This fully revised and updated introduction to political sociologyincorporates the burgeoning literature on globalization and showshow contemporary politics is linked to cultural issues, socialstructure and democratizing social action. New material on global governance, human rights, global socialmovements, global media New discussion of democracy and democratization Clearly lays out what is at stake in deciding betweenalternatives of cosmopolitanism, imperialism and nationalism Includes additional discussion of the importance of studyingculture to political sociology

This Reader presents the best published writings of prominent sociologists and political theorists currently working in the field.

This book explores and critically reflects on the theory and practice of political agency in contemporary global politics. In light of the changing relationship between the state, the market and the society, it seeks to map both theoretically and empirically contemporary forms of global political agency. This book reflects on the theory and practice of political agency in contemporary global politics. More specifically, it empirically analyses a range of different forms of political agency and explores their significance for understanding and enacting global politics. Reflecting the efforts of scholars from a variety of disciplines from political theory and Sociology to Geography and International Relations, it brings into conversation a wide spectrum of theoretical approaches including Marxism, feminism, post-structuralism and historical institutionalism. The contributors compare a range of forms of political agency; exploring their significance for the theory and practice of global politics; and reflect on the tensions and synergies generated by recent efforts to conceptualise them. Demonstrating an innovative and interdisciplinary approach Contemporary Political Agency will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, sociology, political economy and political theory.

Built upon a series of critical encounters with major figures in classical and present-day social and political thought, this volume offers not only a challenging critique of major traditions of social and political analysis, but unique insights into the ideas which Giddens has developed over the past two decades.

This volume introduces the key conceptual debates and approaches in contemporary political sociology. It explores the relationship between the state and civil society, globalization, new social movements and citizenship.

This book presents an overview and evaluation of contemporary research in international political sociology (IPS). Bringing together leading scholars from many disciplines and diverse geographical backgrounds, it provides unprecedented coverage of the key concepts and research through which IPS has opened up new ways of thinking about international relations. It also considers some of the consequences of such innovations for established forms of social and political analysis. It thus takes the reader on an intellectual journey engaging with questions about boundaries and limits among the many interrelated worlds in which we now live, the ways we conceptualise them, and how we continually reshape boundaries of identities, spaces, authorities and disciplinary knowledge. The volume is organized three sections: Lines, Intersections and Directions. The first section examines some influences that led to the formation of the project of IPS and how it has opened up avenues of research beyond the limits of an international relations discipline shaped within political science. The second section explores some key concepts as well as a series of heated discussions about power and authority, practices and governmentality, performativity and reflexivity. The third section explores some of the transversal topics of research that have been pursued within IPS, including inequality, migration, citizenship, the effect of technology on practices of security, the role of experts and expertise, date-driven surveillance, and the relation between mobility, power and inequality. This book will be an essential source of reference for students and across the social sciences.