Chris Jenks

Traditionally, Sociology has identified its subject matter as a distinct set – social phenomena – that can be taken as quite different and largely disconnected from potentially relevant disciplines such as Psychology, Economics or Planetary Ecology.Within Sociology and Human Ecology, Smith and Jenks argue that this position is no longer sustainable. Indeed, exhorting the reader to confront human ecology and its relation to the physical and biological environments, Smith and Jenks suggest that the development of understanding with regards to the position occupied by the social requires, in turn, an extension of the component disciplines and methodologies of a ‘new’ human socio-ecology. Aiming to evoke critical change to the possibility, status and range of the social sciences whilst also offering essential grounding for inter-disciplinary engagement, Sociology and Human Ecology will appeal to postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers interested in fields such as Social Theory, Socio-Biology and Ecological Economics.

Traditionally, Sociology has identified its subject matter as a distinct set – social phenomena – that can be taken as quite different and largely disconnected from potentially relevant disciplines such as Psychology, Economics or Planetary Ecology.Within Sociology and Human Ecology, Smith and Jenks argue that this position is no longer sustainable. Indeed, exhorting the reader to confront human ecology and its relation to the physical and biological environments, Smith and Jenks suggest that the development of understanding with regards to the position occupied by the social requires, in turn, an extension of the component disciplines and methodologies of a ‘new’ human socio-ecology. Aiming to evoke critical change to the possibility, status and range of the social sciences whilst also offering essential grounding for inter-disciplinary engagement, Sociology and Human Ecology will appeal to postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers interested in fields such as Social Theory, Socio-Biology and Ecological Economics.

In Thought as a System, best-selling author David Bohm takes as his subject the role of thought and knowledge at every level of human affairs, from our private reflections on personal identity to our collective efforts to fashion a tolerable civilization. Elaborating upon principles of the relationship between mind and matter first put forward in Wholeness and the Implicate Order, Professor Bohm rejects the notion that our thinking processes neutrally report on what is ‘out there’ in an objective world. He explores the manner in which thought actively participates in forming our perceptions, our sense of meaning and our daily actions. He suggests that collective thought and knowledge have become so automated that we are in large part controlled by them, with a subsequent loss of authenticity, freedom and order. In conversations with fifty seminar participants in Ojai, California, David Bohm offers a radical perspective on an underlying source of human conflict, and inquires into the possibility of individual and collective transformation. This is a transcription of a seminar held in Ojai, California from 31 November to 2 December 1990. It has been edited by Professor Bohm.

In this book Chris Jenks looks at what the ways in which we construct our image of childhood can tell us about ourselves. After a general discussion of the social construction of childhood, the book is structured around three examples of the way the image of the child is played out in society:the history of childhood from medieval times through the enlightenment 'discovery' of childhood to the presentthe mythology and reality of child abuse and society's response to itthe 'death' of childhood in cases such as the James Bulger murder in which the child itself becomes the perpetrator of evil.Part of the highly successful Key Ideas series, this book gives students a concise, provocative insight into some of the controlling concepts of our culture.

Offering a critique of the humanist paradigm in contemporary social theory, Qualitative Complexity is the first comprehensive sociological analysis of complexity theory. Drawing from sources in sociology, philosophy, complexity theory, 'fuzzy logic', systems theory, cognitive science and evolutionary biology, John Smith and Chris Jenks present a new series of interdisciplinary perspectives on the sociology of complex, self-organizing structures.

Offering a critique of the humanist paradigm in contemporary social theory, Qualitative Complexity is the first comprehensive sociological analysis of complexity theory. Drawing from sources in sociology, philosophy, complexity theory, 'fuzzy logic', systems theory, cognitive science and evolutionary biology, John Smith and Chris Jenks present a new series of interdisciplinary perspectives on the sociology of complex, self-organizing structures.

In this book Chris Jenks looks at what the ways in which we construct our image of childhood can tell us about ourselves. After a general discussion of the social construction of childhood, the book is structured around three examples of the way the image of the child is played out in society:the history of childhood from medieval times through the enlightenment 'discovery' of childhood to the presentthe mythology and reality of child abuse and society's response to itthe 'death' of childhood in cases such as the James Bulger murder in which the child itself becomes the perpetrator of evil.Part of the highly successful Key Ideas series, this book gives students a concise, provocative insight into some of the controlling concepts of our culture.

`A polished piece of work which takes a cool and dispassionate look at subculture... Meticulous and insightful' - Jim McGuigan, Professor of Cultural Analysis, University of Loughborough This illuminating book, which explores the idea of subcultures, traces the concept back to its foundations in the works of Tonnies and Durkheim and, to a lesser degree, Marx and Weber. The discussion moves on to an analysis of subcultures in American urban sociology and criminology, through the traditions of the Chicago School, structural functionalism and systems theory. The ground-breaking work of Stuart Hall and the Birmingham School is evaluated and a case is made for the continuing relevance of the concept for sociology and cultural studies. The book provides: " An unrivalled critical guide to subculture " An assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the concept in the study of society and culture " A sharp assessment of its relevance and application today. Both an appraisal and a sustained critique of the concept of subculture, the book will be of interest to students of Sociology, Cultural Studies and Urban Studies.

`A polished piece of work which takes a cool and dispassionate look at subculture... Meticulous and insightful' - Jim McGuigan, Professor of Cultural Analysis, University of Loughborough This illuminating book, which explores the idea of subcultures, traces the concept back to its foundations in the works of Tonnies and Durkheim and, to a lesser degree, Marx and Weber. The discussion moves on to an analysis of subcultures in American urban sociology and criminology, through the traditions of the Chicago School, structural functionalism and systems theory. The ground-breaking work of Stuart Hall and the Birmingham School is evaluated and a case is made for the continuing relevance of the concept for sociology and cultural studies. The book provides: " An unrivalled critical guide to subculture " An assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the concept in the study of society and culture " A sharp assessment of its relevance and application today. Both an appraisal and a sustained critique of the concept of subculture, the book will be of interest to students of Sociology, Cultural Studies and Urban Studies.

Culture is a concept that has remained on the top of the agenda within the social sciences for two decades. It incites controversy and debate and always appears fresh. This book, updated throughout and with new sections on visual culture, urban culture and subcultures, argues that to understand the concept we need to locate it within traditions of thought and appreciate its political and ideological bases. The book looks at the concept of culture in the context of idealism and materialism, examining its relation to the notion of social structure and assessing its once assumed monopoly within literary study. Culture remains stimulating throughout. A standard reference text for students on sociology and cultural studies courses, this second concise and student-friendly edition offers an overview over the sociology of culture in an accessible format.

Culture is a concept that has remained on the top of the agenda within the social sciences for two decades. It incites controversy and debate and always appears fresh. This book, updated throughout and with new sections on visual culture, urban culture and subcultures, argues that to understand the concept we need to locate it within traditions of thought and appreciate its political and ideological bases. The book looks at the concept of culture in the context of idealism and materialism, examining its relation to the notion of social structure and assessing its once assumed monopoly within literary study. Culture remains stimulating throughout. A standard reference text for students on sociology and cultural studies courses, this second concise and student-friendly edition offers an overview over the sociology of culture in an accessible format.

Transgression is truly a key idea for our time. Society is created by constraint and boundaries, but as our culture is increasingly subject to uncertainty and flux we find it more and more difficult to determine where those boundaries lie. In this fast moving study, Chris Jenks ranges widely over the history of ideas, the major theorists, and the significant moments in the formation of the idea of transgression. He looks at the definition of the social and its boundaries by Durkheim, Douglas and Freud, at the German tradition of Hegel and Nietzsche and the increasing preoccupation with transgression itself in Baudelaire, Bataille and Foucault. The second half of the book looks at transgression in action in the East End myth of the Kray twins, in Artaud's theatre of cruelty, the spectacle of the Situationists and Bakhtin's analysis of carnival. Finally Jenks extends his treatment of transgression to its own extremity.

Transgression is truly a key idea for our time. Society is created by constraint and boundaries, but as our culture is increasingly subject to uncertainty and flux we find it more and more difficult to determine where those boundaries lie. In this fast moving study, Chris Jenks ranges widely over the history of ideas, the major theorists, and the significant moments in the formation of the idea of transgression. He looks at the definition of the social and its boundaries by Durkheim, Douglas and Freud, at the German tradition of Hegel and Nietzsche and the increasing preoccupation with transgression itself in Baudelaire, Bataille and Foucault. The second half of the book looks at transgression in action in the East End myth of the Kray twins, in Artaud's theatre of cruelty, the spectacle of the Situationists and Bakhtin's analysis of carnival. Finally Jenks extends his treatment of transgression to its own extremity.

This volume develops key links beween the study of childhood and social theory, exposing its historical, political and cultural dimensions. The authors set out the theoretical contexts within which more empirical studies of childhood are embedded.

In recent years there has been a rapid growth of interest in the sociological study of childhood. This new book draws together the major developments in the field. In particular, the book discusses contemporary sociological and anthropological research in order to develop key links between the study of childhood and social theory, exposing its historical, political and cultural dimensions.