Description
Book SynopsisSociology was in serious trouble in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Harvard University was down to only 67 students majoring in sociology in 1992. Yale''s department faced a 40% cut in faculty and near extinction. In the last decade, Washington University (St. Louis, MO) and the University of Rochester shut down their departments. George Washington University (Washington, D.C.) regrouped in order to stave off further cuts. However, in the past decade, sociology has surged back and become more important than ever to policy makers and pundits. Why? Is Sociology Dead? covers three areas of Dr. Jack Nusan Porter''s work: the role of sociological theory in society; the image of sociology in the media; and what he calls the creative praxis, (the application of social theory to real life problems). The theoretical section of the book covers such areas as conflict theory; situational and small group theory; and what could be termed as post-9/11 approaches as chaos, postmodern, and rational choice theory that address the questions of random murder, terrorism, and genocide. The second section deals with an overview of sociology''s image in the U.S. media and covers in detail how sociology was treated in radical textbooks in the 1960s. The final section applies new theoretical approaches to a host of contemporary political, business, technological, and urban issues.
Table of ContentsPart 1 Message to the Reader Part 2 Preface Chapter 3 Introduction: The Death of Sociology? Toward a New Paradigm Part 4 I: Sociological Theory Chapter 5 Conflict Theory: Classical and Contemporary Chapter 6 Situational Theory Chapter 7 Small Groups: Theory and Methods Chapter 8 Means of Conflict Resolution Chapter 9 The Urban Middleman: A Comparative Analysis Chapter 10 What is Evil? Some New Post-Modern Theories to Explain the Post-9/11 Era Part 11 II: Images of Sociology Chapter 12 The Image of Sociology: A Mixed Bag Chapter 13 The Making of a Sociologist Chapter 14 Radical Sociology Textbooks Chapter 15 Confronting the Media: The Impact of Jonestown Chapter 16 The Sociological Imagination of Film Part 17 III: Creative Praxis Chapter 18 Talking Police Blues: The Pedagogic Dilemma of the Academic Chapter 19 Corporations that Grant Degrees? Chapter 20 Computer Networks and Metanetworks Chapter 21 Two Newtons or One? One Affluent, One Not! Chapter 22 The Sociological Imagination in Politics Chapter 23 Toward a Sociology and History of Peace Part 24 IV: Postscript Chapter 25 Jack Nusan Porter: Thoughts on Internal and External Peace Part 26 Sources Part 27 Index Part 28 About the Author
