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Preface | |
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The Nature of Sociology | |
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The Discipline of Sociology | |
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What Is Sociology? | |
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Sociology Is an Academic Discipline | |
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Sociology Focuses on Our Social World | |
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Sociology Asks Three Questions | |
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Sociology Focuses on Five Topics | |
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Sociology Is a Scientific Discipline | |
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The Meaning of Sociology: A Summary | |
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The Beginnings of Sociology | |
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Science Was an Inspiration ... | |
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And So Were the Problems of Industrialization ... | |
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And the Need to Understand Revolution ... | |
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As Well as Experiences with Other Peoples and Societies ... | |
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And a Climate for New Ideas Arose | |
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The Development of Sociology | |
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Conclusion and Summary | |
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Questions to Consider | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Sociology as a Perspective: How Sociologists Think | |
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Humans Are Social Beings | |
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Humans Exist Within Social Patterns | |
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Humans Are Socialized | |
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Durkheim: The Study of Suicide | |
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Durkheim's Theory | |
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Durkheim's Evidence | |
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Extending His Theory | |
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Durkheim's Influence | |
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Sociology: A Summary | |
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Questions to Consider | |
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References | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Humans Are Embedded in Social Organization | |
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Organization Begins with Social Action | |
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Mutual Social Action Is Social Interaction | |
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Social Organization Is Patterned Social Interaction | |
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The Forms of Social Organization | |
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Dyads Are Twos | |
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Groups Are More | |
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Formal Organizations Write Down Their Rules | |
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Communities Are Self-Sufficient Units of Organization | |
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Societies Are the Most Inclusive Form of Organization | |
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Social Organization Seems to Sit Right on Top of US | |
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Questions to Consider | |
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References | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Social Structure | |
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We All Fill Positions in Social Structure | |
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Roles Are Attached to Positions | |
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Roles Are Not as Simple as a Script in a Play | |
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Status Positions Form Our Identities | |
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Positions Are Unequal | |
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Unequal Power | |
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Unequal Prestige | |
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Unequal Privileges | |
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Our Positions Also Give Us Our Perspectives | |
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Summary: The Meaning and Importance of Structure | |
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Questions to Consider | |
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References | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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The Nature of Social Organization | |
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Inequality in Society | |
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The Meaning of Social Class | |
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Gender and Race | |
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Class, Race, and Gender Structures Are Special Social Structures | |
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Social Stratification Affects Placement in Other Social Organizations | |
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The Origin of Social Stratification Systems | |
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Social Mobility | |
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Structural Change | |
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Marx's View of Social Stratification | |
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Summary | |
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Questions to Consider | |
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References | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Culture | |
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Culture Is a Shared Perspective on the World | |
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Culture Is Learned | |
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Culture Is a Social Inheritance | |
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Culture Is a Body of "Truth" | |
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Culture Is a Set of Values | |
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Values Are Reflected in Action | |
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There Is an American Value System, but It Is Complex and Often Inconsistent | |
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Culture Is a Set of Goals | |
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Culture Is a Set of Norms | |
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Culture, Subculture, and Counterculture | |
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Culture Is Important | |
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The Real Significance of Culture: The Social Construction of Reality | |
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Summary | |
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Questions to Consider | |
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References | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Social Institutions | |
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Institutions Are Social Patterns | |
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Social Institutions Are the Most Central Grooves in Society | |
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Institutions Are the Central Ways a Society Functions and Solves Its Ongoing Problems | |
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Institutions Are Widely Accepted and Deeply Entrenched | |
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Social Institutions Are Real Forces Working on Actors | |
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The Meaning of Institutions: A Summary | |
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Institutions Are Important | |
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Institutionalization and Deinstitutionalization | |
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The Rejection of Social Institutions | |
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Summary | |
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Questions to Consider | |
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References | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Organizations, Societies, and Globalization | |
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Social Organizations Influence Each Other | |
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Society in the World Order | |
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Karl Marx: A Future Worldwide Capitalist Order | |
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Immanuel Wallerstein: Core Societies, Semi-Peripheral Societies, and Peripheral Societies | |
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Globalization in the Twenty-First Century: Economic, Political, and Cultural | |
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The Meaning of Globalization | |
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Economic Globalization | |
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Cultural Globalization | |
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Political Globalization | |
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The Criticisms of Globalization | |
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Conclusion and Summary | |
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Questions to Consider | |
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References | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Order and Power in Social Organization | |
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Social Order, Social Control, and Social Deviance | |
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Social Order Is Established Through Structure and Culture | |
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Social Order Depends on Working Institutions | |
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Social Order Depends on Socialization | |
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Loyalty to the Organization Is the Fifth Foundation for Social Order | |
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Social Controls Contribute to Social Order | |
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Social Deviance | |
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Summary | |
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Questions to Consider | |
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References | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Social Power | |
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The Meaning of Social Power | |
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Three Definitions of Power | |
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Resources and Social Power | |
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Influence, Control, and Powerlessness | |
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Authority | |
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The Inevitability of Inequality in Organization | |
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Class Position and Power | |
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Organization as Power | |
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Three Theories of Power | |
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Pluralism | |
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The Power Elite | |
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The Corporate Elite | |
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Summary | |
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Questions to Consider | |
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References | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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The Dynamic Nature of Human Social Life | |
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Symbols, Self, and Mind: Our Active Nature | |
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Individuality and Freedom | |
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How Can We Explain Individuality? | |
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The Origin of Human Freedom | |
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Human Beings Are Symbol Users | |
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The Meaning of Symbols | |
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The Importance of Symbols | |
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Symbols and Freedom | |
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We Possess Self and Mind | |
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Summary | |
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Questions to Consider | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Social Change | |
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Individual Change and Social Change | |
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Acts of Individuals and Groups Change Organization | |
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Social Conflict Changes Organization | |
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External Social Organizations and Environments Change Social Organization | |
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Technology Changes Social Organization | |
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Changes in Population Change Social Organization | |
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Change in Social Patterns Causes Change in Other Social Patterns | |
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Summary | |
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Questions to Consider | |
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References | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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The Family in Society | |
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The Importance of the Family to Sociology | |
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Meaning of the Family | |
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Is the Family Universal? | |
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Why Is Definition Difficult? | |
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The Family: A Primary Group in a Household | |
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The Family: The Socialization Function | |
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The Family: Economic and Social Functions | |
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The Family: The Social Class Placement Function | |
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The Family: The Expressive Function | |
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The Meaning of the Family: A Summary | |
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Marriage as an Institution | |
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The Changing Structure of Marriage | |
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Marital Satisfaction | |
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Divorce | |
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Children and Socialization in the Family | |
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Individual Choice and the Changing Family | |
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Summary | |
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Questions to Consider | |
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References | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Religion, Society, and the Individual | |
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The Industrial Revolution: Religion and the Beginning of Sociology | |
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Auguste Comte (1798-1857): The Death of the Sacred | |
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Ferdinand Toennies (1855-1936): Religion and Community | |
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Karl Marx (1818-1883): Religion as the Opiate of the Masses | |
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Emile Durkheim (1858-1917): Meaning and Function of Religion | |
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Religion and the Creation of the Sacred | |
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Religion's Creation and Function Is Social | |
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Religion Creates and Upholds the Morality of Society | |
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Religion Is Important for the Individual | |
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The Future of Society | |
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Max Weber (1864-1920): Religion, the Rationalization of Life, and Social Change | |
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The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism: Religious Thought Influences Economic Action | |
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Rationalization of Life and the Future of Religion | |
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Charismatic Authority and the Role of Religion in Social Change | |
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Weber: A Summary | |
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The Heritage of Sociology from the Early Sociologists: Conclusion | |
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The Study of Religion in the Late-Modern World | |
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Secularization: Is Religion Becoming Less Important Today? | |
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The Role of Fundamentalism | |
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Organized Religion and Individual Spirituality | |
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Summary: The Sociology of Religion | |
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Questions to Consider | |
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References | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Conclusion | |
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The Meaning and Uses of Sociology | |
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The Uses of Sociology | |
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Questions to Consider | |
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Reference | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Index | |