Section 1: Social Theory and Education 1. New developments in the New Sociology of Education 2. Romanticising resistance, Romanticising Culture: Problems in Willis's Theory of Cultural Production 3. Vertical and Horizontal Discourse: An Essay 4. The Responsible Anarchist: Postmodernism and Social Change Section 2: Social Inequality and Education 5. Liberal Ideology, Radical Critiques and Change in Education: A Matter of Goals 6. Sex and Social Class Inequalities in Education: A Re-Examination 7. Inequality in Higher Education: A Study of Class Barriers 8. Help or Hindrance? Higher Education and the Route to Ethnic Equality Section 3: Sociology of Institutions, Curriculum and Pedagogy 9. A Comparative Sociology of School Knowledge 10. Sex and the Quiet Schoolgirl 11. Knowledge and the Curriculum in the Sociology of Education: Towards a Reconceptualisation 12. Racist Harassment in the White Hinterlands: Minority Ethnic Children and parents' Experiences of Schooling in Northern Ireland Section 4: Research Practices in the Sociology of Education 13. Schooling and Radicalisation: Life Stories of New Zealand Feminist Teachers 14. Agency as a Form of Discursive Practice: A Classroom Scene Observed 15. Challenging Masculinity and Using Sexuality 16. Captured by the Discourse? Issues and Concerns in Researching 'Parental Choice'

Len Barton is Professor of Inclusive Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. He is Editor of British Journal of Sociology of Education, Disability and Society and International Studies in the Sociology of Education.

The British Journal of Sociology of Education has established itself as the leading discipline-based publication. This collection of selected articles published since the first issue provides the reader with an informed insight and understanding of the nature, range and value of sociological thinking, its development over the last twenty-five years as well as the analysis of the relationship between society and education.
Divided into four sections, the book covers:
social theory and education
social inequality and education
sociology of institutions, curriculum and pedagogy
research practices in the sociology of education.
The intention of this form of organisation is to provide the reader with an awareness and understanding of multiple perspectives within the discipline as well as key conceptual, theoretical and empirical material, including a wealth of insights, ideas and questions. The editor's specially written introduction to each section contextualises the selection and introduces readers to the main issues and current thinking in the field.