Introducing Sociology Using the Stuff of Everyday Life

Josée Johnston is Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto. She is co-author of Happy Meat: The Sadness and Joy of a Paradoxical Idea and Food and Femininity.Kate Cairns is a feminist sociologist of childhood and youth. She is co-author of Food and Femininity. Shyon Baumann is Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto. He is co-author of Foodies: Democracy and Distinction in the Gourmet Foodscape, second edition, and Happy Meat: The Sadness and Joy of a Paradoxical Idea.

• Preface: for InstructorsPreface: for StudentsAcknowledgements1. A Day in the Life of Your Jeans: Using Our Stuff to Discover SociologyPart I: Surviving (and Thriving) in Consumer Culture2. You are What You Eat: Culture, Norms, and Values3. Fast-Food Blues: Work in a Global Economy4. Coffee: Class, Distinction, and “Good” TastePart II: Fitting in: Being Part of the Group5. Shopping Lessons: Consuming Social Order6. Get in the Game: Race, Merit, and Group Boundaries7. Barbies and Monster Trucks: Socialization and “Doing Gender”8. Dreaming of a White Wedding: Marriage, Family, and Heteronormativity9. I <3 My Phone: Technology and Social NetworksPart III: Standing Out: Individuals Negotiating the Social World10. Branding Your Unique Identity™: Consumer Culture And the Social Self11. Looking Good: Ideology, Intersectionality, and the Beauty Industry12. What’s on Your Playlist? Subcultures, Racism, and Cultural Appropriation13. Our Love–Hate Relationship with the Car: Masculinity, Industry, and Environmental SustainabilityAppendix: Advertising and Society: An Overview of Sociological MethodsReferencesGlossary/Index

“With a remarkable gift for storytelling, the authors show us how the things we use reflect the conflict between our private lives and the public issues structuring them. After reading this book, it will be impossible to see a marketing campaign or a PR event in quite the same way. I can’t wait to teach Introducing Sociology Using the Stuff of Everyday Life in my classroom!”Frederick F. Wherry, The Townsend Martin Class of 1917 Professor of Sociology, Princeton University and Director of Debt Collection Lab“One of the reasons I love this textbook, and students do too: it’s really applicable and up to date with their everyday lives. By using the objects of everyday life the book makes sociological topics accessible and easy to understand, and shows the applicability of methods and theory throughout – it shows students not only how to think but also how to practice sociology. I will definitely continue to use this book as long as I teach Introduction to Sociology.”Meredith Katz, Associate Professor of Sociology, Virginia Commonwealth University