Culture, Power And History ─ Studies in Critical Sociology

Sociologists at Boston College and a few contributors from other disciplines and other US academies explore social intersections between culture, power, and history and their costs and benefits. Taking each realm in turn, they consider such aspects as the commodification of childhood, ideologies of the normative and the social control of the criminal innocent in the policing of New York City, and media lessons from the 1997 U.P.S. strike. Annotation c2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Patricia Arend is a Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology at Boston College. Her areas of interest are gender, race, class, sexuality, consumption and social theory. Her dissertation examines "white weddings" in consumer society.Abigail Brooks is a Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology at Boston College. Her areas of interest include feminist theory, sociology of gender, critical gerontology and feminist age studies, sociology of the body, science and technology studies, and social theory. Her dissertation investigates women's lived experiences and interpretations of growing older against the contextual backdrop of growing prevalence, acceptance, and approval of cosmetic surgery.Denise Leckenby is a Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology at Boston College. Her areas of interest include qualitative methodology, feminist methodology, feminist theory, and sexuality. She is coeditor of Women in Catholic Higher Education: Border Work, Living Experiences, and Social Justice (2003).Stephen Pfohl is a Professor of Sociology and Chairperson of the Sociology Department at Boston College. He is the author of a wide variety of books and articles on topics ranging from the politics of deviance and social control to studies in social theory and contemporary culture. Pfohl's books include Death at the Parasite Cafe (1992) and Images of Deviance and Social Control (1994). Stephen is also a Past-President of the Society for the Study of Social Problems.Aimee Van Wagenen is a Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology at Boston College. Her dissertation investigates identity, public health and power in the science and practice of HIV prevention and education.