Essentials of Sociology

Essentials of Sociology, adapted from George Ritzer’s Introduction to Sociology, provides the same rock-solid foundation from one of sociology's best-known thinkers in a shorter and more streamlined format. With new co-author Wendy Wiedenhoft Murphy, the Third Edition continues to illuminate traditional sociological concepts and theories and focuses on some of the most compelling features of contemporary social life: globalization, consumer culture, the internet, and the “McDonaldization” of society.

New to this Edition

• New “Trending” boxes focus on influential books by sociologists that have become part of the public conversation about important issues. Replacing “Public Sociology” boxes, this feature demonstrates the diversity of sociology's practitioners, methods, and subject matter, featuring such authors as

o    Michelle Alexander (The New Jim Crow)

o    Elizabeth Armstrong and Laura Hamilton (Paying for the Party)

o    Matthew Desmond (Evicted)

o    Arlie Hochschild (Strangers in Their Own Land)

o    Eric Klinenberg (Going Solo)

o    C.J. Pascoe (Dude, You're a Fag)

o    Lori Peek and Alice Fothergill (Children of Katrina)

o    Allison Pugh (The Tumbleweed Society)

• Updated examples in the text and "Digital Living" boxes keep pace with changes in digital technology and online practices, including Uber, Bitcoin, net neutrality, digital privacy, WikiLeaks, and cyberactivism.


• New or updated subjects apply sociological thinking to the latest issues including:




• the 2016 U.S. election


• Brexit


• the global growth of ISIS


• climate change


• further segmentation of wealthy Americans as the "super rich"


• transgender people in the U.S. armed forces


• charter schools


• the legalization of marijuana


• the Flint water crisis


• fourth-wave feminism