Policy Press

Sociology and Social Theory

Sociology is a growth area for us and our books in sociology and social theory include exciting work from new authors and well-known academics, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate textbooks.

Our wide range of sociology and social theory books include high quality research and range from textbooks through to specialised monographs. Many also ‘make a difference’ in a tangible way, whether it be informing a key policy or practice debate, or improving the education of students.

Showing 37-48 of 283 items.

Social Divisions

Inequality and Diversity in Britain

Informed by sociological theory and recent empirical analysis, the new edition of this classic textbook is an accessible account of the major social divisions that structure social life. Written by experts, it covers an unrivalled range of social divisions, diversity and inequalities. This is an invaluable sourcebook for social science students.

Policy Press

Social Divisions and Later Life

Difference, Diversity and Inequality

As the population ages, this book reveals how divides that are apparent through childhood and working life change and are added to in later life.

Policy Press

Ethnicity, Race and Inequality in the UK

State of the Nation

50 years on from the Race Relations Act of 1968, this ‘state of the nation’ book provides an overview and commentary on how things currently stand in a wide range of sectors of society.

Policy Press

The Property Lobby

The Hidden Reality behind the Housing Crisis

The complex and self-serving nexus behind the UK’s housing crisis is laid bare in this passionate book from Bob Colenutt. Investigating the network of landowners, house-builders, financial backers and politicians, he reveals how we have been forced to accept the cycle of low supply and high prices, and proposes solutions to the housing emergency.

Policy Press

The Criminology of Boxing, Violence and Desistance

This perceptive study explores the extent to which boxing has the potential to reduce violent attitudes among young offenders. Jump assesses conflicting evidence and presents in-depth case studies of fighters to ask whether boxing’s values of discipline and respect can create a support network that helps young men refrain from reoffending.

Bristol Uni Press

The Evolution of British Gerontology

Personal Perspectives and Historical Developments

This landmark critical review of five decades of gerontology research, theory, policy and practice highlights key developments and current issues in the subject. It draws on interviews with dozens of influential academics to place the UK’s achievements in an international context, and considers where thinking in the field of ageing might go next.

Policy Press

Engaging with Policy, Practice and Publics

Intersectionality and Impact

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. This book examines the increasing importance of engagement with non-academic groups and actors in the co-production of knowledge and real-world influence in academic research.

Policy Press

The Death of Affirmative Action?

Racialized Framing and the Fight Against Racial Preference in College Admissions

Can affirmative action in US college admissions survive mounting threats? This judicious review, part of the Sociology of Diversity series, considers the question using up-to-date sociological, policy and legal perspectives to explain both sides of the fierce debate over affirmative action in the context of prominent Supreme Court cases.

Bristol Uni Press

Generational Encounters with Higher Education

The Academic–Student Relationship and the University Experience

Employing a generational analysis, this book offers an original approach to the study of Higher Education and documents the changing nature of the relationship between academics and students. Examining wider issues of culture and socialisation, this is a timely contribution to current debates about the University around higher education.

Bristol Uni Press

Living Against Austerity

A Feminist Investigation of Doing Activism and Being Activist

This engaging study of anti-austerity protest provides a valuable feminist perspective on activism at a time when austerity policy is disproportionately impacting women. It brings together lived experiences of activist culture and contextual analysis to explore the motivations and emotions associated with it—both positive and negative.

Bristol Uni Press

Imagining Society

The Case for Sociology

Re-examining C.Wright Mills’s legacy as a jumping off point, this original introduction to sociology illuminates global concepts, themes and practices that are fundamental to the discipline and rethinks and re-imagines what a critically committed, politically engaged and publicly relevant sociology should look like in the 21st century.

Bristol Uni Press

Why Who Cleans Counts

What Housework Tells Us about American Family Life

Every household has to perform housework. Using quantitative, nationally representative survey data this book theorizes about how power dynamics as reflected in housework performance help us understand broader family variations.

Policy Press