Sociology

Over 200 entries

This new dictionary provides definitions of terms covering disaster research and management. It features practical terms, key concepts in disaster research from a social science perspective, and key organizations involved in disaster management, allowing readers to access definitions on the most important topics within this developing field.

Terms include famine, disaster diplomacy, event-tree analysis, and humanitarian principles. Some are short and concise, while others elaborate on the history and diversity of complex concepts such as resilience or climate change. Illustrations and weblinks offer additional context and resources.

This work focuses on the practical managerial dimension of disaster management and covers terms that a student of disaster management will need to understand. It is an essential reference source for students and professionals in this area.

Over 250 entries

This new dictionary gives a concise overview of key words used in the study and understanding of gangs. Broad in scope, it covers colloquialisms used in gang culture and sociological and criminological terms in relation to gangs, including social disorganization and social learning, as well as general academic concepts which apply to gangs, such as Critical Race Theory, acculturation, moral panic, and identity.

With entries on gangs both inside and outside of the United States and theories of key gang researchers, it is a useful resource for students, academics, and researchers studying criminology or law, or those who work in some capacity with gangs.

Over 430 entries

This new dictionary provides clear and accessible definitions of a range of terms from within the fast-developing field of Gender Studies. It covers terms which have emerged out of Gender Studies, such as cyber feminism, the double burden, and the male gaze, and gender-focused definitions of more general terms, such as housework, intersectionality, and trolling. It also covers major feminist figures, including Hélène Cixous, bell hooks, and Mary Wollstonecraft, as well as groups and movements from Votes for Women to Reclaim the Night. It is an invaluable reference resource for students taking Gender Studies courses at undergraduate or postgraduate level, and for those applying a gender perspective within other subject areas.

Over 400 entries

This new dictionary offers succinct, clear, expert explanations of key terms from both method and methodology in social research. It covers the whole range of qualitative, quantitative, and other methods, and it ranges from practical techniques like correlation up to methodological approaches such as ethnography. This wide-ranging approach enables it to cover terms needed by every social science discipline along with business and management, education, health, and other areas that encompass social research within their remit. This is an invaluable resource for students, academics, and professional researchers who undertake social research, or need to evaluate and present its results.

Over 450 entries

Over the past forty years, social historians have drawn on new sources and methodologies to shift the focus of historical interest to the experiences of ordinary people. The result has been a radical rethinking of the great events and historical transformations in American history, and The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Social History synthesizes the extraordinary wealth of information uncovered by this inquiry. The more than 450 entries in this work examine our shared history "from the bottom up," with entries on the way automobiles shaped American lives, the westward movement of settlers and farmers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the transformation of work over time, the women's suffrage movement, counterculture, leisure activities, consumption patterns, voting habits, population movements, racial divides, and many more fascinating topics intended to help readers develop a richer framework for understanding the social experience of Americans throughout history.

The Encyclopedia expands and updates the coverage of American social history found in The Oxford Companion to United States History, the award-winning 2001 publication edited by Paul Boyer (Emeritus, University of Wisconsin-Madison). More than 200 entirely new entries join hundreds more revised and updated entries originally published in the Companion, all of which have been signed by topic experts. Heavy use of cross-referencing assists readers searching for related entries, and selective bibliographies direct readers to the most important recent scholarly works. There is also an introduction by Paul Boyer and a topical outline of entries.

This is a reference work of unparalleled depth and scope that will introduce a new generation of readers to the complexities of this dynamic field of study.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Women provides clear, current, comprehensive information on the major topics of scholarly interest within the study of Islam and women. With more than 450 articles written by leading international experts and with a concentration on contemporary issues, it is a single source for accurate overview articles covering all aspects of this flourishing area of research. Organized around the central conceptual themes in research on Islam and women including Self and Body, Immigration and Minorities, Culture and Expression, Politics and Polity, and Community and Society, as well as Science, Medicine and Education among others, this work examines the scholarship on Islam and women that has expanded exponentially over the past twenty years, as well as cross-pollination between other fields and disciplines.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Women is based on the highly acclaimed Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World edited by John L. Esposito, and is one of four encyclopedias in the Islamic World series.

Over 75 articles

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Race and Education provides scholars, students, and teachers access to research, theories, and historical and contemporary reviews of the complex and intersectional ways in which race is enacted in educational practices around the world. Understanding race in education requires multiple voices and histories, as well as research that crosses geographic and conceptual boundaries. This Encyclopedia features contributors whose research in race and education provides clear, nuanced, and critical global perspectives in order to furnish readers an authoritative and sophisticated treatment of this growing field.

Over 160 entries

As the first major encyclopedia of its kind, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Gender Studies is the go-to source for scholars and students undertaking original research in the field. Extending the work of nineteenth and twentieth century feminist scholarship and more recent queer studies, the Encyclopedia seeks to advance the scholarly conversation by systematically exploring the ways in which gender is constructed in the diverse texts, cultures, and readers that constitute “the world of the Bible.” With contributions from leading scholars in gender and biblical studies as well as contemporary gender theorists, classicists, archaeologists, and ancient historians, this comprehensive reference work reflects the diverse and interdisciplinary nature of the field and traces both historical and modern conceptions of gender and sexuality in the Bible.

The Encyclopedia contains entries ranging in length from 1,000 to 10,000 words. Each entry includes bibliographic references and suggestions for further reading, and a topical outline of entries aids in research. The Encyclopedia builds upon the pioneering work of biblically focused gender theorists to help guide and encourage further gendered discussions of the Bible.

‘There is no better single-volume compilation for an up-to-date, readable and authoritative source of definitions, summaries and references’ – A. H. Halsey, University of Oxford

Over 2,000 entries

A consistent best-seller, this wide-ranging and authoritative dictionary covers terminology, concepts, and thinkers in the field of sociology, as well as from the related fields of psychology, economics, anthropology, philosophy, and political science.

For this fourth edition, Professor John Scott has conducted a thorough review of all entries to ensure that they are concise, focused, and up to date. Revisions reflect current intellectual debates and social conditions, particularly in relation to global and multi-cultural issues. New entries by a range of expert contributors cover relevant contemporary concepts, such as climate change, social media, terrorism, and intersectionality, as well as key living sociologists.

An invaluable introduction to sociology for beginners, and an essential source of reference for more advanced students and teachers.