Showing titles in Social Theory

In this eye-opening book, renowned economist Alex Edmans teaches us how to separate fact from fiction. Using colorful examples—from a wellness guru's tragic but fabricated backstory to the blunders that led to the Deepwater Horizon disaster to the diet that ensnared millions yet hastened its founder's death—Edmans highlights the biases that cause us to mistake statements for facts, facts for data, data for evidence, and evidence for proof.

Though created by humans, our technologies, markets, and institutions often contain an antihuman agenda. Douglas Rushkoff, digital theorist and host of the NPR-One podcast Team Human, reveals the dynamics of this antihuman machinery and invites us to remake these aspects of society in ways that foster our humanity. In 100 aphoristic statements, his manifesto exposes how forces for human connection have turned into ones of isolation and repression.

Whether we aspire to become the best lawyer or charity worker, life partner or celebrity influencer, we emulate exemplars that exist in the world – hoping it will bring us happiness. But this often leads to a complex game of envy and pride. In Against Identity, philosopher Alexander Douglas seeks an alternative wisdom. Searching the work of three thinkers – ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi, Dutch Enlightenment thinker Benedict de Spinoza, and 20th Century French theorist René Girard – he explores how identity can be a spiritual violence that leads us away from truth.

"An excellent introduction to behavioral science with relatable examples is presented by an expert narrator." - AudioFile Magazine on The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit Expanding upon his viral TEDx Talk, psychology professor and social scientist John V. Petrocelli's The...

Peter Frase argues that increasing automation and a growing scarcity of resources, thanks to climate change, will bring it all tumbling down. In Four Futures, Frase imagines how this postcapitalist world might look, deploying the tools of both social science and speculative fiction to explore what communism, rentism, socialism, and exterminism might actually entail.

Brought to you by Penguin. **THE GLOBAL MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER** NOT BEING RACIST IS NOT ENOUGH. WE HAVE TO BE ANTIRACIST. 'Transformative and revolutionary' ROBIN DIANGELO, author of White Fragility 'So vital' IJEOMA OLUO, author of So You Want to Talk About Race In this rousing and deeply...

It is widely understood that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution completely revolutionized the study of biology. Yet, according to David Sloan Wilson, the Darwinian revolution won’t be truly complete until it is applied more broadly—to everything associated with the words “human,”...

From Out of the Binders co-founder Lux Alptraum, a controversial look at women, sex, and lying -- why myths about women's deceit persist, how they came to be, and ultimately why we must trust women When we talk about sex, we talk about women as mysterious, deceptive, and - above all -...

"L'Éthique protestante et l'esprit du capitalisme", de Max Weber, est une des œuvres fondatrices de la sociologie moderne. À partir du constat de l'inégalité sociale entre protestants et catholiques en Allemagne, Weber émet des hypothèses qui expliqueraient ces différences. D'après Weber, la réforme protestante est à l'origine de l'éthique du travail du capitalisme.

The adviser to Senator Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates, and President Bill Clinton proves that small is big by identifying 75 hidden-in-plain-sight trends that are moving America, revealing that the nation is no longer a melting pot but a collection of communities with many individual tastes and...

Our obsession with praise and blame begins soon after birth. Totally dependent on others, rapidly we learn to value praise and to fear the consequences of blame. Despite outgrowing an infant's dependence, we continue to monitor others' judgments of us - and develop what relational psychologist Terri Apter calls a "judgment meter", which constantly scans people and our interactions with them, registering a positive or negative opinion.

'Fuel for the post-Christmas lunch argument' Financial Times Death and taxes are our inevitable fate. We've been told this since the beginning of civilisation. But what if we stopped to question our antiquated system? Is it fair? And is it capable of serving the needs of our rapidly-changing...

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...

Five mysterious billionaires summoned Douglas Rushkoff to a desert resort for a private talk. The topic? How to survive The Event: the societal catastrophe they know is coming. Rushkoff came to understand that these men were under the influence of The Mindset, a Silicon Valley-style certainty that they can break the laws of physics, economics, and morality to escape a disaster of their own making—as long as they have enough money and the right technology.

‘Like Louis Theroux channelling Margaret Atwood’ – New Statesman ‘A tour of the lurid fringes of the tech world’ – The Times ‘A moreish page-turner of a book’ – Herald Imagine if it was possible to have the perfect sexual relationship without compromise, eat meat without...

Almost every day it seems that our world becomes more fractured, more digital, and more chaotic. Sheila Liming has the answer: we need to hang out more. Starting with the assumption that play is to children as hanging out is to adults, Liming makes a brilliant case for the necessity of unstructured social time as a key element of our cultural vitality. The book asks questions like what is hanging out? why is it important? why do we do it? how do we do it? and examines the various ways we hang out-in groups, online, at parties, at work.

Piven and Cloward have updated their classic work on the history and function of welfare to cover the American welfare state's massive erosion during the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton years. The authors present a boldly comprehensive, brilliant new theory to explain the comparative underdevelopment of the US welfare state among advanced industrial nations. Their conceptual framework promises to shape the debate within current and future administrations as they attempt to rethink the welfare system and its role in American society.

Che cosa sta succedendo oggi ai maschi? Viviamo in un mondo in continuo cambiamento, con grandi contraddizioni, nel quale i ragazzi sono spesso iperprotetti o, al contrario, lasciati a se stessi; nel quale diventano vittime di modelli irrealistici che spopolano sui social media; nel quale le nuove generazioni di padri appaiono incapaci di assolvere al proprio ruolo educativo di esempi di una mascolinità emotivamente consapevole.

„Essais" bedeutet „Versuche" – und genau das unternahm Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) mit seinem gleichnamigen Werk: Er begründete ein neues literarisches Genre, in dem er sich den großen Fragen seiner Zeit mit persönlichem Blick und philosophischer Offenheit widmete. In stilistisch brillanter Prosa denkt Montaigne über das menschliche Maß, die Grenzen des Wissens und das Wesen des guten Lebens nach. Seine Reflexionen sind zugänglich, zeitlos und überraschend modern.

Brought to you by Penguin. A fairer, healthier, more caring and sustainable society is entirely within our grasp. The renowned co-author of The Spirit Level shows us the way. How do we ensure that everyone has good health and receives the care they need? How do we provide education that...