Summer I 2009. Evolution of Social Theory. SOCY 3153.
Book Report:
6-8 pages, double-spaced, 10- or 12-point font.
Summarize the entire book.
Include your opinions, but they should be no more than ½ of report.
CHOOSE BOOK FROM THIS LIST:
Axelrod, Robert A. The Evolution of Cooperation. [A computer study of how people can learn to cooperate.]
Bainbridge, William S. Satan’s Power: A Deviant Psychotherapy Cult. [Case study of a cult.]
Becker, Howard S. Art Worlds.
Berger, Peter and Thomas Luckmann. The Social Construction of Reality. [One of our readings is from this.]
Biggart, Nicole Woolsey.
Charismatic Capitalism:
Direct-Selling Organizations in
Blau, Peter. The Dynamics of Bureacracy. [Landmark case study of 2 government agencies in the 1950s.]
Calvin, William H. A Brain for All Seasons: Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change.
Collins, Randall. Weberian Sociological Theory. [Essays mostly in historical sociology.]
Damasio, Antonio. The Feeling Of What Happens: Body And Emotion In The Making Of Consciousness.
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs and Steel. [Why some parts of the world developed and others didn’t.]
Domhoff, G. William. The Power Elite and the State: How Policy is Made in America.
Drucker, Peter. Managing in a Time of Great Change. [Essays by the top management guru.]
Duneier, Mitchell. Slim’s Table.
[Case study of regulars at a restaurant in
Duneier, Mitchell. Sidewalk. [Case study of sidewalk vendors in
Feynman, Richard P. The Character of Physical Law. [How science is constructed and done, by a Nobel Prize winner in Physics.]
Fine, Gary Alan. Kitchens: The Culture of Restaurant Work.
Fisher, Helen E. Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love.
Friedman, Lawrence M. Law in
Fussell, Paul. Class. [How Americans display their social standing.]
Garton Ash, Timothy.
The Magic Lantern: The Revolution
of 1989 Witnessed in
Gellner, Ernest. Nations and Nationalism.
Goffman, Erving. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. [One of our readings is from this.]
Goffman, Erving. Asylums.
Goffman, Erving. Stigma.
Gould, Roger
V. Insurgent
Identities: Class, Community and Protest in
Hamilton, Gary and Nicole Woolsey Biggart. Governor Reagan, Governor Brown.
Hamilton, Richard F. Who Voted For Hitler?
Hechter, Michael. Principles of Group Solidarity.
Heilbroner, Robert. The Worldly Philosophers. [Early social scientists: Smith, Marx, etc.]
Hessler, Peter. Oracle
Bones: A Journey Between
Homans, George C. Coming to My Senses. [Autobiography of Homans, one of our theorists.]
Homans, George C. Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms. [One of our readings is from this.]
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. Men and Women of the Corporation. [A classic about how things are different for men and women in companies.]
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. Commitment and Community: Communes and Utopias in Sociological Perspective.
Kapuscinski, Ryszard. Shah of Shahs. [About the last Shah of Iran.]
Lacey, Robert and Danny Danziger. The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millenium.
Low, Bobbi S. Why Sex Matters: A Darwinian Look at Human Behavior.
Mak, Geert.
Maryanski, Alexandra and Jonathan Turner. The Social Cage: Human Nature and the Evolution of Society.
McAdam, Doug. Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930-1970.
McNeill, William H. The Pursuit of Power. [How military innovation affected human history.]
McNeill, William H. Plagues and Peoples. [How disease affected human history.]
Micklethwait,
John and Adrian Wooldridge. The Company: A Short History of a
Revolutionary Idea.
Miller, Alan S. and Satoshi Kanazawa. Order By Accident. [Why
Japan works differently from the
Putnam, Robert D. Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community.
Remnick, David. Lenin’s Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire.
Ridley, Matt. The Origins of Virtue. [About the connection between human nature and morality.]
Ridley, Matt. Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters.
Robb, Peter.
1996. Midnight in
Romanucci-Ross, Lola. Conflict, Violence and Morality in a
Runciman, W. G. The Social Animal. [Well-written essays in sociology.]
Skocpol, Theda. States and Social Revolutions. [The French, Russian, and Chinese Revolutions.]
Skocpol, Theda. Protecting
Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the
Sowell, Thomas. Race and Culture: A World View.
Sowell, Thomas. Migrations and Cultures: A World View.
Spence, Jonathan. Treason by the Book. [A true story of how an emperor dealt with a
case of treason in imperial
Spence, Jonathan. Return to Dragon Mountain: Memories of a late Ming man.
Stark, Rodney. The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History.
Stark, Rodney. One true God : historical consequences of monotheism
Stark, Rodney and William S. Bainbridge. The Future of Religion.
Stewart, Rory. The places in between. [A trek through modern
Stewart, Rory. The prince of the marshes: and other occupational hazards of a year in Iraq. [Trying to administer a region of Iraq during the war.]
Sudetic, Chuck. 1998. Blood and Vengeance. [About the conflict when
Taleb, Nassim. 2007. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable.
Tilly, Charles. The Vendee. [The counter-revolution after the French Revolution (1789).]
van den Berghe, Pierre L. Human Family Systems.
van den Berghe, Pierre L. A Stranger in Their Midst. [Autobiography of one of our theorists.]
Wade, Nicholas. Before the Dawn. [What the human genome tells us about human prehistory.]
Waite, Linda J. and Maggie Gallagher. The Case For Marriage: Why Married People Are Happier, Healthier, And Better Off Financially.
Waters, Mary C. Ethnic Options: Choosing Identities in
Wickham-Crowley,
Timothy P. Guerrillas and Revolution in
Williams,
Juan. 1998. Thurgood Marshall:
American Revolutionary.
Wilson, William
J. 1996.
When Work Disappears: The World Of
The New Urban Poor.
Wright, James D. Fixin' To Git: One Fan's Love Affair With NASCAR's Winston Cup.
Wright, Robert. The Moral Animal: Evolutionary Psychology and Everyday Life.
Wright, Robert. Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny.