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Sociological Insight: An Introduction to Non-Obvious Sociology - Softcover

Collins, Randall

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9780195074420: Sociological Insight: An Introduction to Non-Obvious Sociology
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0195074424 ISBN 13: 9780195074420
Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1992

Synopsis

Revised and expanded to incorporate recent research, this classic text now offers a more comprehensive introduction to many of sociology's most interesting and elegant ideas, written with a grace and wit that have delighted a generation of students. Beginning with a central problem that distinguishes sociology from most other ways of looking at the world, Randall Collins examines the limits of human rationality and sociological theories of religion, showing how they open up a general theory of social rituals that holds the key to much of the rest of sociology. With these conceptual tools in hand, he invites students to ponder how sociological analysis can illuminate a variety of urgent topics--power, crime, sex, love, and the position of women in society--as it reveals both their visible social symbols and their paradoxical deep structures. In a new final chapter, Collins stakes out an important role for sociology in the information age, while coming full circle to the theories of rationality and ritual with which he began, showing that artificial intelligence can approximate human creativity only if it can take part in ritual interactions. Uniquely engaging, Sociological Insight dramatizes the major issues and concerns of sociology in a way that gets students thinking and talking, and whets their appetites for more.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Randall Collins is at University of California, Riverside.

From the Back Cover

Revised and expanded to incorporate recent research, this essential classic now offers a more comprehensive introduction to many of sociology's most interesting and elegant ideas, written with a grace and wit that have delighted a generation of students.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Oxford University Press
Publication date
1992
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0195074424
ISBN 13 
9780195074420
Binding
Paperback
Edition number
2
Number of pages
224
Rating
  • 3.97 out of 5 stars
    149 ratings by Goodreads