George Ritzer — The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (11 Volume set)

Автор: George Ritzer
Название книги: The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (11 Volume set)
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Политология и Социология
Страницы: 5783
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology is published in both print and online. Arranged across eleven volumes in A-Z format, it is the definitive reference source for students, researchers, and academics in the field. This ground-breaking project brings together specially commissioned entries written and edited by an international team of the world's best scholars and teachers. It provides:
“This is an example of a reference book turned into an e-product intelligently and

in a way that transcends the print.” – Library Journal

An essential reference for expert and newcomer alike, with entries ranging from short definitions of key terms to extended explorations of major topics
Provides clear, concise, expert definitions and explanations of the key concepts
Presents materials that have historically defined the discipline, but also more recent developments, significantly updating the store of sociological knowledge
Introduces sociological theories and research that have developed outside of the United States and Western Europe
Offers sophisticated cross-referencing and search facilities
Features a timeline, lexicon by subject area, bibliography, and index

The origins of sociology are usually traced back
to 1839 and the coining of the term by Auguste
Comte, one of the important thinkers in the
history of the discipline. However, others trace
intellectual concern for sociological issues much
further back, and it could be argued that schol
ars (and non scholars) have been thinking
sociologically since the early history of human
kind. However, it was not until about a half
century after Comte’s creation of the concept
that sociology began to develop as a formal and
clearly distinct discipline, primarily, at least at
first, in Europe and the United States. It was
another French thinker, E ´ mile Durkheim, who
in the late 1800s was responsible for distinguish
ing clearly the subject matter of sociology from
neighboring fields. Sociology became institu
tionalized in France (thanks, importantly, to
Durkheim’s efforts), as well as in Germany,
Great Britain, and the United States. While
sociology in the United States did not take
the early lead in the development of key ideas
and theories, it did move strongly in the direc
tion of institutionalization (as did sociology in
other nations, especially Great Britain). Sociol
ogy has grown enormously in the one hundred
plus years since the work of Durkheim and the
early institutionalization of the field and is
today a truly globe straddling discipline. The
sociological literature is now huge and highly
diverse, and is growing exponentially. Journals,
and therefore journal articles, devoted to sociol
ogy and its many subfields have proliferated
rapidly, as has the number of books devoted
to sociological topics. This is part of a broader
issue identified by another early leader in
sociology, Georg Simmel, who was concerned
with the increasing gap between our cultural
products and our ability to comprehend them.
Sociology is one of those cultural products and
this encyclopedia is devoted to the goal of
allowing interested readers to gain a better
understanding of it.
FRAMING THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
SOCIOLOGY
The magnitude and the diversity of the sociol
ogical literature represent a challenge to a wide
range of people scholars and students in sociol
ogy and closely related disciplines (some of
which were at one time part of sociology) such
as criminology, social work, and urban studies;
in all of the other social sciences; and in many
other disciplines. More generally, many others,
including secondary school students and inter
ested laypeople, often need to gain a sense not
only of the discipline in general, but also of a
wide range of specific topics and issues in the
domain of sociology. Journalists and documen
tary filmmakers are others who frequently seek
out ideas and insights from sociology. This
encyclopedia gathers together in one place
state of the art information on, and analyses
of, much of what constitutes contemporary
sociology.
While plans are already in place to revise this
project in various ways, we have sought to make
it as complete as possible at this point. Several
approaches have been used to ensure that it is
as inclusive as possible in terms of coverage.
First, there is the sheer number of essays –
1,786 in all. We began with the intention of
having approximately 1,200 entries, but it
quickly became clear that that was a gross
underestimate. Rather than artificially set a
limit, the number was allowed to grow to its
current level. Often the submission of one
entry led to the realization of the need to add
others that had been omitted initially. Often,
advisory editors, staff members, and authors
came forth with suggestions, many of which
were readily accepted. There were certainly
suggestions and topics that we chose not to
include for one reason or another, but in the
main we usually erred on the side of inclusion
rather than exclusion.
Second, an effort was made to cast a very
wide net in terms of areas to be included. In the
end, we came up with 35 such areas. It turned
out that a majority of the entries that were
recruited for a given area also fit into one or
more – in some cases four or five – other areas.
In order to clarify and simplify matters for
readers, the original list of 35 areas was reduced
to the 22 general categories that now form the
organizational base of the Lexicon to be found
soon after this introduction. The Lexicon
represents the best way to get a quick overview
of both sociology today and the contents of the
encyclopedia (more on the Lexicon below).
Third, a wide and global search was con
ducted to find advisory editors to be placed in
charge of each of the predefined areas. These
are all luminaries in their respective areas and
well known scholars. An effort was also made
to make this a truly international board of advi
sory editors. As a result, there is a strong
representation of editors from ten countries –
Australia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Mexico, The
Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, the
United Kingdom, and the United States. This,
in turn, helped to ensure that the authors of the
entries would be from many different parts of
the world. The following are among the many
countries from which authors have been drawn:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, The
Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal,
Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Swit
zerland, the United Kingdom, the United
States, and Zambia.
Fourth, as a result of the international diver
sity of editors and authors, the entries them
selves are extraordinarily diverse. All, or
virtually all, of the expected topics and people
are included in these pages, especially given the
transcontinental collaboration of an American
editor (and editorial team) and a British based
publisher. But the entries go far beyond that to
include topics and people that are not typically
included in a work like this emanating from the
West and the North. This is truly a work that
represents global sociology. While a major effort
was made to be sure that there was representa
tion from all parts of the world, there are cer
tain to be omissions and oversights. One of the
goals of both the online version and the next
edition will be to do an even better job of in
clusion of authors and topics from throughout
the world.
Another useful reference source found in
this encyclopedia is the timeline of sociology.
While this cannot cover everything that every
one would consider of particular significance, it
is a listing of over 700 of the most influential
events, figures, and publications to have made
an impact on the field. As with the entries
themselves, the timeline covers a lot of ground
both temporally (stretching back over 2,500
years) and geographically (ranging from the
Philippines to Argentina to Poland and many
places in between).
Another kind of diversity is reflected in the
fact that legendary figures in the field of sociol
ogy (S. N. Eisenstadt, Thomas J. Scheff), con
temporary leaders (Karin Knorr Cetina, Saskia
Sassen, Linda D. Molm, Karen S. Cook,
Roland Robertson, Chandra Mukerji, Gary
Alan Fine), young scholars (Karen Bettez
Halnon, Wendy A. Wiedenhoft, Lloyd Cox),
and even some graduate students (Elena Fazio,
Kevin D. Vryan) are represented as authors in
these pages. This diversity of authorship
helped guarantee that the entries in this volume
would range all the way from the expected ‘‘old
chestnuts’’ to those on hot, new, cutting edge
topics.
I should point out that I personally read, and
in many cases re read (sometimes several
times), all of the entries in this volume. Many
went through two, three, or more rewrites and
I read them all (as, in many cases, did the
relevant advisory editors). I say that not
because I am by any means an expert in all of
the areas and topics covered here, but to make
the point that all of the contributions were
seriously reviewed, and from a uniform per
spective. I tried my best to be sure that all of
these entries were accurate, up to date, and of
high quality.
As pointed out above, the overall design of
this ambitious project can be gleaned from the
Lexicon. First, a glance at the 22 broad head
ings gives the reader a sense of the great
sweep of sociology that includes such diverse
subfields as crime and deviance, demography/
population, education, family, gender, health
and medicine, media, politics, popular culture,
race/ethnicity, religion, science, sexuality, social psychology, social stratification, sport,
and urbanization. Second, a more detailed
examination of the topics listed under each of
the broad headings in the Lexicon yields a
further sense not only of that sweep, but also
of the enormous depth of work in sociology.
Thus, the coverage of the field in these
volumes is both wide and deep. To take just
one example, the crime and deviance category
includes not only a general entry on crime, but
also entries on such specific topics as capital
punishment, child abuse, cybercrime, gangs,
hate crimes, homicide, police, prisons, rape,
victimization, and many more. To take another
example, entries on the economy range all the
way from major events (Industrial Revolution
and the rise of post industrial society), theories
(rational choice), and people (Karl Marx) to a
wide array of other topics including money,
occupations, poverty, wealth, shopping, super
markets, and credit cards. Similar and often
even greater depth is reflected in the lists of
terms under most of the other headings in the
Lexicon.
Sociology is a highly dynamic discipline that
is constantly undergoing changes of various
types and magnitudes. This greatly complicates
getting a sense of the expanse of sociology. This
is traceable to changes both within the field and
in the larger social world that it studies.
In terms of changes in sociology, the ency
clopedia includes many traditional concepts,
such as primary groups, dyad and triad, norms,
values, culture, and so on, but supplements
these with a broad assortment of more recently
coined and/or popularized concepts, such as
distanciation and disembedding, glocalization,
simulation, implosion, postsocial, actants, and
imagined communities. Similarly, some key
figures in the history of the discipline (e.g.,
Herbert Spencer) have receded in importance,
while others have taken on new or renewed
significance. For example, feminist theory has
led to a rise in interest in the work of Marianne
Weber, postmodernism and poststructuralism
have led to a revival in interest in Friedrich
Nietzsche, and growing interest in spatial issues
has led to more attention to the ideas of Henri
Lefebvre.
More generally, changes in the relative
importance of various subareas in the discipline
lead to increases (and decreases) in attention to
them. Among the areas that seem to be attract
ing greater interest are globalization (see below)
as well as the sociology of consumption and
sport. A significant number of entries in the
encyclopedia can be included under one (or
more) of these headings.
The entries included in the encyclopedia also
reflect recent changes in the larger social world.
For example, the study of cybercrime above is a
relatively recent addition to the area of crime
because the cyberspace in which it occurs is
itself relatively new. Furthermore, new ways
of engaging in criminal behavior on the Inter
net are constantly being invented. For example,
a new crime has emerged that involves the
sending of emails to large numbers of people
around the world claiming that help is needed
in transferring money from one country to
another. In return, the email recipient is
offered a significant share of the money. Those
who respond with a willingness to help are
eventually lured into transferring considerable
sums to the sender of the emails in order, they
are told, to help with the transfer by, for exam
ple, bribing officials. People have lost tens and
even hundreds of thousands of dollars in such
scams. While the perpetrators are hard to find,
victims (especially in the US) are not and are
subject to prosecution for illegal activities on
their part (e.g., deceiving others in order to get
needed funds).
A more general recent social change that is
profoundly affecting sociology is globalization.
This is clearly an emerging and multifaceted
process that is dramatically altering the land
scape of the world. Sociology (and many other
disciplines including political science, interna
tional relations, and economics) has been com
pelled to deal with the process and its various
aspects in many different ways. Thus, we have
seen the emergence of various theories and
methods devoted to dealing with this topic.
Furthermore, the many different aspects and
dimensions of the process of globalization have
attracted the notice of sociologists (and other
scholars). Much consideration has been paid to
the economic dimensions of globalization, but
there are myriad other aspects – social, cultural,
political, and the like – that are also drawing
increasing attention from sociologists. Thus,
in addition to a general entry on globalization,
this encyclopedia includes a number of more specific entries on such issues as world cities,
the global justice movement, and the globaliza
tion of sport, sexuality, and so on. Further such
topics and issues will emerge as globalization as
a process continues to evolve and develop.
Sociology will respond by devoting attention
to them.
By its very nature, sociology is also highly
topical and its focus is often drawn to the
most recent and publicly visible developments,
events, and people. There are, of course, far too
many of these to cover completely in these
volumes, and in any case the topics covered are
constantly changing with current events. How
ever, in order to give a sense of this topicality,
some of the most important such issues are cov
ered here. For example, changes in science are
dealt with under entries on cloning, genetic
engineering, the measurement of risk, and tech
nological innovation. Topical issues in health
and medicine include AIDS, aging and health
policy, stress and health, and exercise and fit
ness. A flavor of the many new topics in culture
of interest to sociologists is offered here in
entries on popular culture icons and forms, post
modern culture, surveillance, and xenophobia.
The dynamic character of sociology makes it
extremely interesting, but also very difficult to
grasp in some general sense. Thus, it is useful
to offer a definition of sociology, although the
fact is that the complexity and diversity of the
discipline have led to many different definitions
and wide disagreement over precisely how to
define it. While I recognize that it is one among
many definitions, the following is a variant on
one that I have employed previously in various
contexts and is consistent with the thrust of
most definitions in the discipline: Sociology is
the study of individuals, groups, organizations,
cultures, societies, and transnational relationships
and of the various interrelationships among and
between them.
Unpacking this definition gives us yet
another way of gaining an impression of the
field of sociology. On the one hand, it is clear
that sociology spans the workings of a number
of levels of analysis all the way from individuals
to groups, organizations, cultures, societies, and
transnational processes. On the other, sociology
is deeply concerned with the interrelationship
among and between all of those levels of
analysis. Thus, at the extremes, one might be
concerned with the relationship between indi
viduals and the transnational relationships
involved in globalization. While globalization
is certainly affecting individuals (for example,
outsourcing is leading to the loss of jobs in
some areas of the world and to the creation of
others elsewhere around the globe), it is also
the case that globalization is the outcome of
the actions of various people (business leaders,
politicians, workers). Sociology is attuned to
such extreme micro (individual) and macro
(global) relationships as well as everything in
between. A slightly different way of saying this
is that sociology is concerned, at its extremes,
with the relationship between individual agents
and the structures (e.g., of global transnational
relationships) within which they exist and
which they construct and are constantly recon
structing.
USING THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
SOCIOLOGY
One way of gaining an impression of the ex
panse of sociology is, of course, to read every
entry in this encyclopedia. Since few (save the
editor) are likely to undertake such an enor
mous task, a first approach would be to scan
the entire Lexicon and then select headings and
terms of special interest. The reader could then
begin building from there to encompass areas
and topics of less direct and immediate interest.
However, readers without time to work their
way through the entire encyclopedia would be
well advised to focus on several rather general
Lexicon entries: Key Concepts, Key Figures,
Theory, and Methods. Let us look at each of
these in a bit more detail.
In a sense the vast majority of entries in this
encyclopedia are key concepts in sociology, but
a large number of the most important and
widely used concepts in the discipline have
been singled out for inclusion under the head
ing of Key Concepts. An understanding of this
range of ideas, as well as of the content of each,
will go a long way toward giving the reader
an appreciation of the field. For example, one
can begin at the level of the individual with
the ideas of mind and self, and then move
through such concepts as agency, interaction,
everyday life, groups (primary and secondary), organizations, institutions, society, and globaliza
tion. This would give the reader a sound grasp
of the scope of sociology, at least in terms of the
extent of its concerns, all the way from individ
uals and their thoughts and actions to global
relationships and processes. Readers could then
work their way through the key concepts in a
wide range of other ways and directions, but in
the end they would emerge with a pretty good
conception of the discipline.
A second way to proceed is through the
topics under the heading of Key Figures. This
is, in some ways, a more accessible way of
gaining a broad understanding of the discipline
because it ties key ideas to specific people and
their biographical and social contexts. One
could begin with Auguste Comte and the
invention of the concept of sociology. One
could then move forward to the development
of sociology in France (especially the work of
E ´
mile Durkheim and his key role in the insti
tutionalization of sociology in that country).
One could then shift to the development of
the field in other parts of the world, including
Germany (Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Georg
Simmel; Weber and Simmel were central to the
institutionalization of sociology in Germany),
Great Britain (Herbert Spencer), Italy (Vilfredo
Pareto), the United States (Thorstein Veblen,
George Herbert Mead), and similar develop
ments could be traced in East Asia, Latin
America, the Muslim world, as well as other
parts of the globe. Another way to go is to
move back in time from Comte to even earlier
figures such as Ibn Khaldun and then push
forward to later key figures such as W. E. B.
Du Bois, Talcott Parsons, and Robert Merton
(US), Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu
(France), Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno,
and Marianne Weber (Germany), Karl Mann
heim and Norbert Elias (Great Britain,
although both were born in Germany), and so
on. While we have restricted coverage in this
encyclopedia to deceased key figures, it is also
possible to gain a sense of the contributions of
living key sociologists, either through entries
written by them for these volumes (e.g., Imman
uel Wallerstein, Thomas Scheff) or through
innumerable topical entries that inevitably deal
with their ideas. For example, the entry on
structuration theory deals with one of the major
contributions of Anthony Giddens (Great
Britain), simulacra and simulation is at the
heart of Jean Baudrillard’s work (France), glo
calization is closely associated with the work of
Roland Robertson (also Great Britain), while
ethnomethodology was ‘‘invented’’ by Harold
Garfinkel (US).
All of those mentioned in the previous para
graph are theorists, but there are many other
key figures in or associated with the discipline
as well. One can read entries on these people
and gain an understanding of specific areas
in sociology, including demography (Kingsley
Davis), race relations (E. Franklin Frazier),
feminism (Charlotte Perkins Gilman), sexuality
(Magnus Hirschfeld, Alfred Kinsey),gender
(Mirra Komarovsky),media (Marshall McLu
han), urbanization (Lewis Mumford), crime
(Edwin H. Sutherland), and many more.
A distinctive quality of sociology is that it
has sets of elaborated theories and methods.
Even though there is no overall agreement on
which theory or method to use, they provide
the keys to understanding the discipline as a
whole. We have already encountered a number
of theorists, but the encyclopedia is also loaded
with broad discussions of both general theories
and specific theoretical ideas. Among the more
classical theories that are covered are structural
functionalism, system theory, structuralism,
Marxism and neo Marxism, critical theory,
conflict theory, feminism, phenomenology,
symbolic interactionism, labeling theory, role
theory, dramaturgy, ethnomethodology, exis
tential sociology, semiotics, psychoanalysis,
behaviorism, social exchange theory, and
rational choice theories. In addition, much
attention is given to newer theories such as
recent feminist theories, actor network theory,
chaos theory, queer theory, expectation states
theory, as well as a variety of the ‘‘posts’’ –
postpositivism, poststructuralism, postsocial,
and a range of postmodern perspectives.
The methods entries have similarly diverse
coverage, which can be divided roughly into
qualitative and quantitative methods. All are of
varying degrees of utility in studying virtually
any topic of concern in sociology. Among the
notable qualitative methods covered are ethno
graphy, autoethnography, performance ethno
graphy, feminist methodology, visual methods verstehen, and participant and non participant
observation. More quantitative methods covered
include a variety of demographic techniques,
experiments, social network analysis, and sur
vey research. Also covered under the heading
of methods is a wide range of statistical tech
niques. Finally, a series of broad methodolog
ical issues is dealt with, such as validity,
reliability, objectivity, rapport, triangulation,
and many others.
All of the above can be brought to bear on
the 22 categories in the Lexicon. Thus, for
example, another area covered here is the econ
omy, especially consumption, and of relevance
to a study of the latter might be the classical
work of the theorist Thorstein Veblen, the con
cept of simulation, postmodern theory, and the
use of ethnographic techniques.
Of course, since sociology is constantly
expanding, so too are its key concepts, figures,
theories, and methods. For example, globaliza
tion is, as we have seen, a relatively new issue
and sociological concept. It is leading to a
reconceptualization of the work of classical the
orists (such as Marx and Weber) and of the
relevance of their ideas (imperialism, rationali
zation) to globalization, the generation of a
wide range of new concepts (e.g., glocalization,
empire, McDonaldization, time space distan
ciation) needed to get a handle on it, and the
ories (transnationalism, network society) and
methods (quantitative cross national studies as
well as methods that rely on data not derived
from the nation state) appropriate to the study
of global issues and processes. We can expect
that in the coming years other new topics will
come to the fore, with corresponding impli
cations for how we think about the work of
classical theorists as well as leading to the gen
eration of new or revised concepts, theories,
and methods.