Anthony Giddens - Introduction to Sociology

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Copyright 2020, 2018, 2016, 2014, 2012, 2009 by Anthony Giddens, Mitchell Duneier, Richard P. Appelbaum, and Deborah Carr

Copyright 2007, 2005, 2003 by Anthony Giddens, Mitchell Duneier, and Richard P. Appelbaum

Copyright 2000 by Anthony Giddens and Mitchell Duneier

Copyright 1996, 1991 by Anthony Giddens

All rights reserved

Editor: Michael Moss

Editorial Assistant: Angie Merila

Project Editor: Caitlin Moran

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Managing Editor, College Digital Media: Kim Yi

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Ebook Production Manager: Sophia Purut, Megan Crayne

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Giddens, Anthony, author. Title: Introduction to sociology / Anthony Giddens, London School of Economics, Mitchell Duneier, Princeton University, Richard P. Appelbaum, University of California, Santa Barbara, Deborah Carr, Boston University.

Description: Seagull 12e [edition] | New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020047531 | ISBN 9780393428216 (paperback) |

9780393537963(epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Sociology.

Classification: LCC HM585 .G53 2021 | DDC 301--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020047531

Ebook version: 12.1-retailer

We wrote this book with the belief that sociology plays a key role in modern intellectual culture and occupies a central place within the social sciences. We have aimed to write a book that combines classic theories of sociology with empirically grounded studies and examples from real life that reveal the basic issues of interest to sociologists today. The book does not bring in overly sophisticated notions; nevertheless, ideas and findings drawn from the cutting edge of the discipline are incorporated throughout. We hope it is a fair and nonpartisan treatment; we endeavored to cover the major perspectives in sociology and the major findings of contemporary American research in an evenhanded, although not indiscriminate, way.

The book is constructed around eight basic themes, each of which helps give the work a distinctive character. One of the central themes is the micro and macro link. At many points in the book, we show that interaction in micro-level contexts affects larger, or macro-level, social processes, and that these macro-level processes influence our day-to-day lives. We emphasize that one can better understand a social situation by analyzing it at both the micro and macro levels.