Jason L Powell

This book explores the rise and consolidation of Symbolic Interactionism. This is one of the most important and significant theories of social action in all the disciplines of social science and sociology. The book begins by charting its historiography, conceptual developments, key authors, links to emerging methodologies, and methods. The book ends with a reflective critique pointing to building on the key work that has been developed by a power social theory.

This original book explores the nature and extent of global aging in contemporary society. It examines the impact of populational aging on different continents in the world. The book then moves its attention to exploring aging in China. In particular, it reviews the implications of urbanisation for Chinese older people. It draws from social theory to illuminate a perceptual framework to examine rapid social change.

Sociology is the systematic study of the taken-for-granted assumptions that people make about everyday life. This book explores a triumvirate of important concepts in sociology: power, trust and globalisation. These concepts and examples need to be studied so assumptions masquerading as "fact" can be debunked by critical sociological questioning. We explore domains such as politics and government, health and community care as well as global financial issues, which are all centrally relevant issues in modern Sociology.

This book explores the global challenge: understanding ageing as a medical concept, social concept and population term. The focus is on China and global ageing. The book further assesses the rapid rise of ageing populations and what could be entitled The Silver Tsunami', highlighting how an unstoppable force of populational ageing needs to be analysed and what the social and economic implications are for all continents across the globe.

This book explores the relevance of key thinkers in social science from historical traditions to contemporary philosophers and the nature of modern society and how theories and concepts can be used to shed light on trends and inequalities around the world in which these thinkers lived. History is fast moving. The book attempts to explore the works of Weber, Durkheim, and Marx in the first three chapters to illustrate how their varieties of social science gave intimation about the social world in terms of social disorder and the remedies and actions needed to bring about social justice. The latter three chapters explore arguably the three most influential thinkers in social science of the 20th Century: Parsons, Foucault and Habermas. These thinkers in different ways gave a number of diagnoses of modern society. Some arguing for more balance between individuals and society as best regulated by institutions such as the family (Parsons), others argued for a more sophisticated understanding of power and how it plays out for social groups in modern society (Foucault) whilst for others critical social scientists should be focusing on defending the enlightenment ideals of reason and rationality as we go further into the 21st century. The book raises questions and provides many examples to stimulate thoughtful reflection about all our yesterdays, todays and tomorrows.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 55-70) and index.

This book explores the historical developments in social theory and critical theorising about history by Michel Foucault. The book begins by explicating the major conceptual developments in American and European Social Theory. The book moves to analyse the differential theoretical approaches that arose as a direct response to historical problems of the historical world, namely social, political and economic problems. The latter part of the book explores the relevance of Foucault and some of the lessons and implications for historical social theory.

This book explores the history and contemporary rise and consolidation of Feminism. Mainstream social theory is said to represent a partial and incomplete view of society and social relations. Such is the power of this critique that any theory which seeks to chart the contemporary terrain of society itself will itself be incomplete without due consideration being given to Feminism and its main themes and ideas. Feminism has had a major impact on social science. This text engages with conceptual development, historical formation, contemporary relevance and uses several examples from research to assess the strengths and weaknesses of Feminisms.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [63]-81) and index.

This innovative book locates the historical emergence of post-modernism and what it is a reaction against. One of the key theorists of post-modernism, is Jean Baudrillard. He has had an enormous impact on contemporary social theory and social philosophy. This text locates his key concepts, locates empirical examples and importantly maps out the key influences of Baudrillard's work. There is critical engagement with Baudrillard's post-modernism in an assessment of its strengths and weaknesses.

One of the key issues in England is the inter-relationship between voluntary organisations and sustainability. This book examines the factors that impinge upon opening and understanding the black box such as governance and quality, leadership, workforce, performance, partnerships and finance and funding.

Social Welfare, Aging and Social Theory explores how we can understand the changing relationship between social welfare and human aging. The book begins by reviewing how historical changes in society impacted on shaping emergence of scientific approaches to understand and problematize and bio-medicalize aging as akin to an illness and disease. The discussion moves to trace how particular social science theories were developed to reinforce negative perceptions of aging. The book also develops its own reflexive approach with in-depth examples of social welfare in national, international and global contexts in how aging is theorized in the postmodern world were alternative possibilities can be encountered.

Social Welfare, Aging and Social Theory explores how we can understand the changing relationship between social welfare and human aging. The book begins by reviewing how historical changes in society impacted on shaping emergence of scientific approaches to understand and problematize and bio-medicalize aging as akin to an illness and disease. The discussion moves to trace how particular social science theories were developed to reinforce negative perceptions of aging. The book also develops its own reflexive approach with in-depth examples of social welfare in national, international and global contexts in how aging is theorized in the postmodern world were alternative possibilities can be encountered.

This book focuses on five themes that link to a compelling argument in the study of ageing and social policy. Firstly, there is a policy context of neo-liberal social policy and implications for older people which is presented, as well as the idea that social construction of ageing focuses on 'ageing body' and its discursive construction by medical and cultural representations. Additional topics discussed include the history of the present develops ideas and discourses of social welfare and ageing; surveillance, power/knowledge and policing of subjects focused on care management and dystopian features of 'care' with related issues of 'elder abuse' and 'institutional abuse'. Reconstructing ageing looks at rethinking power relations and technologies of self in how subjects of knowledge can 'resist' medical discourses and professional power.

Personalisation in British social care is linked to both the principle and process that every adult who receives support, whether provided by statutory services or funded by them, will have choice and control over the shape of that support in all care settings. This adult social care policy agenda is firmly focused on the development of personalisation of support. The overall aim is for social care service users to have control over how money allocated to their care is spent. This book examines the social welfare system in Britain, with a particular focus on personal budgets and the quality of care received.

This book provides a critical reflection on theory, welfare and ageing. An examination on how ageing appears to be moving from individualisation to a globalised world is provided. This is particularly apparent in a move toward neo-liberal discourses of consumerism which artificially appears to indicate a reallocation of attention from responding to welfare problems such as 'abuse', for example to an attempt to define what it is to allegedly 'age positively' in an era were older people have never had it so good. This trend is happening in western culture and greatly reconstructs both the formal expectations and personal experiences of later life less in terms of welfare but more in terms of leisure. The book is written against the backdrop of such neo-conservative cultural theories in social gerontology.

This book has two main parts, one that examines what the world has learned so far in dealing with ageing and another which discusses how such a country as China has kept up with that learning. By combining general reviews with case studies in a comparative context, the book illustrates the "state of the art" via a multidisciplinary approach to understanding Western and non-Western experiences. The book is a must-have for students and researchers interested in social, behavioural, and humanistic inquiry as well as public policy analysis related to ageing with some of the leading experts that helped to define or redefine the fields.