Alec Douglas-Home was an aristocrat who disclaimed his peerage to become Prime Minister in 1963.

Formed out of a breakaway from the mainstream Liberal party in 1931, the Liberal National party (renamed the 'National Liberal Party' in 1948) preserved a separate identity for almost 40 years. During this time they helped ensure that the Liberals themselves would not return to their former status of a governing party while helping to broaden the electoral appeal of their Conservative allies, contributing significantly to the Tory domination of the British political scene in the middle of ...

Once teetering on the brink of oblivion, the British Liberal Party has again re-established itself as a major force in national and local politics. David Dutton's approachable study offers new insights into the waning, near death and ultimate recovery of the Liberal Party from 1900 to the present day. Discussions of politics, philosophy and performance are all skilfully interwoven as Dutton demonstrates how the party has become, once more, a formidable player on the political stage.

A total institution is defined by Goffman as a place of residence and work where a large number of like-situated, individuals, cut off from the wider society for an appreciable period of time, together lead an enclosed, formally administered round of life. Prisons serve as a clear example, providing we appreciate that what is prison-like about prisons is found in institutions whose members have broken no laws. This volume deals with total institutions in general and, mental hospitals, in p...

First published in 1987. A biographical look into the character and career of Austen Chamberlain. ‘Chamberlain’, thought Lord Beaverbrook, ‘will be a fascinating subject for a biography.’ These pages attempt to justify Beaverbrook’s words.

From the author of The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Stigma is analyzes a person’s feelings about himself and his relationship to people whom society calls “normal.”Stigma is an illuminating excursion into the situation of persons who are unable to conform to standards that society calls normal. Disqualified from full social acceptance, they are stigmatized individuals. Physically deformed people, ex-mental patients, drug addicts...

One of the most groundbreaking sociology texts of the mid-20th century, Howard S. Becker’s Outsiders is a thorough exploration of social deviance and how it can be addressed in an understanding and helpful manner.A compulsively readable and thoroughly researched exploration of social deviance and the application of what is known as "labeling theory" to the studies of deviance. With particular research into drug culture, Outsiders analyzes unconven...

When The Culture of Narcissism was first published, it was clear that Christopher Lasch had identified something important: what was happening to American society in the wake of the decline of the family over the last century.The book quickly became a bestseller. This edition includes a new afterword, "The Culture of Narcissism Revisited."

For thirty-five years and through thirteen editions, Jim Henslin's Down to Earth Sociology has opened new windows onto the social realities that shape our world. Now in its fourteenth edition, the most popular anthology in sociology includes new articles on our changing world while also retaining its classic must-read essays. Focusing on social interaction in everyday life, the forty-six selections bring students face-to-face with the twin projects of contemporary sociology: under...

How is crime to be defined? Can crime be medicalized? Can crime be explained or even excused in terms of biological or environmental conditions? Can punishment ever fit the crime? And should punishment be primarily reformative or retributive? This book is not an attempt at a kind of literary CSI and it is not directly concerned with the popular interest in forensic science. Nor is it a handbook for crime investigators. It is rather a laypersons introduction to the ways in which many crimin...

From the bestselling coauthor of Wittgenstein's Poker, a fascinating tour through the history of moral philosophyA runaway train is racing toward five men who are tied to the track. Unless the train is stopped, it will inevitably kill all five men. You are standing on a footbridge looking down on the unfolding disaster. However, a fat man, a stranger, is standing next to you: if you push him off the bridge, he will topple onto the line and, although he wil...

Erving Goffman effectively extends his argument in favor of a diagnosis of deviant behavior which takes account of the whole social situation.