The Social Science Encyclopedia

by Adam Kuper (Editor)

Overview

The Social Science Encyclopedia, first published in 1985 to acclaim from social scientists, librarians and students, was thoroughly revised in 1996, when reviewers began to describe it as a classic. This third edition has been radically recast. Over half the entries are new or have been entirely rewritten, and most of the balance have been substantially revised.
Written by an international team of contributors, the Encyclopedia offers a global perspective on key issues within the social sciences. Some 500 entries cover a variety of enduring and newly vital areas of study and research methods. Experts review theoretical debates from neo-evolutionism and rational choice theory to poststructuralism, and address the great questions that cut across the social sciences. What is the influence of genes on behaviour? What is the nature of consciousness and cognition? What are the causes of poverty and wealth? What are the roots of conflict, wars, revolutions and genocidal violence?
This authoritative reference work is aimed at anyone with a serious interest in contemporary academic thinking about the individual in society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781134359691
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/14/2004
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	952
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Adam Kuper

Table of Contents

Accountability; accounting; activation and arousal; actor, social; adolescence; affirmative action; ageing; age-sex structure; agricultural economics; alcoholism and alcohol abuse; alienation; altruism and co-operation; anarchism; anger, hostility and aggression; Annales School; anthropology; anxiety; Aristotle (384-322 BC); art, sociology of; artificial intelligence; asymmetric information; attitudes; auctions; authoritarian and totalitarian systems; authority; balance of payments; banking; bargaining; basic needs; behavioural economics; Bentham, Jeremy (1748-1832); Boas, Franz (1858-1942); body; Bourdieu (1930-2002); Braudel, Fernand (1902-85); bureaucracy; Burke, Edmund (1729-97); business cycles; business studies; cannibalism; capital, credit and money markets

Editorial Reviews

This somewhat eccentric work includes entries under the disciplines of biology, medicine, philosophy, and psychiatry. A page-long entry on ``semantics'' ex plains what is actually meant by the sentence, ``Mary hit Alice.'' While in formative, this properly belongs in an encyclopedia of linguistics or logic, not in an already truncated social-science volume. Others of the entries are equal ly misplaced, and some are uneven in quality; 500 scholars contributed to the effort, but editorial control seems lack ing. While the publication of a work of interdisciplinary thought is welcome, users cannot rely on finding the expect ed. ``Acculturation'' refers the reader to the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences for further read inggood advice to follow for a first reading. Bill Bailey, Newton Gresh am Lib., Huntsville, Tex.

Library Journal

Similar to the 1985 first edition, the second edition of the "Social Science Encyclopedia" attempts to provide broad and up-to-date coverage of all of the social sciences in a single volume. It contains more than 600 signed articles, ranging in length from a few paragraphs to a few pages, representing current theory, practice, and policy in such disciplines as anthropology, economics, education, feminism, geography, government and politics, linguistics, philosophy, and sociology. With such broad coverage, the encyclopedia does not go into great detail. Fortunately, every entry includes a bibliography for further reading. Like the first edition, the encyclopedia is written primarily for specialists in the field. It has a relatively high reading level and will be most useful for researchers and graduate students A comparison of the first and second editions indicates that the editors have taken into account the many changes that have occurred in the social sciences over the intervening decade. In a random sample of entries selected from both editions, only one-quarter of the text was found to be the same. Approximately 15 percent of the entries from the first edition were dropped, and more than one-half of all entries have been revised and updated. A further 25 percent of the entries in the second edition are completely new. Many of the articles contain recent findings and citations, some as recent as 1994. This work will replace the first edition and will continue to serve as an update to the old standard, the "International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences". It will be a useful addition to any social sciences research collection.

Zom Zoms

The authoritative second edition surveying the central disciplines in the social sciences and reviewing theories, topics of special interest, and key historical figures in the formative schools of thought, which include: anthropology, business, communications, education, economics, women's studies, public policy, law, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, and sociology. Extensive revision has been completed for this volume, particularly in the areas of feminism and the treatment of cultural research. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

Acclaim for previous editions of the Social Science Encyclopedia

'...this is an excellent and authoritative publication.' - Adrian L. James, Professor of Applied Social Sciences, University of Bradford - Social Work and Social Sciences Review: An International Journal of Applied Research

'Well written and authoritative, this is a work truly deserving of the accolade "classic".Needs to be added to all reference collections serving a clientele with social science interests as well as general collections of any size.' - Reference Reviews

'A useful addition to any social sciences research collection.' - Reference Books Bulletin

'consistently high level of scholarship......recommended for all libraries.' - Choice

'There is much to applaud in the Encyclopedia. The entries are in general well written and informative, and pitched at the right level for likely readers. Particularly good are the longer "master entries" on whole disciplines.' - Times Literary Supplement

'This collection of essays goes a long way towards supplying a reasonable single-volume reference work that covers all the main disciplines and problem areas that exist within the field of the social sciences.' - Times Education Supplement

From the Publisher