Contemporary Society: An Introduction to Social Science

This best-selling text, which draws upon sociology, political science, economics, anthropology, geography, history, and psychology, emphasizes that social and cultural change are the pervasive realities of our era.

One of the main themes of Contemporary Society is that the transition from an industrial to a postindustrial order in the modern world is fraught with difficulties, as was the transition from an agricultural to an industrial order in an earlier era. Within this framework, we can observe the increasing fragmentation of the social order, which tends to lead people away from community and a common purpose and often invites conflict and disunity. The text also focuses on the rapid and transformative power of information technology, a fact that propels separate groups of people into a global entity.

The twelfth edition of this text includes new scholarship, statistics, and examples from current events as it presents an integrated social science view of the world.