(Part 3) Top products from r/sociology

I like what you pointed out there: the difference in disagreement that occurs in sociology and philosophy. Part of the charm about philosophy, for me, is that very lack of agreement you mentioned because in good philosophical discussions you get to see both sides of the story (if not more). For instance, I took an ethics class and we saw different ethical issues from different perspectives. To give just one example, one topic we focused on was abortion and we read from Judith Jarvis Thomson and Mary Anne Warren (both in favor), as well as Robert P. George and Don Marquis (not in favor). This gave a balanced evaluation of some different attitudes to a single topic.

I feel like there could be more of this attitude-fairness in sociology - a fairness of being open to both sides of the debate because sociologists usually do have an agenda. Weigh out the evidence, ya know, cuz echo chambers are boring and smug. The good thing that is there is some of this in sociology, for instance, this "Think Twice" text: https://www.amazon.com/Think-Sociology-Current-Social-Issues/dp/0130995282/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501827747&sr=8-1&keywords=think+twice+sociology.

Again though, compared to philosophy, from my limited perspective, I think more balance would be a good thing in sociology.

EDIT: Whoops, just read the comments below after posting. I agree, there are more important things then the balance of ideology ... but I'd be skeptical that our political values can purely be informed by scientific methods. I'm also skeptical to vouch for either the left or the right's understanding/responses to social issues ... I think the fairest thing to say is that they both get some things right and wrong in different ways. That's why I'm so zealous about sociology being more than a neo-Marxist echo chamber: let's not be so quick to think we have society so neatly figured out, let's look at both sides of the story and weigh the evidence in a civil manner. I'm not even looking for a consensus, but I'm a strong believer that looking at contrary opinions is a good thing, even if it leads to different conclusions. That includes myself, so I should probably brush up on my Marx eventually and read something from him and not just about him. I'll even admit, I've been reading Janet Wolff's "The Social Production of Art" - which is grounded in materialism - and have quite enjoyed it. I say this to say that some good insights can be made through Marxist theory.

As a first year student of sociology, I recommend the textbook by Anthony Giddens http://www.polity.co.uk/giddens5/

It's basically, the textbook of choice in most sociology departments around the world.

It's very nicely written, gives good overviews of the basic terms and theories.

Another widely used book for introduction to sociology is Themes and Perspectives by Michael Haralambos http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sociology-Themes-Perspectives-Michael-Haralambos/dp/000715447X


This is all I can really recommend as I'm taking intro courses currently. I'm sure someone else can recommend books for specific topics that might be of interest to you.

A fascinating question! And, fortunately, one that has been the subject of a recent rise in research. One important line of work is by Wendy Espeland and co-authors on "quantification." The two most relevant papers are "Rankings and Reactivity" and "The Discipline of Rankings". There's also an interesting new line of work by some Law and Society scholars about the proliferation of rankings in global governance. An edited volume on the subject is here (quite expensive!), and there are also a few papers if you search Google Scholar for things like indicators + Sally Engle Merry.

Beyond that, you might check out Michele Lamont's work on the more general process of valuation and evaluation.

I hope that helps!

This collection is a really great concise overview of the four major sociological traditions - it has great excerpts from a lot of major sociologists. If you're looking for a broad(ish) introductory anthology I highly recommend this text.

My Freshman Year by Rebekah Nathan is a great text for students to get a feel for what an ethnographic study would be like. Since many have college on their minds at this point, it will also serve to give them a great inside look at what to expect.

Not a real textbook but a good read ain't no makin' it

I have used this one before berko

inequality reader

very big and probably more for a grad course but nonetheless a good resource grusky

Yes you can make a sociological project out of martial arts. Loïc Wacquant's ethnography of boxing in Chicago's South Side comes to mind as an example of such a project.

Here is a literature review on the sociology of combat sports that may be a good starting point for your project. The authors of this review have a whole section on "body pedagogies" which seems very relevant to your interest in the intersection between education and martial arts.

You may also be interested in this collection of ethnographic research on martial arts.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0199298017?pc_redir=1404846307&robot_redir=1

This book is fairly useful when looking into the basics of migrant communities etc. But it only applies to uk I think. Hope this helps in some way :)

For social theory, I recommend Peter Kivisto. It's a reader with great selections from both classical and contemporary theorists.

Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom is supposed to be good (I've been meaning to read it). There's also the YouTube video Humans Need Not Apply by C.G.P Grey which sounds like exactly what you need and the description has links to most of his sources.

A bit dated, however, this was/is a really good book on what you are asking for.

https://www.amazon.com/World-Poverty-Global-Inequality-Modern/dp/0073042951

I really liked this book.

My friend has written a couple of intro texts, which are highly readable and used in intro courses all over:
This and This

BTW, don't let the one star review fool you on the first book above. Clearly the reviewer is a crank.

you should definitely read this my friend!

http://www.amazon.com/The-Selfish-Gene-Edition---Introduction/dp/0199291152/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335366649&sr=8-1

The gardener and the carpenter is an excellent read. More focusing on education, but that in itself transitions into these other topics. amazon link

https://smile.amazon.com/Social-Advantage-Disadvantage-Hartley-Dean/dp/0198737084?sa-no-redirect=1

In my sociology of health class, one of our main texts was "Social Causes of Psychological Distress", John Mirowsky & Catherine E. Ross.

https://www.amazon.com/Social-Causes-Psychological-Distress-Institutions/dp/0202307093

The Practical Skeptic by McIntyre

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Skeptic-Core-Concepts-Sociology/dp/0078026873

Read this and you will have almost all background information you need, which you seemingly need very badly.