Sociology is a constantly changing scientific endeavour, adventure and practice that was born with the advent of modernity. One of the main reasons for the rise of sociology was modern societys wish to understand itself. In this introduction to sociology, the authors emphasize the importance and centrality of the idea of the sociological imagination, as it was conceived by sociologist C. Wright Mills.

This book will enhance and further develop your sociological imagination with a sensibility that has its breeding ground in the Scandinavian countries; this is the first comprehensive attempt to write an international/Nordic text book and introductory text to sociology.

This book is aimed primarily at first year students in sociology but will be of interest to anyone who is looking for a comprehensive guide to the exciting field of sociology.

Contents Introduction The legacy of the sociological imagination Scandinavian sensibility Structure and content of the book Summary Think for yourself Further reading Chapter 1. What is society? Contested concepts and shifting metaphors Willy Guneriussen, University of Tromsø Introduction Individualism vs holism: methodological and ontological controversies Sociology – an explanatory or interpretive science? Structure or action? Society – a material or symbolic reality? The symbolic turn Combining distinctions The theoretical landscape of sociology Several theories – one reality? Beyond traditions – towards a minimalist model of society Biology and society Combining traditions The first synthesis: Talcott Parsons’ sociology Modifying Parsons’ theory of society Metaphors, science and sociological imagination Metaphors Changing conceptions or changing realities? Concluding reflections Summary Think for yourself Further reading Chapter 2. The sociology of work Inger Marie Hagen, Fafo Introduction The labour contract – labour as commodity in the market From work to labour Modern labour – work as commodity The two parties to the contract: labour and managerial prerogative The labour contract and the social context – different models The collective agreement Labour and self-expression Working conditions Other answers to `why work?’ Motivation and management The work organisation From command to self-management? An example – the modern work organisation – the three different company systems Employer and employee – equal partners Management as superior to employees Employee and management as parties in an ongoing dialogue Working life and distribution – industrial democracy Norms of distribution and norms of democracy Three notions of industrial democracy Industrial democracy and participation – individual and representative participation The Nordic labour market The Nordic model of labour relations When contemporary labour is a part of the past . . . Summary Think for yourself Further reading Chapter 3. The sociology of power Fredrik Engelstad, University of Oslo Introduction The interpretation of `power’ Power as concept Dimensions in social action Expectations and legitimacy From micro to macro State, democracy, politics State, rights and informal power relations Shaping and articulation of interests Political participation on a broad scale Fragmentation and globalisation: abdication of politics? Civil society Networks and organising capacity Gender power and attitudes toward gender Encounters with welfare state institutions Economy and working life Business life, markets and power Management and leadership in enterprises Participation and industrial democracy Ideas and communication Power in the public sphere Aesthetics, culture and national values Social elites: who governs? Power and democratisation Summary Think for yourself Further reading Chapter 4. The sociology of the family Mai Heide Ottosen, The Danish National Centre for Social Research Introduction What is a family? Sociological perspectives on the family Kinship vs family studies The family as a social institution The family as a social group Family as social practice Demographic trends The `bean-pole’ family The crisis of the patriarchal family Structuring family networks Family policies Inside the family: marriage, parenthood and childhood The de-institutionalisation of marriage From fatherhood and motherhood to parenthood Childhood Summary Think for yourself Further reading Chapter 5. The sociology of education Nihad Bunar and Rickard Jonsson, Stockholm University Introduction Sociological perspectives on education The functionalist approach Education and socialisation Social integration Education and gatekeeping: screening and selecting Education as an agent of social change The conflict approach The correspondence principle Reproduction through expectations and opposition Subjective expectation of objective probability Restricted and elaborated codes The subjective-interpretative approach Education and the market The market-oriented position The market-sceptical position The market-ambivalent position Education and ethnicity Urban schools Refugee and migrant students Education and gender Gender and school achievement Summary Think for yourself Further reading Chapter 6. The sociology of religion Ola Sigurdson, University of Gothenburg Introduction What is the sociology of religion? Sociology, the secularisation thesis and the return of religion Religion in the Scandinavian nation-states: an example The continuities and discontinuities of secularised religion The future of religion: towards a post-secular society? Summary Think for yourself Further reading Chapter 7. The sociology of media and information technologies Simon Lindgren, UmeS University Introduction Constructions and representations The media `effects’ model Media, ideology and struggles over hegemony New media and participatory culture Summary Think for yourself Further reading Chapter 8. The sociology of health Thomas Johansson, University of Gothenburg Introduction Historical perspectives Health inequalities Gender and health Lifestyles, risks and health The face of health Global health Summary Think for yourself Further reading Chapter 9. The sociology of class and social stratification Gunnar C. Aakvaag, University of Oslo Introduction Marx’s definition of class The class structure of modern capitalism Max Weber: a multidimensional approach to stratification and class Weber’s general approach to social stratification: class, status and party Weber’s class theory Contemporary class analysis A neo-Marxian approach: Erik Olin Wright and exploitation Wright’s class schema A neo-Weberian approach: John H. Goldthorpe and life chances Service and labour contracts Goldthorpe’s class schema Pierre Bourdieu: classes and lifestyles The social space Bourdieu’s class schema Habitus and class Class, habitus and lifestyle Class and social mobility Social relationships Intergenerational mobility Summary Think for yourself Further reading Chapter 10. The sociology of deviance Philip Lalander, Malmö University Introduction Labelling, ambivalence and counter-labelling Different types of deviance Diagnosis and identity Indulgence at the margins of society Escape from everyday life/escaping everyday life Summary Think for yourself Further reading Chapter 11. The sociology of gender Johanna Esseveld and Sara Eldén, Lund University Introduction Gender and sex Beyond dichotomies A sociological definition of gender Theorising gender Classical texts Men’s and women’s roles Gender oppression and structural inequality New themes in the sociology of gender Gender as a social practice Intersectionality Scandinavian sociology of gender today Conclusions Summary Think for yourself Further reading Chapter 12. The sociology of micro-social interaction and everyday life Søren Kristiansen and Michael Hviid Jacobsen, Aalborg University Introduction Everyday life as a social domain Micro-social interaction The basis of micro-social interaction: common sense, meaning and intersubjectivity Phenomenological sociology Symbolic interactionism Ethnomethodology The syntax of interaction: rules, rituals and ceremonies Goffman and dramaturgical sociology Conversation analysis Summary Think for yourself Further reading Chapter 13. The sociology of globalisation Thomas Hylland Eriksen, University of Oslo Introduction Origins of contemporary globalisation Globalisation today Globalisers and sceptics Dimensions of globalisation Disembedding, including de-localisation Standardisation Interconnectedness Mobility Mixing Vulnerability Re-embedding Central questions about globalisation The dialectics of globalisation Summary Think for yourself Further reading Chapter 14. The sociology of culture Bjorn Schiermer, University of Copenhagen Introduction Sociology of culture and popular culture The Frankfurt School: the critique and the potential of modern mass culture Siegfried Kracauer: the dialectics of commodified culture Theodor W. Adorno: the critical potential of autonomous art Walter Benjamin: art and politics The Birmingham School: culture as `a way of life’ Poststructuralism and semiotics: culture as `text’ The `material turn’: re-extending the shortened concept of culture Cultural studies: leaving the high/low dichotomy behind Ironic sensibilities: kitsch and camp and new ways of being together Summary Think for yourself Further reading Chapter 15. The sociology of ethnicity Nihad Bunar and Marko Valenta, Stockholm University and NTNU Introduction Defining ethnicity Theoretical approaches to ethnicity Primordialism Instrumentalism New ethnicities The importance of ethnic networks Symbolic ethnicity Theories and policies for managing ethnic diversity Ethnicity and other sociologically relevant concepts of categorisation Ethnicity and class Ethnicity and gender Ethnicity and race Ethnicity, racism and discrimination Ethnicity and nation Ethnicity and citizenship Summary Think for yourself Further reading Chapter 16. The sociology of the self Thomas Johansson, University of Gothenburg Introduction The sociology of the body: classical texts Consuming the Other Cyborgs and transvestites Lifestyle, fashion and the body Bodybuilding, fitness and gender Plastic surgery and body modifications Summary Think for yourself Further reading Chapter 17. The sociology of social change Gunnar C. Aakvaag, University of Oslo Introduction What are the `general characteristics’ of a society? Functional differentiation Consequences for the individual: facing social complexity Institutional `colonisation’ Consequences for the individual: facing commercialisation and bureaucratisation Individualisation Industrial modernity Individualised modernity Consequences for the individual: facing the decline of standard biographies Risk society Objective side-effects Subjective perception Consequences for the individual: facing uncertainty Social change: all that is solid melts into air? Summary Think for yourself Further reading Notes References Index

Introduction to Sociology Scandinavian Sensibilities - häftad, Engelska, 2012