Promise of Sociology

Rob Beamish is head of the Department of Sociology at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, where he has taught for 30 years. He is the author of Marx, Method, and the Division of Labor (1992); Fastest, Highest, Strongest: A Critique of High Performance Sport (2006, with Ian Ritchie), and Steroids: A New Look at Performance-Enhancing Drugs (2011).

• PrefaceIntroductionPart One: Why Think Sociologically?1. Visions and Profiles of Students Today2. Generation Z and the Promise of Sociology3. The Light of Reason: Higher Education’s ChallengesPart Two: The Classical Tradition4. Marx and the Dialectic of Dynamic, Unstable Social Formations5. Marx, the Communist Manifesto, and Modernity6. From Descartes to Durkheim: Toward a Science of Society7. Durkheim and the Systematic Study of Social Facts8. Weber and the Interpretive Understanding of Social Action9. The Spirit of Capitalism, Modernity, and the Postmodern WorldPart Three: Sociology and Contemporary Popular Culture10. Culture and Critique11. The Dialectics of Popular Culture12. Rock ’n’ Roll as Complex Culture13. The Promise of SociologyGlossary of Key Terms and NamesBibliographyIndex

Engaging, accessible, and written in a lively and often humorous style. Highly recommended.- CHOICE An introduction to the discipline and an exercise in critical thinking and learning.- Teaching Sociology