Sociology (6th Edition) by Anthony Giddens
One of the things that’s so exciting about sociology is its constant
engagement with the ever-changing social world. Events we find hard to
make sense of, or that frighten us – such as climate change or terrorism –
are all of interest to sociologists. The aim of the sixth edition of this
classic text, as in the previous five, has been to capture the sense of
excitement that pervades the very best of sociology, and to inspire a new
generation of sociologists.
The book was written in the firm belief that sociology has a key role to
play in modern intellectual culture and a central place in the social sciences.
It does not make a virtue of sociological jargon, but rather its language is
straightforward and accessible for students, though it does not shy away from
complex debates. This sixth edition remains state-of-the-art, with fresh and
engaging new material added throughout. The book weaves together classical
and contemporary theory and data, and provides a wide range of everyday
examples to which students can easily relate.
The Politics of Climate Change by Anthony Giddens (2007)
Climate change differs from any other problem that, as collective
humanity, we face today. If it goes unchecked, the consequences are
likely to be catastrophic for human life on earth. Yet for most people,
and for many policy–makers too, it tends to be a "back of the mind" issue.
We recognise its importance and even its urgency, but for the most part it is
swamped by more immediate concerns. Politicians have woken up to the dangers,
but at the moment their responses are mainly on the level of gesture rather
than being, as they have to be, both concrete and radical.
Political action and intervention, on local, national and international
levels, is going to have a decisive effect on whether or not we can limit
global warming, as well as how we adapt to that already occurring. At the
moment, however, Anthony Giddens argues controversially, we do not have a
systematic politics of climate change. Politics as usual won't allow us to
deal with the problems we face, while the recipes of the main challenger
to orthodox politics, the green movement, are flawed at source. Giddens
introduces a range of new concepts and proposals to fill in the gap,
and examines in depth the connections between climate change and energy security.
The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy by Anthony Giddens (1998)
The Third Way is the text that influenced a generation.
The "third way", in Britain, came to be associated with the
politics of Tony Blair and New Labour, so much so that Giddens
was often referred to as Tony Blair's guru. In The Third Way,
he examines the reasons for the huge changes in perceptions of
social democratic politics that took place in the 1990s -
the dissolution of the "welfare consensus"
that dominated in the industrial countries up to the late 1970s; the
discrediting of Marxism, and the profound social, economic and
technological changes that helped bring these about.
This ground-breaking book was
described by Ian Hargreaves, former editor of New Statesman and
The Independent, as being a "landmark" in laying the
intellectual foundations of the centre-left position.
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