Contemporary society

About: Contemporary society is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3991 publications have been published within this topic receiving 91755 citations.

Reinventing the Family: In Search of New Lifestyles

Abstract: Reinventing the Family: In Search of New Lifestyles. Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim. Maiden, MA: Blackwell. 2002. 170 pp. ISBN 0-7456-2214-3. $26.95 (paper). In Reinventing the Family, Elisabeth BeckGernsheim focuses on the social, economic, and political changes since the 1970s that continue to shape family configurations today. The author directs her attention primarily to Germany and occasionally to the United Kingdom and the United States. Academics interested in a treatment of the changing family in the United States may feel a bit shortchanged, though the book does address some trends relevant to America. Beck-Gernsheim identifies changes in the family since preindustrial times: the separation of sex and reproduction, female gains in education, the basis of marriage (more on romance and less on economic considerations), higher divorce rates, a decline in the traditional nuclear family, and greater social and legal rights for same-sex couples. The new family forms arising from these trends are explained by the author's theory of individualization. Her perspective essentially argues that traditional relationships have weakened alongside an increase in personal freedom granting greater control over one's life. The author is primarily interested in the consequences of these two forces for the family. In Chapter 1, Beck-Gernsheim argues that uncertainty has arisen since the 1960s and 1970s regarding the family, that is, the definition and boundaries of the family. In her discussion of some examples of this uncertainty, the author acknowledges that the traditional family is one of many different forms throughout history, and that the Industrial Revolution led to the changing basis of the family-from "a working unit to an economic unit" (p. 13). I suspect that the author's individualization perspective informs her assertion that although "external circumstances" were the driving force behind different family configurations in the past, today they are a matter of individual choice. Many family scholars would agree that though individualism is a relevant force today, "external forces" are still responsible for a great many changes in the family. Regarding divorce trends (Chapter 2), the author presents a debate between two opposing viewpoints: Divorce trends indicate both a continuing stability in the family and a major transformation of the family. Although the author presents a sound discussion of the consequences of divorce for all parties concerned, a broader crossnational comparison of social policy on child support and alimony would have been helpful. Her argument on how divorce contributes to stability in the family needs strengthening. In Chapter 3, Beck-Gernsheim discusses the insecurity that comes with individualism and modernity. In light of this growing insecurity, the author suggests that people plan more for the future-cohabitation, premarital counseling, etc. The structures of contemporary life, she argues, "are no longer set by class, religion, and tradition, but rather by the labour market, the welfare state, the educational system, the judicial system, and so on" (p. 44). She argues that contemporary society is based more on achievement than ascription when compared with preindustrial society, but how does this comparison of pre- versus postindustrial society inform us about changes over the past few decades? …

Education - An Anatomy of the Discipline: Rescuing the university project?

Abstract: Education – An Anatomy of the Discipline focuses on the development of the discipline of education, how it is understood and practised in contemporary universities, and the potential threats to its future. As the author, John Furlong argues, disciplines are not only intellectually coherent fields of study; they also have a political life, they are argued for, supported, challenged and debated. Nowhere is this more true than in the discipline of education. In this authoritative text, Furlong describes the history as well as the current state of the discipline of education in universities. He also explores the range of national and global changes that have helped to shape the discipline in recent years. Education’s final ‘arrival’ in the university sector coincided with major changes in universities themselves. Today, universities are very diverse institutions: they no longer have a sense of essential purpose and have largely accepted their loss of autonomy, especially in education where government intervention is particularly strong. If education is now fully integrated into universities, then, like the system as a whole, it urgently needs to find a voice, set out a vision for itself, and state what its purpose should be within a university in the modern world. The book therefore brings together four vitally important topics: -the changing nature of the university-the academic and scholarly study of education as a field -the professional education and training of teachers -the nature and organisation of educational research. Education – An Anatomy of the Discipline will occupy a central place in contemporary literature about education; although based on evidence from British universities, its implications are important across the world. The book will be invaluable reading for all professionals working in university departments and faculties of education as well as those with an interest in the changing role of the university in contemporary society.

Reflections on the biographical turn in social science

Abstract: Contemporary theories of individualisation (Beck 1992; Giddens 1991, 1992) argue that modern society is giving a new importance to individuals. Where earlier agrarian and industrial societies provided social scripts, which most individuals were expected to follow, contemporary societies throw more responsibility on to individuals to choose their own identities. Social structures-classes, extended families, occupational communities, long-term employment within a firm-which formerly provided strong frames of identity, grow weaker. Simultaneously, society exposes individuals to bombardments of information, alternative versions of how life might be lived, and requires of individuals that they construct an ‘authentic’ version of themselves, making use of the numerous identityprops which consumer-society makes available. The transition from The Hidden Injuries of Class (1972) in Richard Sennett and Jonathan Cobb’s classic book of that title, to Sennett’s recent study of the children of that generation The Corrosion of Character (1998) provides one description of this transition, which Sennett represents as involving as much loss as gain in terms of psychic and moral wellbeing.

Corporate and Governmental Deviance: Problems of Organizational Behavior in Contemporary Society

Abstract: Corporate and Governmental Deviance , Fifth Edition, is a reader intended for use in courses on corporate crime in departments of sociology and criminology. This edition has been updated with several new readings, including an article on the recently uncovered government experiments with radiation. This book is intended for undergraduate and graduate courses in criminology, social deviance and social problems.