Cultures and Societies in a Changing World
- Wendy Griswold - Northwestern University, USA
Area and Ethnic Studies (General) | Cultural Studies (General) | Sociology of Culture
A vital and personal aspect of individual identity, culture shapes a person's norms, values, beliefs and practices. This Fourth Edition introduces the sociology of culture and explores cultural phenomena including stories, beliefs, media, ideas, art, religious practices, fashions and rituals from a global-sociological perspective. The author takes a global approach by considering cultural examples from various countries and time periods, by delving into the ways globalization processes are affecting cultures and by offering an explanation of the post-Cold War era culture-related conflicts.
Readers will develop a deeper appreciation of culture and society from this text, gleaning useful insights that will help them overcome cultural misunderstandings, conflicts, and ignorance and will help equip them to live their professional and personal lives as effective, wise citizens of the world.
Earlier editions of this book have been in my recommended list for students of cross-cultural ministry for some time, and this fourth edition has enhanced its value considerably. Of particular value are the current case studies, keeping abreast with recent cultural developments, including the so-called media revolutions and their consequent sub-cultural societies, and the breadth of the author’s coverage in both historical and geographical terms. This book will help students to think sociologically, and, paradoxically, to think both critically and generously.
This book has given me and the students some preliminary thoughts to understand various cultures and societies across the globe. Even though the samples / illustrations produced in this book are far-fetched from the realms of students' experience (in this case: Jakarta, Indonesian experience), nevertheless, they convey some powerful cross-cultural comparison with what my students experience and comprehend in their day-to-day lives.
Fascinating read. Takes the approach of culture as an axis - using a sociological point of view.
I was hoping for a slightly more global approach, but if you don't need that, this is a very interesting work.
More likely to prove useful as a research text in the second year, though first years will benefit from guided reading of selected passages or even chapters.
This is a very useful book for students to focus on the rapidly changing world of new media. As I am a lecturer from Chinese Culture University in Taiwan, this book will be easy for the students who use English as second language for culture-oriented research. I positively recommend this book for guiding the students through the questions for study and discussion from this book.
A good introduction to culture before embarking upon the application of culture to health studies.
In revision the book for its fourth edition, I have kept the same structure as in the third edition. That edition, published in 2008, included a new chapter on power; this current revision contains no new chapters. Instead I have updated a number of cases and examples, including especially ones drawn from the Middle East. I have added a great many current references (51 in total). This attention to up-to-date references in the sociological literature is primarily to help instructors, although the motivated student will have the ability to dig further into the issues raised in the book. I have made modest, clarifying changes in the text. These changes should not have much impact on the length of the book.
