Suchergebnisse

Cover -- Brief Contents -- Contents -- Introduction -- Further reading -- 1 From life cycle to the life course: theoretical accounts -- The sociological enterprise and the life course -- Biological and psychological approaches -- Sociology and the life-cycle approach -- The life course: fresh approaches -- Methodology -- Summary -- Further reading -- 2 The life course in late/postmodernity -- The eclipse of modernity? -- Postmodernity -- Late industrial society -- Globalisation and its consequences -- The contemporary life course -- Summary -- Further reading -- 3 Social differentiation and determinants of the life course -- Life chances, lifestyles and the consumer society -- Social stratification and the life course -- The perseverance of social categories and inequalities: age -- The significance of social class -- Gender inequalities -- 'Race' and ethnicity -- Summary -- Further reading -- 4 Reproduction, pregnancy and childbirth -- Reproduction: the female body -- Pregnancy and childbirth -- Age of conception, birth rates and mortality and childlessness -- Ethical issues and new reproductive technology -- Summary -- Further reading -- 5 Infancy and parenting -- Infancy -- Parenting: anthropological and historical approaches -- Parenting in contemporary settings -- Motherhood -- Fatherhood -- Gay and lesbian parenting -- Summary -- Further reading -- 6 Childhood: issues and perspectives -- Childhood: from modernity to postmodernity -- Discontinuities in childhood: the consequences of divorce -- Children of ethnic minorities -- Childhood and formal education -- The persistence of educational inequalities -- Summary -- Further reading -- 7 Youth and emerging adulthood -- 'Youth' as a modern invention -- Youth subcultures -- Youth cultures as 'protest' -- Youth in postmodernity -- Youth cultures - variations on a theme -- Youth and deviance.

This book offers a comprehensive account of the nature and expression of contemporary forms of religion in Western societies. Drawing both on recent original work and classical and contemporary conceptual frameworks, it examines the beliefs, practices, patterns of organisation and significant trends in both mainstream and fringe religions including cults and quasi-religions. Competing arguments and theories about key developments are treated fully and fairly and there is a clear sense throughout of the social context. The approach is broadly sociological and the well-paced, jargon-free writing style and clearly sectioned chapters make this an ideal text for teaching and study purposes, both in sociology and religious studies. Amongst the themes and concerns covered are: * what we mean in the first place by religion * secularisation and new expressions of religiosity * the effect of religion on society and the relationship between religion and social change * the links between belief, belonging and social identity * contemporary Christianity and the religions of ethnic minorities in the West * globalisation, religious pluralism and postmodernity STEPHEN J. HUNT is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of West of England, Bristol. He has written widely on contemporary Christianity and new religious movements

Living history—the presentation of a historical period using live actors—remains an under-researched area despite the range of disciplines that might be brought to focus. While living history became popular in North America from the mid-twentieth century as a means of education, it now constitutes the basis of a fast-growing leisure-time pursuit— one that signifies a number of engendered trajectories in the sphere of leisure. This article will explore the significance of living history in terms of male identity. It will argue that as patriarchal structures are eroded and challenged, the construction, indeed, reconstruction of perceived traditional masculinities, may be negotiated and manufactured through the site of a serious leisure pursuit that attempts to draw boundaries with the feminine.