 people per day, 80 million per year. In many countries, supplies of food and water are inadequate to support the population, so the world falls deeper and deeper into what economists call the "Malthusian trap". Here, Malthus examines the tendency of human numbers to outstrip their resources, and argues that poverty, disease, and starvation are necessary to keep societies from moving beyond their means of subsistence.

From Marcus Collins, strategist to Apple, Nike and Beyoncé, discover the powerful force behind what we buy, what we do, and who we want to be . . . 'Compelling and vivid' – Robert Cialdini, author of Pre-Suasion We all try to influence others in our daily lives. We are all marketers, whether...

The issues of poverty, inequality, racial injustice, and climate change have never been more pressing or paralyzing. Current approaches to social change, which rely on linear thinking and traditional power dynamics to "solve" social problems, are not helping. In fact, they may only be entrenching the status quo. This book draws on stories of committed social changemakers to uncover a set of principles and practices for social change that dramatically depart from the industrial approach. Simple yet profound, these stories distill timely lessons for leaders, scholars, and policymakers.