The writings in this volume highlight Hughes's contributions to the sociology of work and professions; race and ethnicity; and the central themes and methods of the discipline. Hughes was the first sociologist to pay sustained attention to occupations as a field for study and wrote frequently and searchingly about them. Several of the essays in this collection helped orient the first generation of Black sociologists, including Franklin Frazier, St. Clair Drake, and Horace Cayton.

Since the 1960s, radical sociology has had far more influence on mainstream sociology than many observers imagine. This book pairs seminal articles with new reflective essays written by the founders of progressive sociology, including Fred Block, Edna Bonacich, Samuel Bowles, Herbert Gintis, Val Burris, G. William Domhoff, Richard Flacks, Harvey Molotch, Goran Therborn, and Erik Olin Wright. The book highlights the wider impact of radical sociology and shows how the work of these and other writers has continued to influence sociology's continuing interest in capitalism, class, race, gender, power, and progressive social change. It also describes future directions for a critical sociology relevant to a multicultural and global world.

Introducing and presenting thirty core texts from the sociological writings of W. E. B. Du Bois, Robert Wortham's unique reader highlights Du Bois as a multifaceted researcher and thinker who, by attempting to approach African American social life from every angle, became a pioneer in American sociology. As this astute reader demonstrates, in addition to his profound contributions to our understanding of racial inequality in the United States, Du Bois made momentous advances in the areas of research methods, social problems, community studies, population studies, the sociology of religion, and crime and deviance. When sociology appeared to be heading toward a deductive methodology, Du Bois presented a strong argument for inductive methods, advocating for the use of a more interdisciplinary approach. Eventually, combining sociological perspectives with those of history and anthropology, he developed his landmark approach: methodological triangulation. In this long-overdue volume, Wortham showcases the enormous influence of Du Bois's wide-ranging sociological imagination. Organized into four major parts--"The Scientific Study of Society and Social Problems," "Social Structure and Social Processes," "Dimensions of Inequality," and "Social Dynamics"--the reader concludes with a complete biography of Du Bois' early sociological works.

Randol Contreras came of age in the South Bronx during the 1980s, a time when the community was devastated by cuts in social services, a rise in arson and abandonment, and the rise of crack-cocaine. For this riveting book, he returns to the South Bronx with a sociological eye and provides an unprecedented insiderÕs look at the workings of a group of Dominican drug robbers. Known on the streets as ÒStickup Kids,Ó these men raided and brutally tortured drug dealers storing large amounts of heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and cash. As a participant observer, Randol Contreras offers both a personal and theoretical account for the rise of the Stickup Kids and their violence. He mainly focuses on the lives of neighborhood friends, who went from being crack dealers to drug robbers once their lucrative crack market opportunities disappeared. The result is a stunning, vivid, on-the-ground ethnographic description of a drug robberyÕs violence, the drug market high life, the criminal life course, and the eventual pain and suffering experienced by the casualties of the Crack Era. Provocative and eye-opening, The Stickup Kids urges us to explore the ravages of the drug trade through weaving history, biography, social structure, and drug market forces. It offers a revelatory explanation for drug market violence by masterfully uncovering the hidden social forces that produce violent and self-destructive individuals. Part memoir, part penetrating analysis, this book is engaging, personal, deeply informed, and entirely absorbing.

Essay from the year 2016 in the subject Sociology - Political Sociology, Majorities, Minorities, grade: A, Kenyatta University, language: English, abstract: This essay will explore the sociological imagination analysis of race and ethnic issue in California and the national immigration issue by covering the following paradigms: structural functionalism, symbolic interaction and social conflict perspective. Evidently, the two sides of the United States’ political divide have utilized the opportunity to accentuate the manner through which California is different from the rest of the nation. For years, Americans have recognized California as the Golden State, maintaining that it was initially a distant and dreamy land, then as a cultural shaper and as a promised land for millions and millions of Americans and immigrants. While it remains to be America’s most populated state, attributed to a great success story, there are many areas where it has failed to live up to its promise. Notably, California is a demographic giant, an aspect implying that its respective issues correlate with those of the entire nation. The history of California is characterized by a constant change, owing its preeminence to its natural advantages such as the vast geographic area and pleasant climate and to human ingenuity. In this respect, it is imperative to note that its proximity to Mexico has forced the State to continue experiencing unprecedented population growth by Latinos who highly contribute to the ever-changing nature of California society, its politics and culture. It is unfortunate to note that, currently, spiteful characterizations of immigrants together with draconian plans for their marginalization have been drifted by diverse political figures to a startlingly receptive public; an aspect linked to the California Proposition 187.

Written by a team of internationally renowned sociologists with experience in both the field and the classroom, The Art and Science of Social Research offers authoritative and balanced coverage of the full range of methods used to study the social world. The authors highlight the challenges of investigating the unpredictable topic of human lives while providing insights into what really happens in the field, the laboratory, and the survey call center.