sociology

Sociologist Bénédicte Zimmerman’s empirical studies of employer groups and participative management reveals how the tension that exists between the individual and the collective is being reshaped in today’s flexible organizations. “Flexicurity” is not a mere word. And freedom at work is not just a matter of autonomy.

In her latest book, Saskia Sassen undertakes a ruthless demystification of economic globalization. She argues that globalization is embedded in institutions and places and reveals the nature of contemporary social conditions while indicating there are future options open for individual and collective action.

Basing his discussion on a reading of recognized classics in social science, Howard Becker offers a critique of the new ways in which sociological work is to be funded in the United States and calls for the respect of the fundamentally inductive nature of qualitative research.

Who or what is responsible for your condition? The rich? Destiny? Yourself? The American writer William T. Vollmann posed this question to poor people in every corner of the world. Part social survey, part moralistic essay, Poor People examines how poverty is measured and represented, reaching troubling insights into the dark side of poverty – for those living it and those observing it alike.