Showing titles in Sociology

About 50km outside of Cape Town lies the beautiful town of Stellenbosch, nestled against vineyards and blue mountains that stretch to the sky. Here reside some of South Africa’s wealthiest individuals: all male, all Afrikaans - and all stinking rich. Johann Rupert, Jannie Mouton, Markus Jooste and Christo Weise, to name a few. Julius Malema refers to them scathingly as ‘The Stellenbosch Mafia’, the very worst example of white monopoly capital. But who really are these mega-wealthy individuals, and what influence do they exert?

All too often society issues dire warnings about the risks of living single. But is finding a spouse or romantic partner really a requirement for a full life? In Single at Heart, Dr. Bella DePaulo speaks on behalf of the millions of people who are drawn to single life for all it has to offer and shares what it means to not just be happy being single for a time, but to be happy being single always.

The top 1 percent of Americans control 40 percent of the nation's wealth. And, as Joseph E. Stiglitz explains, while those at the top enjoy the best health care, education, and benefits of wealth, they fail to realize that "their fate is bound up with how the other 99 percent live." Stiglitz draws on his deep understanding of economics to show that growing inequality is not inevitable. He examines our current state, then teases out its implications for democracy, for monetary and budgetary policy, and for globalization. He closes with a plan for a more just and prosperous future.

Read by the author, Alice Loxton. Biggest books to look out for in 2024 – The Guardian 'Loxton is the next big thing in history' – Dan Snow At eighteen, your life is full of of what-ifs and why-nots. You have everything to look forward to – unless you’ve got the plague. From a young...

What if the Western world does not have its ultimate origins in a single cultural bloodline but rather a messy bramble of ancestors and influences? As battles over privilege, identity and prejudice rock the cultural wars, it's never been more important to understand how the concept of The West came to be. This book tells a bold, empowering new story of how the idea of the West was created, how it has been used to justify imperialism and racism, and also why it's still a powerful ideological tool to understand our world.

What if racial inequality is not an accident of history—but the predictable outcome of systems built over centuries? From colonial law to modern algorithms, inequality has not simply persisted. It has been structured, reinforced, and reproduced across generations. The Architecture of...

Writer and actor Wallace Shawn's probing, honest, and self-critical take on civilization and its discontents.

Written by Senior Lecturer and Course Leader in Sociology, Megan Todd, this guide covers all the fundamental topics studied in a Sociology degree for the general reader. Filled with suggestions for further reading, and easily digestible features on important figures in the development of sociology, ideas and their implementation in the real world, this audiobook makes learning the subject easier than ever. Including chapters on identity and society, social class and inequality, ethnicity, sexuality, it covers the whole range of sociological ideas and approaches.

The pace of modern life is undoubtedly speeding up, yet this acceleration does not seem to have made us any happier or more content. If acceleration is the problem, then the solution, argues Hartmut Rosa in this major new work, lies in "resonance." The quality of a human life cannot be measured...

Ever wondered where you can watch cockroaches race for glory, or see grown men run with bottomless boats on a dry riverbed? Welcome to the wild, weird and wonderful world of Australia's outback festivals. Beyond the sunburnt plains and sprawling deserts lies a spirited culture of competition unlike any other on Earth. This is a land where communities gather to celebrate the unconventional, turning everyday objects and local critters into stars.

Una crónica valiente sobre el racismo en el fútbol español y el poder de los nuevos referentes para cambiar el relato. Este libro es el viaje periodístico y personal de Alberto Edjogo por los rincones más incómodos —y también esperanzadores— del fútbol español. Con una mirada que...

Neste livro poderoso, Cida Bento — eleita em 2015 pela The Economist uma das cinquenta pessoas mais influentes do mundo no campo da diversidade — denuncia e questiona a universalidade da branquitude e suas consequências nocivas para qualquer alteração substantiva na hierarquia das relações sociais. Diante de dezenas de recusas em processos seletivos, Cida Bento identificou um padrão: por mais qualificada que fosse, ela nunca era a escolhida para as vagas.

From poverty and policing, homelessness and overrun prisons to Grenfell and hostile environments, Britain has long been failing those who need our help the most. There is arguably one unifying theme that links all these afflictions: proximity. Proximity is how close we are to the action and how that affects how we assess, relate to and address whatever that action happens to be. Almost every job requires a level of experience and training with the notable exception of the most powerful people in the country—our political class.

Winner of the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize Winner of the Longman History Today Trustees’ Award Longlisted for the Orwell Prize Unflinching and revealing, Black and British is a vital history that reveals how black British lives have been woven into the fabric of the nation for centuries – from...

Brought to you by Penguin. A moving exploration of the solace and power of listening in an unjust world, from the author of The Feminist Killjoy Handbook ‘Behind many disasters are unheard complaints’ To complain is an intimate, dangerous act. Whether it’s speaking up about racism in the...

Why do obviously intelligent people believe things in spite of the evidence against them? Will Storr has travelled across the world to meet an extraordinary cast of modern heretics in order to answer this question. He goes on a tour of Holocaust sites with David Irving and a band of neo-Nazis...

'Polly Morland and Richard Baker have more than done justice to the original John Berger book - and produced a work that stimulates the eye and mind in equal measure.' Alain de Botton A Fortunate Woman is a compelling, thoughtful and insightful look at the life and work of a country doctor...

The Britannias tells the story of Britain's islands and how they are woven into its collective cultural psyche. From Neolithic Orkney to modern-day Thanet, Alice Albinia explores the furthest reaches of Britain's island topography, once known (wrote Pliny) by the collective term, Britanniae. Sailing over borders, between languages and genres, trespassing through the past to understand the present, this book knocks the centre out to foreground neglected epics and subversive voices.

The United States is the richest country on earth, yet has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. One in seven Americans live below the poverty line, a line which hasn't shifted over the last fifty years, despite the efforts of successive governments and extensive relief programs. Why is there so much scarcity in this land of dollars? In Poverty, by America, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond examines the nature of American poverty today and the stories we tell ourselves about it.

'One of the most important books you'll read this year ' THE NEW FEMINIST 'A bold, unapologetic exploration of modern relationships, self-image, and the complexities of navigating social media and intimacy in today's world' MARIE CLAIRE Are women asking for it because of their outfits, routes...