Making Societies

The Historical Construction of Our World
Making Societies
January 2001 | 240 pages | Sage US
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Description

The only book written for undergraduates about the social construction of reality that is also historical and comparative. In addition, it includes chapters on the social construction of time and space, as well as the more traditional chapters on race, class, and gender.

This book shows how these social constructions of time, space, race, gender and class intersect with each other to produce particular social phenomena that are enduring and significant for our society. No other book for undergraduate teaching has ever done this … this is a real first!

"If the goal of this series is to broaden the students'' vision, no book is more ambitious toward attaining that goal than Making Societies. Roy helps students question the most ''natural'' of categories: time, space, gender, race, and class. Leading them through examples drawn from around the world, he shows how these categories are social constructions; historically formed, ideologically loaded, and subject to change. This may be profoundly unsettling, for students will be encouraged to question not only what they know but also the conceptual frameworks they use when they claim to understand anything. As Series Editors, it is our belief that this provocation will open new ways of thinking about the social world, how it is, and how it might be."
—Wendy Griswold, Series Editor, Northwestern University, from the foreword

"I love the organizing concept of the social construction of reality and using a cross-cultural historical comparative approach to analyzing key themes: space, time, race, gender, and class. I particularly like the focus on space and time first because it illustrates how deeply embedded the social construction of reality is."
—Joanne Defiore, University of Washington, Bothel

"The book is intellectually strong; it is driven by ideas and engages important processes of social life."
—Lisa Brush, University of Pittsburgh

Contributor to the SAGE Teaching Innovations and Professional Development Award

Find out more at www.sagepub.com/sociologyaward

Contents

Illustrations: Figures and Table

Illustrations: Figures and Table

About the Author and Publisher

About the Author and Publisher

Foreword

Foreword

Preface

Preface

1. Constructing Historical Reality

  • What Is Intelligence and Why Does It Matter?
  • The Social Construction of Reality
  • The Process of Social Construction
  • Dominant Institutions and Power
  • Intersections
  • Conclusion

2. Time

  • Linear and Cyclical Time
  • The History of Time
  • Time as Quantity and Commodity
  • Conclusion

3. Space (coauthored with Patricia Ahmed)

  • Space as a Thing
  • The Earliest Known Conceptions of Space
  • Non-Anglo-European Conceptions of Space
  • Early Anglo-European Conceptions of Space
  • Toward a Contemporary Anglo-European Understanding of Space
  • Intersections
  • Conclusion

4. Race

  • The Paradox of Race
  • What Is Race?
  • Preracial Categories
  • From Preracial to Racial Categories
  • Whiteness
  • Reflexivity
  • Intersections
  • Conclusion

5. Gender

  • Is Anatomy Destiny?
  • Sex and Gender
  • The Logic of the Category
  • The History of Bodies
  • Changing Gender in Anglo-European Society
  • Masculinity
  • Homosexual and Homosocial Relations
  • Intersections
  • Conclusion

6. Class

  • The Meaning of Class
  • The Origins of Class-Based Societies
  • Feudalism
  • Capitalism
  • Property
  • Cultural Boundaries
  • Conclusion

7. Intersections Small and Large

  • The Home
  • Cities
  • Nation
  • Conclusion

References

References

Glossary/Index

Glossary/Index

Description

The only book written for undergraduates about the social construction of reality that is also historical and comparative. In addition, it includes chapters on the social construction of time and space, as well as the more traditional chapters on race, class, and gender.

This book shows how these social constructions of time, space, race, gender and class intersect with each other to produce particular social phenomena that are enduring and significant for our society. No other book for undergraduate teaching has ever done this … this is a real first!

"If the goal of this series is to broaden the students'' vision, no book is more ambitious toward attaining that goal than Making Societies. Roy helps students question the most ''natural'' of categories: time, space, gender, race, and class. Leading them through examples drawn from around the world, he shows how these categories are social constructions; historically formed, ideologically loaded, and subject to change. This may be profoundly unsettling, for students will be encouraged to question not only what they know but also the conceptual frameworks they use when they claim to understand anything. As Series Editors, it is our belief that this provocation will open new ways of thinking about the social world, how it is, and how it might be."
—Wendy Griswold, Series Editor, Northwestern University, from the foreword

"I love the organizing concept of the social construction of reality and using a cross-cultural historical comparative approach to analyzing key themes: space, time, race, gender, and class. I particularly like the focus on space and time first because it illustrates how deeply embedded the social construction of reality is."
—Joanne Defiore, University of Washington, Bothel

"The book is intellectually strong; it is driven by ideas and engages important processes of social life."
—Lisa Brush, University of Pittsburgh

Contributor to the SAGE Teaching Innovations and Professional Development Award

Find out more at www.sagepub.com/sociologyaward

Contents

Illustrations: Figures and Table

Illustrations: Figures and Table

About the Author and Publisher

About the Author and Publisher

Foreword

Foreword

Preface

Preface

1. Constructing Historical Reality

  • What Is Intelligence and Why Does It Matter?
  • The Social Construction of Reality
  • The Process of Social Construction
  • Dominant Institutions and Power
  • Intersections
  • Conclusion

2. Time

  • Linear and Cyclical Time
  • The History of Time
  • Time as Quantity and Commodity
  • Conclusion

3. Space (coauthored with Patricia Ahmed)

  • Space as a Thing
  • The Earliest Known Conceptions of Space
  • Non-Anglo-European Conceptions of Space
  • Early Anglo-European Conceptions of Space
  • Toward a Contemporary Anglo-European Understanding of Space
  • Intersections
  • Conclusion

4. Race

  • The Paradox of Race
  • What Is Race?
  • Preracial Categories
  • From Preracial to Racial Categories
  • Whiteness
  • Reflexivity
  • Intersections
  • Conclusion

5. Gender

  • Is Anatomy Destiny?
  • Sex and Gender
  • The Logic of the Category
  • The History of Bodies
  • Changing Gender in Anglo-European Society
  • Masculinity
  • Homosexual and Homosocial Relations
  • Intersections
  • Conclusion

6. Class

  • The Meaning of Class
  • The Origins of Class-Based Societies
  • Feudalism
  • Capitalism
  • Property
  • Cultural Boundaries
  • Conclusion

7. Intersections Small and Large

  • The Home
  • Cities
  • Nation
  • Conclusion

References

References

Glossary/Index

Glossary/Index

SAGE Publishing Logo

Making Societies

The Historical Construction of Our World


January 2001 | 240 pages | Sage US

Format Published Date ISBN Price

The only book written for undergraduates about the social construction of reality that is also historical and comparative. In addition, it includes chapters on the social construction of time and space, as well as the more traditional chapters on race, class, and gender.

This book shows how these social constructions of time, space, race, gender and class intersect with each other to produce particular social phenomena that are enduring and significant for our society. No other book for undergraduate teaching has ever done this … this is a real first!

"If the goal of this series is to broaden the students'' vision, no book is more ambitious toward attaining that goal than Making Societies. Roy helps students question the most ''natural'' of categories: time, space, gender, race, and class. Leading them through examples drawn from around the world, he shows how these categories are social constructions; historically formed, ideologically loaded, and subject to change. This may be profoundly unsettling, for students will be encouraged to question not only what they know but also the conceptual frameworks they use when they claim to understand anything. As Series Editors, it is our belief that this provocation will open new ways of thinking about the social world, how it is, and how it might be."
—Wendy Griswold, Series Editor, Northwestern University, from the foreword

"I love the organizing concept of the social construction of reality and using a cross-cultural historical comparative approach to analyzing key themes: space, time, race, gender, and class. I particularly like the focus on space and time first because it illustrates how deeply embedded the social construction of reality is."
—Joanne Defiore, University of Washington, Bothel

"The book is intellectually strong; it is driven by ideas and engages important processes of social life."
—Lisa Brush, University of Pittsburgh

Contributor to the SAGE Teaching Innovations and Professional Development Award

Find out more at www.sagepub.com/sociologyaward


Table Of Contents:

  • Illustrations: Figures and Table
  • About the Author and Publisher
  • Foreword
  • Preface
  • 1. Constructing Historical Reality
  • What Is Intelligence and Why Does It Matter?
  • The Social Construction of Reality
  • The Process of Social Construction
  • Dominant Institutions and Power
  • Intersections
  • Conclusion
  • 2. Time
  • Linear and Cyclical Time
  • The History of Time
  • Time as Quantity and Commodity
  • Conclusion
  • 3. Space (coauthored with Patricia Ahmed)
  • Space as a Thing
  • The Earliest Known Conceptions of Space
  • Non-Anglo-European Conceptions of Space
  • Early Anglo-European Conceptions of Space
  • Toward a Contemporary Anglo-European Understanding of Space
  • Intersections
  • Conclusion
  • 4. Race
  • The Paradox of Race
  • What Is Race?
  • Preracial Categories
  • From Preracial to Racial Categories
  • Whiteness
  • Reflexivity
  • Intersections
  • Conclusion
  • 5. Gender
  • Is Anatomy Destiny?
  • Sex and Gender
  • The Logic of the Category
  • The History of Bodies
  • Changing Gender in Anglo-European Society
  • Masculinity
  • Homosexual and Homosocial Relations
  • Intersections
  • Conclusion
  • 6. Class
  • The Meaning of Class
  • The Origins of Class-Based Societies
  • Feudalism
  • Capitalism
  • Property
  • Cultural Boundaries
  • Conclusion
  • 7. Intersections Small and Large
  • The Home
  • Cities
  • Nation
  • Conclusion
  • References
  • Glossary/Index

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