Each student will select a book considered to be one of the ‘great works' in sociology, in the first week, to read and critique. There is a list from which to choose a book to review and critique, but students can select books outside the list in consultation with the instructor. Students will be required to write a book review and report on the review in a related Discussion Board Assignment.
This critique should be written in the style of reviews in Contemporary Sociology (about 750 words).
Review:
A critical book review briefly describes the content of a book and, more importantly, provides an in-depth analysis and evaluation of its ideas and purpose. The descriptive element of a review should give the reader an understanding of the author's arguments, while the evaluative element should detail your assessment of the book's ideas.
Your review should include:
• the author's purpose/thesis in writing the book
• the author's key arguments and evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses
• brief summary of the methodology used, level of analysis and sample
• comments on how the book relates to other work on the same subject
• comments on how the book makes a significant contribution to the study of sociology; and the sub-field of focus (if relevant)
• information about the author's reputation or authority in the field
• comments on future research that may be implied by (or build on) the author's work
Choose one book from the list below for your book review.
BOOK LIST:
Collins, P.H. (2000) Black Feminist Thought. New York: Routledge.
Collins, PH. (2004). Black sexual politics: African Americans, gender, and the new racism. New York: Routledge.
Comte, A. (2000). The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte: Volume 1. [Tr. By Harriet Martineacu]. Kitchener, Ontario: Batoche.
Du Bois, W.E.B. (2001). The negro. Mineola: Dover Publications.
Durkheim, E. 1952. Suicide: a Study in sociology. [Tr. John A Spaulding]. London: Routledge & K. Paul.
Ehrenreich, B. (2005). For Her Own Good: Two centuries of experts' advice to women. New York: Anchor Books.
Elliott, A. and Lemert, C. (2006). The New Individualism: the emotional cost of globalization. New York: Routledge.
Kozol, J. (2005). The Sham of the Nation: the Restoration of apartheid schooling in America. New York: Crown Publishers.
Parsons, T. (1966). Societies: Evolutionary and comparative perspectives. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Simmel, G. (2004). The philosophy of money. [Tr. Tom Bottomore and David Frisby]. New York: Routledge.
Skocpol, T. (1979). States and social revolutions: a Comparative analysis of France, Russia and China. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Skocpol, T. (1994). Social revolutions in the modern world. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Starr, P. (1982). The social transformation of American medicine.
Weber, M. (2001/1930). The protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism. (Tr. Talcott Parsons).