Bibliography of sociology


This bibliography of sociology is a list of works, organized by subdiscipline, on the subject of sociology. Some of the works are selected from general anthologies of sociology, while other works are selected because they are notable enough to be mentioned in a general history of sociology or one of its subdisciplines.
Sociology studies society using various methods of empirical investigation to understand human social activity, from the micro level of individual agency and interaction to the macro level of systems and social structure.

Foundations

Durkheim

Culture

  • Bourdieu, Pierre. 1979. La distinction: Critique sociale du jugement .
  • Bourdieu, Pierre, and Jean-Claude Passeron.1970. La Reproduction. Éléments pour une théorie du système d'enseignement .
  • Katz, Jack. 1988. Seductions of Crime: Moral and Sensual Attractions in Doing Evil.
  • Schultz, Alfred. 1967. Der sinnhafte Aufbau der sozialen Welt .

Economy

Economic sociology attempts to explain economic phenomena. While overlapping with the general study of economics at times, economic sociology chiefly concentrates on the roles of social relations and institutions.

Industry

Industrial sociology is the sociology of technological change, globalization, labor markets, work organization, managerial practices and employment relations.

Spatial sociology

Environment

Environmental sociology studies the relationship between society and environment, particularly the social factors that cause environmental problems, the societal impacts of those problems, and efforts to solve the problems.
  • Carson, Rachel. 1962. Silent Spring.
  • Diamond, Jared. 2006. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed.
  • Hannigan, John A. 1995. Environmental Sociology: A Social Constructionist Perspective.
  • *Argues that a society's willingness to recognize and solve environmental problems depends more upon the way these claims are presented by a limited number of interest groups than upon the severity of the threat they pose.
  • Michelson, William. 2002. Handbook of Environmental Sociology.
  • *Provides an overview of the field of environmental sociology and its various research emphases.
  • Schnaiberg, Allan, and Kenneth Alan Gould. 2000. Environment and Society: The Enduring Conflict. Caldwell.
  • *Demonstrates how our global economy requires increasing levels of economic expansion, which in turn requires increasing withdrawals for the natural environment.

Demography

Demography is the statistical study of human population. It encompasses the study of the size, structure and distribution of these populations, and spatial and/or temporal changes in them in response to birth, migration, aging and death.

Urban

Urban sociology refers the study of social life and human interaction in metropolitan areas.

Gender and Intersectionality

Knowledge

Sociology of knowledge refers to the study of the relationship between human thought and the social context within which it arises, as well as of the effects prevailing ideas have on societies.

Politics

Traditionally, political sociology has been concerned with the ways in which social trends, dynamics, and structures of domination affect formal political processes, as well as exploring how various social forces work together to change political policies. Now, it is also concerned with the formation of identity through social interaction, the politics of knowledge, and other aspects of social relations.

Race and ethnicity

The sociology of race and ethnic relations refers to the study of social, political, and economic relations between races and ethnicities at all levels of society, encompassing subjects such as racism and residential segregation.

Religion

The sociology of religion concerns the role of religion in society, including practices, historical backgrounds, developments, and universal themes. There is particular emphasis on the recurring role of religion in all societies and throughout recorded history.

Theory

Sociological theories are complex theoretical and methodological frameworks used to analyze and explain objects of social study, which ultimately facilitate the organization of sociological knowledge.

Conflict Theory

Conflict theories, originally influenced by Marxist thought, are perspectives that see societies as defined through conflicts that are produced by inequality. Conflict theory emphasizes social conflict, as well as economic inequality, social inequality, oppression, and crime.

Rational Choice Theory

Rational choice theory models social behavior as the interaction of utility-maximizing individuals.

Social Exchange Theory

Social Exchange Theory models social interaction as a series of exchanges between actors who give one another rewards and penalties, which impacts and guides future behavior. George Homans' version of exchange theory specifically argues that behaviorist stimulus-response principles can explain the emergence of complex social structures.
  • Blau, Peter. 1964. Exchange & Power in Social Life.
  • Emerson, Richard. 1962. "Power-Dependence Theory." American Sociological Review 27:31-41.
  • Homans, George C. 1958. "Social Behavior as Exchange." American Journal of Sociology 63:597-606.
  • Homans, George C. 1961. Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms.

Social Network Analysis

Making use of network theory, social network analysis is structural approach to sociology that views norms and behaviors as embedded in chains of social relations.
  • Scott, John. 1991. Social Network Analysis: A Handbook.
  • *Provides a broad introduction to the subject.
  • Wasserman, Stanley, and Katherine Faust. 1994. Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications.
  • *Presents thorough methodological coverage of the approach.
  • Wellman, Barry, and S.D. Berkowitz, eds. 1988. Social Structures: A Network Approach.
  • *Provides a readable theoretical overview of the subject using many case studies.

Sociocybernetics

Sociocybernetics is the application of systems theory and cybernetics to sociology.

Structural Functionalism

Structural functionalism is a broad perspective that interprets society as a structure with interrelated parts.

Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic interactionism argues that human behavior is guided by the meanings people construct together in social interaction.