Books On Social Structure

Social Structure, Abstracts, Syllabus, Journals

Social Structures Book by John Levi Martin - John Levi Martin closely examines social structures..

Social Structure & Mobility in Economic Development Neil J. Smelser, Seymour Martin Lipset

The Social Structures Of The Economy Book by Pierre Bourdieu

Transition from School to Work: Individual Life Courses Within Social Structures (Issues In Education) Book by Chew Siew Ghee

Marginality, Power and Social Structure : Issues in Race, Class, and Gender Analysis (Research in Race and Ethnic Relations) Book by Rutledge Dennis

Change And Stability: Cross-national Analysis Of Social Structure And Personality Melvin L. Kohn

The Social Structure of Postindustrial Societies : From Classes and Strata to Social Milieus and Lifestyles Book by Stefan Hradil

Human Behavior and the Larger Social Environment : A New Synthesis Book by Miriam McNown Johnson, Rita Rhodes

Social Structure and Party Choice in Western Europe : A Comparative Longitudinal Study Book by Oddbjorn Knutsen

Drug And Alcohol Consumption As Functions Of Social Structures: A Cross-cultural Sociology (Mellen Studies in Sociology) Book by James E. Hawdon, James Hawdon

Inequality: Structures, Dynamics and Mechanisms : Essays in Honor of Aage B. Sorensen (Research in Social Stratification and Mobility) Book by Arne L. Kalleberg, Stephen L. Morgan, John Myles, Rachel A. Rosenfeld

The Stag Hunt and the Evolution of Social Structure Brian Skyrms' study of ideas of cooperation and collective action.

Reviews:

Social Structures Book by John Levi Martin
Social Structures is a book that examines how structural forms spontaneously arise from social relationships. Offering major insights into the building blocks of social life, it identifies which locally emergent structures have the capacity to grow into larger ones and shows how structural tendencies associated with smaller structures shape and constrain patterns of larger structures. The book then investigates the role such structures have played in the emergence of the modern nation-state.
He looks at a range of social structures, from smaller ones like families and street gangs to larger ones such as communes and, ultimately, nation-states. He finds that the relationships best suited to forming larger structures are those that thrive in conditions of inequality; that are incomplete and as sparse as possible, and thereby avoid the problem of completion in which interacting members are required to establish too many relationships; and that abhor transitivity rather than assuming it. Social Structures argues that these "patronage" relationships, which often serve as means of loose coordination in the absence of strong states, are nevertheless the scaffolding of the social structures most distinctive to the modern state, namely the command army and the political party.

The Social Structures Of The Economy Book by Pierre Bourdieu
As Bourdieu shows, the market is constructed by the state, which can decide, for example, whether to promote private housing or collective provision. And the individuals involved in the transaction are immersed in symbolic constructions which constitute, in a strong sense, the value of houses, neighbourhoods and towns.
Supply, demand, the market and even the buyer and seller are products of a process of social construction, and so-called ‘economic' processes can be adequately described only by calling on sociological methods. Instead of seeing the two disciplines in antagonistic terms, it is time to recognize that sociology and economics are in fact part of a single discipline, the object of which is the analysis of social facts, of which economic transactions are in the end merely one aspect.
This brilliant study by the most original sociologist of post-war France will be essential reading for students and scholars of sociology, economics, anthropology and related disciplines

Marginality, Power and Social Structure : Issues in Race, Class, and Gender Analysis (Research in Race and Ethnic Relations) Book by Rutledge Dennis
The title of the volume comes into play here because, though many of the early marginality theorists took the term into the realm of psychology, the contributors to this volume who discussed the theory highlighted the social structural foundation of marginality.
Dennis sought a marriage of theory and research while assembling the articles for this volume. For this reason he actively sought papers which used divergent research strategies to uncover the existence of marginality in its various forms and contexts. Thus, some of the papers utilize ethnographic and life history approaches, whereas others use statistical analysis and historical data analysis. In addition to theoretical and methodological concerns a major theme for this volume is the combination of both theory and method towards an investigation of issues and problems emanate from the social structure, and are closely linked to power and domination.

Change And Stability: Cross-national Analysis Of Social Structure And Personality Melvin L. Kohn
Kohn tests his incisive interpretation of the relationships between position in the larger social structures of class and stratification and job conditions and personality. Initially developed and tested in a longitudinal study of men employed in civilian occupations in the United States, the interpretation is systematically tested and enlarged in studies in Japan (to see whether it applies to a non-Western industrialized society) and in Poland when it was socialist (to see whether it applies to the social and economic system of Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe). Despite personality being highly unstable during the process of radical social change in Ukraine from 1992 to 1996, the relationships of social structure and personality remain remarkably stable and consistent with those of countries studied during times of much greater social stability.

Human Behavior and the Larger Social Environment : A New Synthesis Book by Miriam McNown Johnson, Rita Rhodes
Human Behavior and the Larger Social Environment promotes critical thinking through extensive review and analysis of macro-level systems and structures, highlighting both the positive and negative impacts they have on individuals and families.

Social Structure and Party Choice in Western Europe : A Comparative Longitudinal Study Book by Oddbjorn Knutsen
This study is a comparative analysis of the relationship between social structure and party choice in eight West European countries. Oddbjbliogørn Knutsen analyzes the comparative strength of social structural variables, and how these have changed from the early 1970s to the late 1990s. Other factors that are considered include for which parties the structural variables have the largest impact within the various party systems and across national contexts, and for which parties are the most significant changes in support from various social groups found.

Inequality: Structures, Dynamics and Mechanisms : Essays in Honor of Aage B. Sorensen (Research in Social Stratification and Mobility) Book by Arne L. Kalleberg, Stephen L. Morgan, John Myles, Rachel A. Rosenfeld
Aage Sorensen's research sought to understand the structures, dynamics and mechanisms that underlie inequalities in industrial societies by focusing on how individuals' attainments are shaped by characteristics of a society's or organization's opportunity structure, on the one hand, and individuals' education, experience and other human capital resources, on the other. He emphasized inequalities associated with education and schooling, class, and stratification outcomes such as income and occupational status.
The chapters of this volume illustrate some of the major themes that characterized Aage's research; these topics are also likely to constitute important concerns for future efforts to understand structured social inequality in society. These themes include: the development of explicit dynamic models to account for observed patterns of education, career, and labor market outcomes; aspects of educational inequality such as school effects and learning opportunities; issues related to intragenerational mobility and careers; and the role of rents in generating structural inequality.

The Stag Hunt and the Evolution of Social Structure
Brian Skyrms' study of ideas of cooperation and collective action.
"Rousseau's story of a stag hunt illuminates his vision of the social contract. Brian Skyrms emulates the master by using the Stag Hunt Game to illustrate his very different vision. Who would have thought there was so much to learn from such a simple game?" Ken Binmore, California Institute of Technology
Brian Skyrms' study of ideas of cooperation and collective action explores the implications of a prototypical story found in Rousseau's A Discourse on Inequality. It is therein that Rousseau contrasts the pay-off of hunting hare (where the risk of non-cooperation is small and the reward equally small) against the pay-off of hunting the stag (where maximum cooperation is required but the reward is much greater.) Thus, rational agents are pulled in one direction by considerations of risk and in another by considerations of mutual benefit.