Sociology Class

In this new edition, Steve Bruce discusses the continuing arguments for social egalitarianism, considering issues such as gay marriage, women in combat roles, and the 2010 Equality Act to debunk contemporary arguments against parity. As gender divisions are increasingly questioned, he looks ahead to the likely consequences of this for society.

In this, his best-known work, the controversial American economist and social critic Thorstein Veblen appropriates Darwin's theory of evolution to analyze the modern industrial system. For Veblen, the shallowness and superficiality observed in society results from the tendency to believe that true accomplishment lies in arriving at a condition of ostentatious wealth and status.

Covering diversity and equality, globalization, human rights, modern urban living and the role of work and institutions, The Sociology Book looks at the big questions of how we cooperate: What is society? What makes it tick? Why do we interact in the way that we do with our friends, co-workers, and rivals?

American democracy depends on united support by the largest economic class in the nation—the middle class. But this class faces a crisis of internal division, threatening America’s future. If conflict continues to worsen, it could lead to violence, threatening democracy itself. Since the 1980s, the upper middle class—the affluent group just below the top one percent—has reaped far more benefit from economic growth than the rest of the class. This division has provoked anger among those without the opportunity to move up.

The Theory of the Leisure Class was written by Thorstein Veblen at the turn of the 20th century. It delves deeply into the nature of economics and the social institutions, exploring the forces that create and maintain class division, how these forces evolved through history, and how they influence the economy. In this work, Veblen presents a critique of capitalism on the basis of "conspicuous consumption", a term that he himself coined. He examines economics as a function of evolution, tracking the division of labor and stratification of class during the development of society.

Around the world, populist movements are gaining traction among the white working class. Meanwhile, members of the professional elite - journalists, managers, and establishment politicians - are on the outside looking in, left to argue over the reasons. Williams explains that many people have conflated "working class" with "poor" - but the working class is, in fact, the elusive, purportedly disappearing middle class. They often resent the poor and the professionals alike. But they don't resent the truly rich.

This is volume two—what Henry George called "the Solution to the Problem". This landmark treatise by the great economist Henry George was first published in 1879. George's work became the seminal analysis of the political economy which inspired most, if not all, the prominent thinkers of the Progressive Movement and many others of great influence: Upton Sinclair, John Dewey, George Bernard Shaw, Friedrich Hayek, H. G. Wells, Clarence Darrow, and Leo Tolstoy, to name but a few. His analyses and proposals are referred to as "Georgism".

Many Americans, holding fast to the American Dream and the promise of equal opportunity, claim that social class doesn't matter. Yet the ways we talk and dress, our interactions with authority figures, the degree of trust we place in strangers, our religious beliefs, our achievements, our senses of morality and of ourselves all are marked by social class, a powerful factor affecting every domain of life.

In 1890s America Thorstein Veblen attacked a careless acceptance of prevailing social structures, identifying ancient roots for ‘pecuniary culture’ and ‘conspicuous consumption’–realities that promoted materialism and squashed fulfilment. In The Theory of the Leisure Class the worthy Engineer, creating essential products for all, is pitted against the predatory Businessman, exempt from grubby industrial toil and focussed on useless profits.

The cost of living crisis is not just about prices. It’s about distance. Distance between work and security. Distance between decisions and consequences. Distance between the people struggling to stay afloat and the systems shaping their lives. This book is not an attack on capitalism. It does not argue that wealth is immoral, that success requires apology, or that higher taxes alone will fix what feels broken. Markets work. Wealth creation matters. Incentives shape behavior.

In her first nonfiction book, New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Xochitl Gonzalez traces her own history from working class Brooklyn to the corridors of power in order to illuminate and examine the class divide that defines America today Xochitl Gonzalez has changed...

To My Black Friend is a heartfelt plea for responsibility, repair, and the work before us. This book speaks directly to the challenges facing the Black community—not from a place of condemnation, but from a place of urgency, love, and truth. It acknowledges the reality of systemic injustice, generational trauma, and historical burden, while also calling for disciplined homes, stronger internal standards, accountable leadership, and intentional rebuilding. This is not a political argument. It is a moral and cultural call to action.

Gewinner und Verlierer im Ungleichland – eine schonungslose Analyse der sozialen Ungerechtigkeit in Deutschland... Journalistin und Autorin Julia Friedrichs hinterfragt mit ihrem beeindruckenden und aufrüttelnden Sachbuch "Working Class: Warum wir Arbeit brauchen, von der wir leben können" die Wohlstandsillusion. In Zeiten der prekären Arbeitsverhältnisse und des Lohndumpings ist der Vermögensaufbau aus eigener Kraft für die meisten Bundesbürger unmöglich.

Growing up poor, Deborah Dundas knew what it meant to want, to be hungry, and to long for social and economic dignity; she understood the crushing weight of having nothing much expected of you. But even after overcoming many of the usual barriers faced by lower- and working-class people, she still felt anxious about her place, and even in relatively safe spaces reluctant to broach the subject of class. While new social movements have generated open conversation about gender and racism, discussions of class rarely include the voices of those most deeply affected: the working class and poor.

Die Zahlen sind alarmierend: immer mehr Menschen in Deutschland leiden an Burnout und dauerhaften Stress. Kein Wunder, schließlich wird in unserer heutigen Leistungsgesellschaft auch immer mehr von uns abverlangt. Wenn es da einmal zu einem persönlichen Rückschlag kommt werden viele Menschen schnell aus der Bahn geworfen. Aber wie kann es sein, dass einige Menschen an Rückschlägen förmlich zerbrechen, während andere Menschen diese scheinbar mühelos wegstecken können?