Designed as an introductory text, this book describes the basic dynamics of culture and the major contemporary controversies on the subject. It provides an analytical framework for thinking about culture sociologically.

Culture: Sociological Perspectives

Politics & Social Sciences

Hall, John R.

Neitz, Mary Jo

Social Sciences

Pearson College Div

A comparative analysis of both secular and religious communal groups in contemporary America, this study, originally published in 1978, shows that contemporary communalists stand in relation to collectivism much the same as early Protestants stood in relation to individualism - as the self-proclaimed pioneers of the new age. There is great diversity among communal groups, a diversity which is found to stem from alternative orientations towards time and alternative assumptions about the cognitive status of the social world. The author has made use of a phenomenologically derived typological framework to organize the data he has obtained through living in and visiting a number of communal groups. Within this framework, Alfred Schutz's 'mundane' phenomenology and Max Weber's interpretive sociology are employed as ways of approaching the situated sociology of knowledge in various communal groups. Six ideal types of communal groups are described: the commune, the intentional association, the community, the warring sect, the other-worldly sect and the ecstatic association. Two of these types - the intentional association and the community - are identified as participants' efforts to demonstrate 'worldly utopian' models for the reconstruction of society at large.

The Ways Out (Routledge Library Editions: Utopias)

Philosophy

Routledge

Apocalypse Observed: Religious Movements and Violence in North America, Europe and Japan

Apocalypse Observed is about religious violence. By analyzing five of the most notorious cults of recent years, the authors present a fascinating and revealing account of religious sects and conflict. Cults covered include: * the apocalypse at Jonestown * the Branch Davidians at Waco * the violent path of Aum Shinrikyo * the mystical apocalypse of the Solar Temple * the mass suicide of Heaven's Gate. Through comparative case studies and in-depth analysis, the authors show how religious violence can erupt not simply from the beliefs of the cult followers or the personalities of their leaders, but also from the way in which society responds to the cults in its midst.

Self-Help

Schuyler, Philip D.

Trinh, Sylvaine

Death & Grief

Sociology On Culture

Culture has become a touchstone of interdisciplinary conversation. For readers interested in sociology, the social sciences and the humanities, this book maps major classical and contemporary analyses and cultural controversies in relation to social processes, everyday life, and axes of ordering and difference - such as race, class and gender. Hall, Neitz, and Battani discuss: <ul>
<li>self and identity</li> <li>stratification</li> <li>the Other</li> <li>the cultural histories of modernity and postmodernity</li> <li>production of culture</li> <li>the problem of the audience</li> <li>action, social movements, and change. </li>
</ul>
The authors advocate cultivating the sociological imagination by engaging myriad languages and perspectives of the social sciences and humanities, while cultivating cultural studies by developing the sociological imagination. Paying little respect to boundaries, and incorporating fascinating examples, this book draws on diverse intellectual perspectives and a variety of topics from various historical periods and regions of the world.

Battani, Marshall

Cultures of Inquiry: From Epistemology to Discourse in Sociohistorical Research

Cultures of Inquiry provides a unique overview of research methodologies in social science, historical and cultural studies. John R. Hall describes eight interconnected methodologies that transcend present-day disciplinary and interdisciplinary boundaries. In this way, he is able to move beyond the objectivism/relativism debate in the philosophy and sociology of knowledge by showing how alternative research practices are formed. His book connects concrete methodological issues of research to contemporary philosophical and postmodern debates about knowledge.

Cambridge University Press

Cultures of Inquiry provides a unique overview of research methodologies in social science, historical and cultural studies. John R. Hall describes eight interconnected methodologies that transcend present-day disciplinary and interdisciplinary boundaries. In this way, he is able to move beyond the objectivism/relativism debate in the philosophy and sociology of knowledge by showing how alternative research practices are formed. His book connects concrete methodological issues of research to contemporary philosophical and postmodern debates about knowledge.

The Ways Out: Utopian Communal Groups in an Age of Babylon (International Library of Society) (International library of sociology)

Routledge& Kegan Paul

Apocalypse: From Antiquity to the Empire of Modernity

Winner of the American Sociological Association's 'Distinguished Book Award' in the Religion category. For most of us, “Apocalypse” suggests the cataclysmic end of the world. Yet in Greek “apocalypse” means “revelation,” and the real subject of the Book of Revelation is how the sacred arises in history at a moment of crisis and destiny. With origins in ancient religions, the apocalyptic has been a transformative force from the time of the Crusades, through the Reformation, the French Revolution and modern communism, all the way to the present day “Islamic Jihad” and “War on Terror.” In Apocalypse, John R. Hall explores the significance of apocalyptic movements and the role they have played in the rise of the West and “The Empire of Modernity.”  This brilliant cross-disciplinary study offers a novel basis for rethinking our social order and its ambivalent relations to sacred history. Apocalypse will attract general readers seeking new understandings of the world in challenging times. Scholars and students will find a compelling synthesis that draws them into conversation with others interested in religion, theology, culture, philosophy, and phenomenology, as well as sociology, social theory, western civilization, and world history.

History

World

Polity

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hall, John R.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Hall, John R.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hall, John R.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Culture: Sociological Perspectives

The Ways Out (Routledge Library Editions: Utopias)

Apocalypse Observed: Religious Movements and Violence in North America, Europe and Japan

Apocalypse Observed: Religious Movements and Violence in North America, Europe and Japan

Sociology On Culture

Sociology On Culture

Cultures of Inquiry: From Epistemology to Discourse in Sociohistorical Research

Cultures of Inquiry: From Epistemology to Discourse in Sociohistorical Research

The Ways Out: Utopian Communal Groups in an Age of Babylon (International Library of Society) (International library of sociology)

Apocalypse: From Antiquity to the Empire of Modernity