Author Description

The Future of Sociology brings together outstanding sociologists from a variety of areas with the object of succintly presenting their expectations for the future development of sociological knowledge in their areas of expertise. The editors suggest that sociology, having forfeited primacy in the study of many social questions to other fields in the past few years, needs to become more responsive to changes. They react favourably to the increased concern among sociologists with methodology of research, development of better data bases, and the application of knowledge, hoping that those developments will help rejuvenate the field. Specific prognoses for different areas of the field follow, covering the theoretical and methodological core of the discipline and different subfields -- social institutions, phenomena, agents of change and stratification. These thoughtful essays by leading sociologists on the future of the field and its subdisciplines from social psychology to organizations, gender to aging, will make provocative reading from social psychology to organizations, gender to aging, will make provocative reading for professionals and students in the various areas of sociology. This volume was developed in cooperation with the Pacific Sociological Association.