`The most up-to-date survey of the range of research in contemporary sociology, extremely useful to students, teachers, and researchers alike. Indispensable for collective and personal libraries' - Immanuel Wallerstein, Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris

This unique Handbook provides state-of-the-art reviews of sociology conducted by prominent scholars. Drawing on dedicated knowledge and expertise, the book constitutes an unrivalled guide to the central theoretical and methodological perspectives in the discipline as a whole.

The book is organized into six parts:

o conceptual perspectives

o social and cultural differentiation

o changing institutions and collective action

o demography, cities and housing

o art and leisure

o social problems

Each chapter includes a comprehensive review of the literature, covering the full range of work from contrasting traditions of thought and approaches.

No existing work matches this Handbook for scholarly coverage and relevance. It is a primary resource for understanding the discipline. As such, it will appeal to lecturers, researchers and advanced graduate and undergraduate students in Sociology.

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
Of Consensus, Tensions and Sociology at the Dawn of the 21st Century - Stella Quah and Arnaud Sales
PART TWO: CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVES
The Moving Frontier of the Social Sciences - Mattei Dogan
Rational Choice Theory in Sociology - Thomas Voss and Martin Abraham
A Survey
Feminist Theory and Critical Reconceptualization in Sociology - Rhoda Reddock
The Challenge of the 1990s
The Challenge of Modernity/Postmodernity to the Classical Heritage in Sociology of Religion - Ivan Varga
PART THREE: SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DIFFERENTIATION
The Fourth Generation of Comparative Stratification Research - Donald J Treiman and Harry B G Ganzeboom
The `Rediscovery¿ of Ethnicity - Christine Inglis
Theory and Analysis
PART FOUR: CHANGING INSTITUTIONS AND COLLECTIVE ACTION
Sociology of the Family - Barbara H Settles
Global Advances and Challenges
International Political Sociology - Richard G Braungart and Margaret M Braungart
Institutional Change in Armed Forces at the Dawning of the 21st Century - David R Segal and Nehama E Babin
Social Movements - Bert Klandermans
Trends and Turns
Late Modern Institutions and Collective Action - Pierre Hamel, Henri Lustiger-Thaler and Louis Maheu
PART FIVE: DEMOGRAPHY, CITIES AND HOUSING
Conceptual and Methodological Advances and Challenges in Demography - Dudley L Poston Jr
Urban Sociology - John Walton
The Sociology of Housing - William Michelson and Willem Van Vliet
PART SIX: ART AND LEISURE
Sociology of the Art - Antoine Hennion and Line Grenier
New Stakes in a Post-Critical Time
The Collapse of the Leisure Society? - Gilles Pronovost
New Challenges for the Sociology of Leisure
Theoretical Advances in the Sociological Treatment of Tourism - Graham Dann
PART SEVEN: ON SOCIAL PROBLEMS
Unravelling Alienation - Deborah Kalekin-Fishman
From an Omen of Doom to a Celebration of Diversity
Medical Sociology at the Millennium - William C Cockerham
Mental Health and Illness Research - Rumi Kato Price, Clyde R Pope, C A Green and S C Kinnevy
Millennium and Beyond
Recent Advances and Challenges in Sociotechnics - Jon Alexander
Future Research and Sociological Analysis - Eleonora Barbieri Masini