Sociology Theory

Money gives us freedom. It may not buy us happiness, but having it allows us to make choices.... The choice to live where you want. The choice to do what you love for work. The choice over how you spend your free time. But what if you knew that you would earn less than your male counterparts for the rest of your life? Today, being a woman means that you will. Few of us ever talk about it, but great economic inequality still exists between men and women.

As heard in a 2018 episode of The Hidden Brain, the tall poppy syndrome is a human condition that has been present in every society from the beginning of time. It explains why we seek out equality and justify our actions by cutting others down. With over 600 citations, The Tall Poppy Syndrome: The Joy of Cutting Others Down is the most comprehensive audiobook on the subject. Doug Garland has been studying the phenomenon for over 10 years after he experienced it firsthand in his own career.

Imagine it is now 2025 and that years earlier, in the wake of the world financial crisis of 2008, a new post-capitalist society had been born. In this ingenious book, world-famous economist Yanis Varoufakis draws on the greatest thinkers in European culture from Plato to Marx to offer us a dramatic and tantalising glimpse of this brave new world, where the principles of democracy, equality and justice are truly served.

After five years of ground-breaking research, Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom share some unexpected answers, gripping stories, and a tapestry of unlikely connections. The Starfish and the Spider argues that organizations fall into two categories: traditional “spiders,” which have a rigid hierarchy and top-down leadership, and revolutionary “starfish,” which rely on the power of peer relationships. The Starfish and the Spider explores what happens when starfish take on spiders (such as the music industry vs. Napster, Kazaa, and the P2P services that followed).

If you've always suspected that factions on the Left are trying to destroy the values that define our civilization, this book proves it. Through The Death of Right and Wrong, author, activist, and pundit Tammy Bruce takes you inside the chilling world of the Left - a place where morals and decency have been turned on their heads and the crisp distinction between Right and Wrong has been blurred into a mushy, gray mess.

After receiving a doctorate in medicine, Le Bon travelled in Europe, North Africa, and Asia and wrote several books on anthropology and archaeology. His interests later shifted to natural science and social psychology. Gustave Le Bon is best known for his seminal work Crowd Psychology where he describes the psychological effects in various group settings. In Psychology of Peoples written in 1894 he utilizes his anthropological knowledge and cross-references it with social psychology.

Everything we know about solving the world’s problems is wrong. Out: Plans, experts and above all, leaders. In: Adapting - improvise rather than plan; fail, learn, and try again. In this groundbreaking new book, Tim Harford shows how the world’s most complex and important problems - including terrorism, climate change, poverty, innovation, and the financial crisis - can only be solved from the bottom up by rapid experimenting and adapting.

Did the Covid-19 lockdowns and mandates serve society’s best interests? Science alone can’t answer the question. Philosophers have important things to say about it. So do psychologists, economists, novelists, and lawyers.

Fans takes the listener on a journey through a constellation of fandoms, and along the way demonstrates some fundamental truths about the human condition. Part behavioural study, part entertainment, at its heart the book is a story of collectives, of what happens to us when we interact with people who share our passions. The human brain is wired to reach out, and while our groupish tendencies can bring much strife (religious intolerance, racism, war, etc.), they are also the source of some of our greatest satisfactions.

El concepto de ignorancia necesita ser reevaluado, porque estamos atravesando un cambio revolucionario en la naturaleza del conocimiento. El desarrollo de la genética, la neurociencia y el big data ha cambiado la manera en que entendemos lo que puede conocerse sobre una persona. Los nuevos tipos de información traen aparejadas nuevas angustias, agravadas por lo difícil que resulta determinar con exactitud qué significará dicha información, quiénes tendrán acceso a ella y quiénes podrán usarla o manipularla.

Cuteness has taken the planet by storm. Global sensations Hello Kitty and Pokémon, the works of artists Takashi Murakami and Jeff Koons, Heidi the cross-eyed opossum and E.T. - all reflect its gathering power. But what does “cute” mean, as a sensibility and style? Why is it so pervasive? Is it all infantile fluff, or is there something more uncanny and even menacing going on - in a lighthearted way? In The Power of Cute, Simon May provides nuanced and surprising answers.

Are today's young adults gender rebels or returning to tradition? In Where the Millennials Will Take Us, Barbara J. Risman reveals the diverse strategies youth use to negotiate the ongoing gender revolution. Using her theory of gender as a social structure, Risman analyzes life history interviews with a diverse set of millennials to probe how they understand gender and how they might change it. Some are true believers that men and women are different and should be so. Others are innovators, defying stereotypes, and rejecting sexist ideologies and organizational practices.

A lauded expert on European history paints a vivid picture of Paris, London, and New York during the Age of Revolutions, exploring how each city fostered or suppressed political uprisings within its boundaries. In The Unruly City, historian Mike Rapport offers a vivid history of three intertwined cities toward the end of the 18th century - Paris, London, and New York - all in the midst of political chaos and revolution.

A quick, brief, and to the point look at what social exchange theory is.

Parenting for a Digital Future moves beyond the panicky headlines to offer a deeply researched exploration of what it means to parent in a period of significant social and technological change.

Provocative political commentator Arianna Huffington yanks back the curtain on the unholy alliance of CEOs, politicians, lobbyists, and Wall Street bankers who have shown a brutal disregard for those in office cubicles and on factory floors.

How do house flies help save millions of euros? Presented with the image of a fly in toilet bowls in airports, cafés and other public places, men—without realizing it—aim better and splash less, thereby reducing loads of cleaning costs. In The Housefly Effect behavioral scientist Eva van den Broek and advertising expert Tim den Heijer explain how to recognize The Housefly Effect (and many other effects) in our everyday lives and how we can use it to our advantage. Sometimes the smallest things can have a surprisingly large effect.

Mehr denn je sind wir damit beschäftigt, das Limit des Zumutbaren neu zu justieren. Wo liegt die Grenze des Sagbaren? Ab wann ist eine Berührung eine Belästigung? Svenja Flaßpöhler tritt einen Schritt zurück und beleuchtet den Glutkern des Konflikts: die zunehmende Sensibilisierung des Selbst und der Gesellschaft. "Sensibel" ist ein hochaktuelles, philosophisches und gleichzeitig unterhaltsames Hörbuch, das die Sensibilität dialektisch durchleuchtet und zu dem Schluss kommt: Die Resilienz ist die Schwester der Sensibilität. Die Zukunft meistern können sie nur gemeinsam.

Throughout history, humans have been driven by the quest for two cherished ideals: community and freedom. The two don’t coexist easily: we value individuality and self-reliance, yet are utterly dependent on community for our most basic needs. In this intricately crafted and thought-provoking book, Sebastian Junger examines this tension that lies at the heart of what it means to be human.

A Participatory Economy presents a clear and accessible post-capitalist model for those without extensive training or understanding of economics. Robin Hahnel is a trained economist and a co-founder of the idea of Participatory Economics, an evolving concept that offers a comprehensive blueprint for an alternative to capitalism. Robin Hahnel shows how placing decision making into the hands of producers and consumers can be a way to meet needs responsibly.