Social Sciences: The Big Issues

by Kath Woodward

The social sciences are about people and the relationships between individuals and the social and material world we live in. They are about the social structures which shape - and are shaped by - social forces such as ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality and age and the bodies we inhabit. How are these relationships changing and to what extent and how can people influence change? What are the big issues which concern us today? How can the social sciences help us to understand what is going on? "

Social Sciences: The Big Issues" third edition looks at what matters in terms of what is changing and what remains the same in contemporary life, bringing together personal concerns and social forces. Fully revised and updated, this book explores some of the debates about how we live our personal, domestic and emotional lives at a time of change and disruption, including economic crises and uncertainties. The issues covered include: changing selves and personal lives; the role of consumption and consumerism; materialism and material culture; as well as citizenship, migration and globalization as both opportunities and sources of inequality in the contemporary world and in everyday lives.

The third edition of "Social Sciences: The Big Issues" provides a clear, accessible introduction to the ideas and approaches of the social sciences across a range of disciplines, including sociology, psychology and politics.

Genres: Social Science, Psychology, Sociology

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 26, 2003

Reviews

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for my Level 1 OU course DD101 and found that it helped a lot with my understanding of various social science topics and debates. The book gives introductions on Identity, Citizenship & Social Order, Buying and Selling, Consumerism, Mobilities and Race, and Globalization. Within those topics, it gives examples of economics, migration, racism, political policies etc. Each chapter has various summaries throughout which makes the book very accessible for beginners to these subjects. At the back is a general conclusion on the topics discussed, as well as a glossary and further reading recs.

[Jordy Rivaldi]

Dalam Bumi kita terdapat semuak makluk hidup di dalamnya maka dari itu kita harus mengetahuinya

[Grim-Anal King · Rating 1 out of 5]

This doesn't really achieve its purpose and that's basically the author's fault. While some interesting topics are covered (alas mostly later in the book so many will have long given up before reaching them and they are generally covered with an annoying slant), the writing is extremely turgid, not the sort of engaging introduction to new subject matter which runs the outside risk of enthusing the odd new student.

The preoccupation with race and gender becomes tiresome, in the sense that there is very little insight offered beyond race and gender impacting almost every issue which arises. She could have saved a lot of tedium by beginning the book with a very short chapter, saying race and gender impact all the following issues. It's a very long time since I've read a book where I thought I really don't want to meet the author as often as I did with this one. Maybe the one about the drunks getting involved in a shootout on the tram system in Portland. Alluding to the Siege of Gresham makes this review far more exciting than the book deserves. I'm very glad to have reached the end of it and if I don't parlay some extra marks (with boring quotes or ideas) from it for future essays I'll have wasted plenty of time. This was so difficult to focus on I spent over four and a half minutes per page.

[Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a useful and engaging introductory text looking at what the social sciences can tell us about the big social issues. It is clear and forceful without being tendentious, and seems to be aimed at beginning social science students. The clear outlines of major theoretical traditions in specific settings and applied to specific issues means it should be useful more generally: I'll be using it in a final year undergraduate course to provide a tool to encourage sport science students to think more broadly about the social science work. What is more, in its emphasis on consumption and material culture it resonates with some of the key issues in sociologies of sport and leisure.

Accessible and insightful, I'm sure it will also unsettle my students (which is exactly what we want to have happen).

[Del · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good introduction to the Social Sciences. Quick morning read.