Not your typical sociology primer, this straightforward yet challenging text begins with a discussion of foundational theories, central concepts and areas of study.
Drawing on anthropology, archaeology and history to illustrate key points, the book offers a thorough examination of the field, covering such often neglected topics as the mass production of deviance (Stalin’s lethal purges, for example) and the sociology of war.
This multifaceted approach provides a broad overview of the discipline through a clear-eyed investigation of human society at its best and worst.

Jon Oplinger is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Maine at Farmington. He lives in western Maine.

Jon Oplinger
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 196
Bibliographic Info: bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2020
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8096-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3879-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vi
Preface 1
One. How to Explain Society: Different Views 3
Two. Reliable Knowledge 35
Three. Culture 41
Four. Social Organization and Stratification 52
Five. Economics: Symbolic Exchange, Technology, Wealth and Colonialism 68
Six. Strategies of Political Control 77
Seven. Demography 84
Eight. Urbanism 90
Nine. The Sociology of Religion 97
Ten. How to Manufacture Deviance 106
Eleven. Collective Behavior 129
Twelve. Sociology of War 135
Thirteen. Social Change 145
Fourteen. Globalization 161
Coda: The Consolations of Sociology 168
Principal Sources and Further Reading 171
Bibliography 177
Index 179