About ‘More Resources’
Here you can find external resources related to, or expanding on, the material presented in this chapter. Currently included are links to websites, links to online video clips, and suggested readings that you can find in your school or local library. If you would like access to the password-protected video library that accompanies the text, your professor can give you the username, password, and URL needed (and if your professor is not sure how to access the video library, he or she can contact an Oxford University Press sales representative for details).
Website links
American Sociological Association Theory Section
Multimedia links
An interview with John Porter about his book, The Vertical Mosaic, in 1972:
http://www.cbc.ca/archives/discover/programs/d/distinguished-canadians/john-porter.html
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Community (SSHRC)’s video on the results of their study to determine the issues that Canadians will face in the 21st century:
Readings: Introduction to Sociology
Allan, K. (2013). The Social Lens: An Invitation to Social and Sociological Theory (Third Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
The goal of this book is to provide a comprehensive discussion of both classical and contemporary social theory, outlining different approaches to sociology and describing the scholars who put these forth. However, unlike many other authors, Allan does not argue that these perspectives compete with each other. Instead, each perspective is presented as a starting point for students—an introduction to its ideas and a base for future exploration.
Appelrouth, S. and L.D. Edles. (2011). Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory: Text and Readings. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Ltd.
This book encompasses sociological theory from classical theorists such as Marx, Durkheim, and Weber, as well as contemporary theorists such as Smith, Butler, and Foucault. The five (now) standard and best known sociological theories are covered along with important but lesser-known theories such as post-colonialism, globalization theories, phenomenology, performativity, and so on. Also included are important biographical pieces, discussion questions, key readings by the theorists, and discussions of each theorist’s main intellectual influences, core ideas, and theoretical orientations.
Charon, J.M. (2012). Ten Questions: A Sociological Perspective. Toronto, ON: Nelson Canada (Wadsworth Cengage Learning).
This book offers a unique introduction to sociological principles by focusing on ten provocative questions such as “How is society possible?” “Are human beings free?” and “Does the individual really make a difference?” In examining these questions, readers get a sense of how the field of sociology has approached questions like these over the past 150 years. This concisely-written book asserts that the answer is often “it depends.”
Cheal, D. (2005). Dimensions of Sociological Theory. New York: Palgrave Macmillan
This is a clear and reader-friendly discussion of five key debates in relation to sociological perspectives. The organization is innovative, taking a thematic mode of introducing the paradigms, rather than a conventionally historical one.
Kimmel, M.S. (2006). Classical Sociological Theory (Second Edition). New York: Oxford University Press.
Kimmel’s main purpose is to expand the sociological “canon”—to describe the lives and works of the sociologists who are not typically included in historical discussions. He discusses early theorists whose work was marginalized due to prejudice and discrimination, and for this reason was relatively unknown and yet more important than was previously thought in the formation of the discipline of sociology.
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