For the better part of its history, sociology shared with commonsense its assumption of the 'nature-like' character of society - and consequently developed as the science of unfreedom. This work describes how the various trends in sociology emerging from phenomenology and existentialism do not challenge this preoccupation.

Critical Sociology is a thoroughly revised, updated, and sophisticated introduction to the sociological perspective as a critical lens on society. Much has happened since the first edition: the Great Recession, the Obama presidency, the burgeoning role of social media, and recent global social movements such the Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street, and the Arab Spring. In this second edition, Buechler discusses the changing relationship between social movements and democracy. The book contains chapters on how to think sociologically; an overview of scientific, humanistic, and critical schools of sociology; and a detailed exposition of the critical tradition.

For the better part of its history sociology shared with commonsense its assumption of the ‘nature-like’ character of society – and consequently developed as the science of unfreedom. In this powerful and engaging work, first published in 1976, Professor Bauman outlines the historical roots of such a science and describes how the new trends in sociology emerging from phenomenology and existentialism do not challenge this preoccupation. Rather, he claims, they deepen and extend it by stressing the key role of commonsense, particularly the ways in which it is sustained and embedded in the routines and assumptions of everyday life. Professor Bauman sets out the form of a critical sociology, based on emancipatory reason. His main concerns are the `validity' of commonsense and the truth of a theory which would resolve to transcend the limitations of commonsensical evidence. Aimed at human liberation A Critical Sociology is designed to question the very same routines and assumptions of everyday life informed by commonsense.

Through critical sociological appraisals of literary theory, research and pedagogy, this volume presents challenges to dominant psychological approaches in reading research and to mainstream discourses about reading and writing pedagogy. Bringing together the recent work of literacy researchers in Australia, Europe and North America, the volume offers novel critiques and theorizations from within political economy, neomarxist and critical theory, ethnomethodology, interactive sociolinguistics, poststructuralism and postmodernism. The volume is arranged in four sections; The Politics of Pedagogy; Reading in Classrooms; Reconstructing Theory; Reading the Social. This collection is provocative and innovative, offering clear alternatives for conceptualizing literacy, for conducting literacy research, and for reconstructing the discourses and practices of reading and writing in schools. The volume is addressed to a broad audience of researchers, educators and students.

Evidences pile up to prove that financial markets are sometimes irrational, and contingently much influenced by public speeches like the ones delivered by central bankers and politicians. Since ideologies and discourses matter in the financial sector, and have very tangible impacts on investors’ decisions worldwide, this book argues that we urgently need a new sociology of finance, one equipped with a critical commitment and an innovative, standardized method for argumentation analysis. Accordingly, the new approach is firstly described theoretically and methodologically, in an open, constructive dialogue with potential complementary approaches like cultural political economy and critical discourse analysis. Then, the outcomes of some empirical analyses are displayed and discussed: from the battles of opposite financial ideologies in the decade 2008-2018, through the analysis of “dovish” speeches in monetary policy, to a case-study focused on Bitcoin’s complex ideology. In this way, Towards A Critical Sociology of Finance promises to equip the reader (and eventually the financial investor) with some critical skills to recognize and doubt financial ideologies and to become sensible to distracting argumentative strategies like buck passing and scapegoats building, as well as to other variously fallacious arguments.

SÉVERINE DENEULIN, MATHIAS NEBEL AND NICHOLAS SAGOVSKY TRANSFORMING UNJUST STRUCTURES The Capability Approach THE CAPABILITY APPROACH Structural injustice has traditionally been the concern of two major academic disciplines: economics and philosophy. The dominant model of economics has long been that of neo-classical economics. For neo-classical economists, human we- being is to be assessed by the availability of disposable income or according to goods consumed; it is measured by the levels of utility achieved in the consumption of commodities. Social order is fashioned by the ways consumers maximise their 1 well-being and enterprises maximise their profits. A core assumption is that all 2 commodities are commensurable: they can all be measured according to a single 3 numerical covering value, which is their price. Within this neo-classical paradigm, justice is achieved when the utility level of someone cannot be increased without 4 another person seeing his or her utility level decrease. The dominant paradigm of neo-classical economics was strongly challenged when development and welfare economist Amartya Sen received the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1998. His work offered an alternative to the neo-classical evaluation of human well-being in the utility/commodity space. The underlining philosophical intuition behind Sen’s work is that the standard of living lies in the living and not in the consumption of commodities. In searching for an alternative measure of human well-being, Sen devised his capability approach.

The sociological and political writings of Bernard Makhosezwe Magubane on African political history, political economy and political philosophy constitute a vital portion of a monumental legacy to later generations by an African intellectual who came to maturity through an historical consciousness that emerged during the 1960s. This was a period characterized by the radical contentious philosophies of history: African marxism, African nationalism and the reactionary ideologies aligned with imperialism and colonialism.The essays of Bernard Makhosezwe Magubane stand at a fascinating intersection with the intellectual systems of Frantz Fanon, H.I.E. Dhlomo, Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Amilcar Cabral. They are first and foremost what Cabral and Fanon were clamoring for: an instrumentarium of the construction of a progressive African ideology or African ideologies. What enabled them to realize this remarkable breakthrough is that they are a continuation of the revolutionary thought of Fanon and Cabral. Magubane was among the first African academic scholars to have seen the historical significance of Fanon and Cabral, respectively in the mid 1960s and in the early 1970s.Written in exile during the exile period in South African intellectual and cultural history these essays until recently were not easily historically locatable within the genealogical structure of South African intellectual traditions. Undoubtedly, this had been due to the 'political philosophy' of apartheid and its ideological manifestations.

Critical Social Theory and the End of Work examines the development and sociological significance of the idea that work is being eliminated through the use of advanced production technology. Granter’s engagement with the work of key American and European figures such as Marx, Marcuse, Gorz, Habermas and Negri, focuses his arguments for the abolition of labour as a response to the current socio-historical changes affecting our work ethic and consumer ideology. By combining history of ideas with social theory, this book considers how the 'end of work' thesis has developed and has been critically implemented in the analysis of modern society. This book will appeal to scholars of sociology, history of ideas, social and cultural theory as well as those working in the fields of critical management and sociology of work.