subtitle: The Problem of Being Human-A New Trend in Psychology

    From its publication amid the social upheavals of the 1960s up to the present, the volatile theses of this book have decisively transformed debates on the shape of modernity, capitalism and everyday life in the late twentieth century. Now finally available in a superb English translation approved by the author, Debord's text remains as crucial as ever for understanding the contemporary effects of power, which are increasingly inseparable from the new virtual worlds of our rapidly changing image/information culture.

    Studies in Ethnomethodology has inspired a wide range of important theoretical and empirical work in the social sciences and linguistics. It is one of the most original and controversial works in modern social science and it remains at the centre of debate about the current trends and tasks of sociology and social theory. Ethnomethodology - the study of the ways in which ordinary people construct a stable social world through everyday utterances and actions - is now a major component of all sociology and linguistics courses. Garfinkel's formidable reputation as one of the worlds leading sociologists rest largely on the work contained in this book. Studies in Ethnomethodology was originally published by Prentice Hall in 1967 and has remained in print ever since. It is widely used as a text book in this country and in the United States. This new paperback is a special student edition of Garfinkel's modern classic.

    Cultural criticism has been too obsessed with the rage for order to be able to grasp the import of Peckham's search for "some human activity, which serves to break up orientations, to weaken and frustrate the tyrannous drive to order, to prepare the individual to observe what the orientation tells him is irrelevant, but what may very well be relevant." This book is destined to force a sharp turn in critical cultural studies because it addresses the rage for chaos in traditional "high culture, " not just in popular culture.

    The originality of the study lies in its association of two widely different approaches: the theory of decision-making in large organizations and the cultural analysis of social patterns of action.The book opens with a detailed examination of two forms of French public service. These studies show that professional training and distortions alone cannot ex plain the rise of routine behavior and dysfunctional "vicious circles." The role of various bureaucratic systems appears to depend on the pattern of power relation ships between groups and individuals. Crozier's findings lead him to the view that bureaucratic structures form a necessary protection against the risks inherent in collective action.Since systems of protection are built around basic cultural traits, the author presents a French bureaucratic model based on centralization, strata isolation, and individual sparkle-one that that can be contrasted with an American, Russian, or Japanese model. He points out how the same patterns can be found in several areas of French life: education, industrial relations, politics, business, and the colonial policy. Bureaucracy, Crozier concludes, is not a modern disease resulting from organizational progress but rather a bulwark against development. The breakdown of the traditional bureaucratic system in modern France offers hope for new and fruitful forms of action.

    The results of his efforts--revealed in five volumes published between 1967 and 1977--constitute one of the most searching and vigorous social studies ever undertaken by one person in the United States. Here, heard often in their own voices, are America's "children of crisis": African American children caught in the throes of the South's racial integration; The children of impoverished migrant workers in Appalachia; Children whose families were transformed by the migration from South to North, from rural to urban communities; Latino, Native American, and Eskimo children in the poorest communities of the American West; The children of America's wealthiest families confronting the burden of their own privilege. This volume restores to print a masterwork of psychological and sociological inquiry--a book that, in its focus on how children learn and develop in the face of rapid change and social upheaval, speaks directly and pointedly to our own times. Robert Coles is a professor of psychiatry and medical humanities at the Harvard Medical School, a research psychiatrist for the Harvard University Health Services, and the James Agee Professor of Social Ethics at Harvard College. ________________________________________In the 1950s Robert Coles began studying, living among, and, above all, listening to American children & their parents.

    The latest generation of titles in this series also features glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format.CliffsNotes on 1984 introduces you to the modern world as imagined by George Orwell, a place where humans have no control over their own lives, where nearly every positive feeling is squelched, and where people live in misery, fear, and repression.Orwell's vision of the future may be grim, but your understanding of his novel can be bright thanks to detailed summaries and commentaries for every chapter. Other features that help you study includeCharacter analyses of major playersA character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the charactersCritical essaysA review section that tests your knowledgeA Resource Center full of books, articles, films, and Internet sitesClassic literature or modern-day treasure—you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.