Introduction to Sociology: A Customization of Basic Sociology by Andrew Savchenko

Preface: What Is Sociology?

Part One. Theories, Perspectives, and Methods in Sociology
Chapter 1. What Is Social Theory and Why We Need It
Chapter 2. Methods, Data, and Other Ways to Look at the World
Chapter 3. Conflicting Conflict Theories—Karl Marx versus Lewis Coser
Chapter 4. Max Weber and Sociology of Economic Transformation
Chapter 5. What Keeps Society Together—Functional Approach to Social Integration
Chapter 6. Precision and Simplicity—Two Centuries of Utilitarian Perspective

Part Two. Socialization, Interaction, Community
Chapter 7. How Human Beings Become Social Beings
Chapter 8. How Society Shapes Ourselves
Chapter 9. How Conversation Builds Societies
Chapter 10. Interaction as a Stage Play—The Dramaturgical Perspective
Chapter 11. Communities—Real and Imagined
Chapter 12. What Happens When There Are No Communities

Part Three. State and Society
Chapter 13. Why People Obey—Power and Authority
Chapter 14. The State Has Its Own Interests
Chapter 15. States Ancient and Modern—Differences and Evolution
Chapter 16. Bureaucracy, Not as Bad as It Sounds
Chapter 17. Organizational Pathologies

Part Four. Economy and Society
Chapter 18. What Traditional Economies Look Like
Chapter 19. How Social Change Propelled Economic Transformation
Chapter 20. Trust, Culture, and Economic Efficiency—How Economy and Society Interact
Chapter 21. Social Inequality, Stratification, and Elites

Suggestions for Further Reading