Reading Sources
Foucault, Michel. 2001. “The Great Confinement.” Pp. 35–60 in Madness and Civilization. New York: Routledge.
Book Theme:
Another excerpt from Foucault’s study of the construction of “madness” in Europe. This chapter explores how “madness” was handled in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Weber, Max. 1919. From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, edited by H. H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills. New York: Routledge.
Book Theme:
This collection includes “Science as a Vocation,” Weber’s famous lecture on what modern science can and cannot guarantee those who seek it out as their profession.
Schlosser, Eric. 2001. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books.
Book Theme:
For a good example of the rationalization of food itself, see Chapter 5 on “Why the Fries Taste Good.”
Mann, Michael. 2005. The Dark Side of Democracy: Explaining Ethnic Cleansing. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Book Theme:
This provocative book by the UCLA sociologist argues that ethnic cleansing is part of modernity and, in particular, democracy. It is a different take than Bauman’s book on the Holocaust but is just as important in its implications.
Lyon, David. 1994. The Electronic Eye: The Rise of the Surveillance Society. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Book Theme:
A sociologist updates Foucault for the digital age, exploring how electronic surveillance technologies affect our everyday lives as well as the broader social order.
Lanier, Jaron. 2010. You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto. New York: Knopf.
Book Theme:
Lanier, the computer scientist who created virtual reality technology, takes a critical but balanced view of the disenchanting effects of many contemporary digital technologies.
Giddens, Anthony. 2000. Runaway World: How Globalization is Reshaping Our Lives. New York: Routledge.
Book Theme:
This collection of lectures from the British theorist provides a sweeping and mostly optimistic take on globalization.
Foucault, Michel. 2003 [1973]. “The Old Age of the Clinic.” Pp. 54–64 in The Birth of the Clinic. New York: Routledge.
Book Theme:
An excerpt from Foucault’s study of the emergence of modern medical knowledge and perception.
Adorno, Theodor. 2001. “How to Look at Television.”
Book Theme:
A critical take on America’s favorite leisure activity by one of the Frankfurt School’s most prominent theorists.
Zinn, Howard. 1999. Marx in Soho: A Play on History. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.
Book Theme:
A humorous play imagining what Marx would think if he lived in the Soho neighborhood of today’s New York City. Search for clips on YouTube of the play being performed for “live” footage of Marx in action.
