Includes Index.

Contents: Part one: What is sociology?: The sociological perspective: The sociological perspective -- Sociology and the other sciences -- The origins of sociology -- The role values in social research -- Verstehen and social facts -- Sexism in early sociology -- Sociology in Canada and the United States -- Theoretical perspectives in sociology -- Applied and clinical sociology -- What do sociologists do?: What is a valid sociological topic?: Common sense and the need for sociological research -- Six research methods -- A research model -- Ethics in sociological research -- How research and theory work together -- Part two: The individual social groups, and society: What is culture?: Components of symbolic culture -- Values in Canadian society -- Cultural universals -- Animals and culture -- Technology in the global village -- Socialization: Genes of environment?: The social development of the self, mind and the emotions -- Socialization into gender -- Agents of socialization -- Resocialization -- Socialization through the life course -- The outcomes of socialization: Trust and belonging in a post-9/11 world -- The limitations of socialization -- Social structure and social interaction: Levels of sociological analysis -- The macrosociological perspective: Social structure -- Social groups and societies -- Groups within society -- The microsociological perspective: Social interaction in everyday life -- Postmodernism -- The need for both macrosociology and microsociology -- Part three: Social inequality: Social inequality: Global and national perspectives -- What is social stratification?: Systems of social stratification -- What determines social class? -- The components of social class -- Why is social stratification universal? -- How do elites maintain social inequality? -- Global stratification: Three worlds of development -- How the world's nations became stratified -- Maintaining global inequality -- Applying sociological models of social class -- Consequences of social class -- Social mobility -- Poverty -- The dynamics of poverty -- A concluding note -- Inequalities of gender: Issues of sex and gender -- Gender inequality in global perspective -- Gender inequality in theoretical perspective -- Gender inequality in Canada -- Gender relations in the work place -- Gender and violence -- Gender and change -- Glimpsing the future- with hope -- Inequalities of race and ethnicity: Laying the sociological foundations -- Theories of prejudice -- Global patterns of intergroup relations -- The major classifications in Canada -- Looking toward the future -- Inequalities of age: The "Age quake": Symbolic interactionist perspectives on aging -- Feminist perspective -- Conflicts perspectives: The political economy of aging -- The dependency crisis -- Part four: Social institutions: Bureaucracy and formal organizations: The rationalization of society -- Formal organization and bureaucracy -- Voluntary associations -- Management strategies and the corporate culture -- Lean production and corporate efficiency -- The economy: Money and work: The transformation of economic systems -- The transformation of the medium of exchange -- World economic systems -- Capitalism in a global economy -- Apply social theories -- Work in Canada society -- The future: Facing the consequences of global capitalism -- Politics: Power and authority: Micropolitics and macropolitics -- Power, Authority, and Violence -- Types of government -- The Canadian political system -- Who rules Canada? -- War and terrorism: A means to implement political objectives -- A new world order? -- The family: Initiation into society: Marriage and family in global perspective -- Marriage and family in theoretical perspective -- The family life cycle -- Further diversity in Canadian families -- Trends in Canadian families -- Two sides of family life -- Education and religion: Today's credential society -- The development of modern education -- The functionalist perspective: Providing social benefits -- The conflicts perspectives: Reproducing the social class structure -- The symbolic interactionist perspective: Teacher expectations and the self-fulfilling prophecy -- Rethinking schools: Problems and solutions -- What is religion? -- The functionalist perspectives -- The symbolic interactionist perspective -- The conflict perspectives -- The feminist perspective -- Postmodernism and religion -- Religion and the spirit of capitalism -- The world's major religions -- Types of religious groups -- Characteristics of religion in Canada -- The future of religion -- Medicine: Health and illness in Canada: Sociology and the study of medicine -- The symbolic interactionist perspective -- The functionalist perspective -- The conflict perspective -- The feminist perspective -- Historical patterns of health -- Issues in health care -- Threats to health -- The search for alternatives -- Social change: Crime and social deviance: Gaining a sociological perspective on crime and social deviance -- The symbolic interactionist perspective -- The functionalist perspective -- Postmodern theories of crime and social deviance -- The Canadian criminal justice system -- Reactions to social deviance -- The need for a more humane approach -- Population, urbanization, and the environment: A planet with no space to enjoy life? -- Population growth -- The challenge of the twenty-first century -- Urbanization -- Models of urban growth -- City life -- The natural environment -- Ecofeminism and the environment -- Social movements and social change: Early explanations: The transformation of the individual -- The contemporary view: The rationality of the crowd -- Forms of collective behaviour -- Types and tactics of social movements -- Why people join social movements -- On the success and failure of social movements -- An overview of social change -- How technology changes society -- Contemporary theories of social change -- The difficult road to success.