RENT TEXTBOOKS

I. The Sociological Perspective

Preface

1. C. Wright Mills, The Promise--classic piece on the sociological imagination

2. Donna Gaines, Teenage Wasteland: Suburbia's Dead-End Kids--applying the sociological imagination to teen suicide

3. Mary Romero, An Intersection of Biography and History: My Intellectual Journey--applying the sociological imagination to domestic service

Theory

4. Chris Hunter and Kent McClelland, Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology--an introduction to the primary theori... MOREes used in sociology

5. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Manifesto of the Communist Party--classic piece on the relationship between the capitalists and the workers

6. David L. Rosenhan, On Being Sane in Insane Places--classic piece on labeling and social deviance

Social Research

7. Michael Schwalbe, Finding Out How the Social World Works--a summary of what it means to be sociologically mindful

8. Craig Haney, W. Curtis Banks, and Philip G. Zimbardo, Interpersonal Dynamics in a Simulated Prison--classic piece on the research design of Zimbardo's famous experiment

9. Meika Loe, Working at Bazooms: The Intersection of Power, Gender, and Sexuality--an investigation of gender, sexuality, and power in the work place

II. Culture

10. Howard S. Becker, Culture: A Sociological View--classic piece that provides a theory of culture

11. Barry Glassner, The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Fear the Wrong Things--one perspective of American culture

12. Haunani-Kay Trask, Lovely Hula Hands: Corporate Tourism and the Prostitution of Hawaiian Culture--an examination of cultural commodification and exploitation

III. Socialization

13. Emily W. Kane, “No Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That!”: Parents’ Responses to Children’s Gender Nonconformity--how parents socialize children to gender norms

14. Debra Van Ausdaleand Joe R. Feagin, Using Racial and Ethnic Concepts: The Critical Case of Very Young Children--a study of preschool children’s understandings of race and ethnicity

15. Robert Granfield, Making It By Faking It: Working-Class Students in an Elite Academic Environment--working class identity and law school socialization

16. Gwynne Dyer, Anybody's Son Will Do--resocialization into the total institution of the military

IV. Groups and Social Structure

17. Dalton Conley, The Birth of the Intravidual--an analysis of the individual and groups in society

18. Patricia A. Adler and Peter Adler, Peer Power: Clique Dynamics among School Children--a study of the structure and interactional dynamics among groups of school children

19. Christine L. Williams, Shopping as Symbolic Interaction: Race, Class, and Gender in the Toy Store--a study of secondary group relationships and social interaction

V. Deviance, Crime, and Social Control

20. Penelope E. McLorg and Diane E. Taub, Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia: The Development of Deviant Identities--the social construction of deviant identities

21. A. Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade, Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture: Why Are Some Fraternities More Dangerous Places for Women?--the social organization of crime

22. Mark Colvin, Descent into Madness: The New Mexico State Prison Riot--an example of social structure breaking down

VI. Social Inequality

Social Class

23. Kingsley Davis, Wilbert E. Moore, and Melvin Tumin, Some Principles of Stratification --classic piece on the functions of social stratification

24. G. William Domhoff, Who Rules America?: The Corporate Community and the Upper Class--the lifestyles and social institutions of the upper class

25. Thomas M. Shapiro, The Hidden Cost of Being African American: How Wealth Perpetuates Inequality--an examination of social class and racial differences in wealth

26. Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel-and-Dimed on (Not) Getting by in America--an exploration of the lives of the working poor

Gender

27. Barbara Risman, Gender as Structure--a review of four theories that explain sex and gender

28. Betsy Lucal, What It Means to Be Gendered Me: Life on the Boundaries of a Dichotomous Gender System--one woman’s narrative of gender identity and performance

29. C.J. Pascoe, 'Dude, You're a Fag': Adolescent Masculinity and the Fag Discourse--an examination of masculinity and homophobia in high schools

30. Kevin Bales, Because She Looks Like a Child--an exploration of female sexual slavery in Thailand

Race and Ethnicity

31. Matthew Desmond and Mustafa Emirbayer, What is Racial Domination?--an introduction to the study of race and racism

32. Charlie LeDuff, At a Slaughterhouse, Some Things Never Die--an examination of the racial dynamics at one workplace site

33. Katherin M. Flower Kim, Out of Sorts: Adoption and (Un)Desirable Children--how race and racism influence adoption decisions

34. Evelyn Nakano Glenn, Yearning for Lightness: Transnational Circuits in the Marketing and Consumption of Skin Lighteners--how racism influences beauty ideals around the world

VII. Social Institutions

Power and Politics

35. C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite--classic piece on the power elite

36. Richard L. Zweigenhaft and G. William Domhoff, Diversity in the Power Elite--a study of which minorities become the power elite

37. Chrystia Freeland, The New Global Elite--how the global economy is creating a new power elite

Mass Media

38. Eric Klinenberg, Convergence: News Production in a Digital Age--an in-depth investigation of one major news organization

39. Michael A. Messner and Cheryl Cooky, Gender in Televised Sports: News and Highlight Shows, 1989-2009--an empirical investigation of gender in sports reporting

40. Andrew M. Lindner, Controlling the Media in Iraq--how the military has influenced journalism during wartime

The Economy and Work

41. Robin Leidner, Over the Counter: McDonald's--an ethnographic study of the routinization of work

42. Adia Harvey Wingfield, Racializing the Glass Escalator: Reconsidering Men’s Experiences with Women’s Work--a study of the race and gender dimensions of work

43. Arlie Russell Hochschild, The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work--how individuals combine their work and home lives

Religion

44. Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism--classic piece on the influence of religion on the economy

45. Steven P. Dandaneau, Religion and Society: Of Gods and Demons--a sociological overview of the institution of religion

46. Jen’nan Ghazal Read, Muslims in America--an empirical examination of one religious group

Health and Medicine

47. Jill Quadagno, Institutions, Interest Groups, and Ideology: An Agenda for the Sociology of Health Care Reform--how social structure affects the organization of health care

48. Lillian B. Rubin, Sand Castles and Snake Pits--an examination of how deinstitutionalization increased the numbers of mentally ill among the homeless

49. Keith Wailoo, A Slow, Toxic Decline: Dialysis Patients, Technological Failure, and the Unfulfilled Promise of Health in America--an example of how U.S. health care is not working

Education

50. Mary Crow Dog and Richard Erdoes, Civilize Them With A Stick--education as an institution of social control

51. Mitchell L. Stevens, A School in the Garden--how college admissions at elite schools reinforce social class

52. Ann Arnett Ferguson, Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity--racial and gender stereotyping in American schools

The Family

53. Andrew J. Cherlin, The Deinstitutionalization of American Marriage--an examination of the weakening of social norms in the institution of marriage

54. Kathyrn Edin and Maria Kefalas, Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage--the changing meaning of marriage and motherhood

55. Annette Lareau, Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life--a study of social class differences in parenting and child rearing in African American and white families

VIII. Social Change

56. D. Stanley Eitzen, The Atrophy of Social Life--how social isolation is affecting society

57. Elijah Anderson, The Cosmopolitan Canopy--an ethnographic account of how urban spaces can transform race relations

58. Allan G. Johnson, What Can We Do? Becoming a Part of the Solution--social change strategies to deal with privilege and oppression