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Sociology

Welcome to the Sociology subject guide

This guide provides information for resources on Sociology, ranging from books and journals to electronic databases and audio-visual material. It supports the study of Politics and Sociology, Sociology of Childhood, Sociology of Education, and more. 

In this guide you will find information about searching and making the most of library resources and how to access further training on offer at UCL. Please use the menu to see how the library can support your learning and research in Sociology.

You may also find these subject guides useful to you:

Subject Collections

A large number of contemporary resources on sociology can be found online, as e-books or e-journals. Print collections which hold sociology can be found in the IOE, SSEES and Main Libraries, but you can use Click and Collect to pick them up from any other UCL library.

UCL Library Services has many subject-specific databases that will help you find useful resources. Two key databases for Sociology are below.

Latest titles added to the collection

Education, Disability and Social Policy

Educational opportunities for disabled children remain a vital contemporary issue in British social policy. This new edition of the milestone book Education, Disability and Social Policy outlines critical debates in education concerning the position and experiences of disabled children and young people within a contemporary policy context. Incorporating new voices from leading thinkers, this second edition includes a fresh introduction and updates to key chapters, including considerations of the impact of social media on young people's 'voice' and whether the Children and Families Act (2014) resolved tensions between parents and local authorities over resources. In addition, it includes a new discussion on the intersection of race and disability.

Rethinking Analytical Sociology

This discerning book outlines the methods, assumptions and achievements of analytical sociology, presenting it as a valuable research approach in the social sciences. Daniel Little argues that analytical sociology provides an ambitious basis for understanding and explaining a range of important social phenomena, while also engaging critically with several key theoretical assumptions of the approach that limit its generality. Chapters highlight analytical sociology's empirical successes in public health, network analysis and political applications. Little demonstrates that current thinking in the field is limited by narrow conceptions of methodological individualism and the actor, and considers social issues such as racial health disparities in the USA, the rise of far-right authoritarian movements and the organizational causes of technology disasters within a broader theoretical framework. He argues that analytical approaches can be enriched through greater engagement with other areas of contemporary sociology, ultimately emphasizing that analytical sociology is a powerful tool when it acknowledges and moves beyond its preconceived limitations.

Changes in Attitudes to Immigrants in Britain, 1921-2021: From Alien to Migrant

This book discovers when and how attitudes to immigrants in Britain changed after 1921, where they originated and what language was used to voice these attitudes, in particular specific words, their meanings, the under- or overtones they bore, and what people meant or felt when they used them.

Start with Radical Love: antiracist pedagogy for social justice educators

In this groundbreaking book, educator, poet, and activist Dr. Crystal Belle challenges traditional educational practices and offers a new approach to teaching rooted in radical love and social justice. Combining research with personal experiences and interviews, Dr. Belle explores the roots and practical application of a social justice education framework grounded in Critical Race Theory (CRT), heart healing, educator beliefs, and a deep understanding of the structural inequities in education. Teaching with radical love means looking beyond traditional metrics of a student's success and utilizing their brilliance, cultural wealth, and intellectual potential to create transformative learning experiences, especially for minoritized children. This innovative approach to social justice education supports educators to teach with care, understanding, and intentional support for the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and identities of students.

Social Work and Social Policy Transformations in Central and Southeast Europe

This book provides a picture of recent developments in social policy and social work in Central and Southeast Europe, especially trends after the COVID-19 pandemic, which necessitated significant welfare modifications. By critically contextualising existing welfare state categorisations, the book aims to examine the link between the welfare state reforms and implications for social work in Central and Southeast Europe. The country-based chapters of this volume outline the context in which social policy and social work have developed and map the main changes in the welfare state since the transition from socialism; elaborate the country-specific welfare state discourse and discussions, which through literature review depict the conceptual debates about the welfare state, social justice, equality, poverty, entitlements for cash transfer and services, privatization, and accessibility; indicate the key challenges in social policy and social work; provide indications about the future perspectives of social policy and social service provision.

Seeing Social Problems: the hidden stories behind contemporary issues

Within the last four years, the death of George Floyd brought a new level of urgency to understanding police violence; the world experienced two of the three hottest years on record; drug overdose deaths in the U.S. surpassed 100,000 per year for the first time; the foreign-born percentage of the population became the highest ever; and COVID-19 transformed education, work, and public health. Seeing Social Problems: The Hidden Stories Behind Contemporary Issues, shows students how to think about social problems in a new way, by exploring the connection between their own experiences and larger social forces.

Sociology of Sexualities

Sociology of Sexualities is an insightful exploration of sexuality through a sociological lens, offering a comprehensive understanding of sexualities and gender identities. The Third Edition brings to light the current societal challenges faced by LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights, the influence of technology on sexuality, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sexual behaviors.

The Social Lives of Land

From the shaping of new homelands in the Cherokee Nation to the export of sand from Cambodia to shore up urban expansion in Singapore, The Social Lives of Land reveals the dynamics of contemporary social and political change. The editors of this volume bring together contributions from across multiple disciplines and geographic locations. The contributions showcase novel theoretical and empirical insights, analyzing how people are living on, with, and from their land. From Mozambique to India, Indonesia, Ecuador, and the colonial United States, the scholars in this collection uncover histories and retell stories with a focus on the lived experiences of rural and urban land dispossession and repossession.

Socionomics: how social mood shapes society

Socionomics: How Social Mood Shapes Society explores the main principles and applications of socionomic theory as elaborated by Robert Prechter. Socionomic theory posits that social mood, shifting constantly in a wave form through all aspects of society, is responsible for all social, economic and cultural phenomena.

Seeing Whiteness: the essential essays of Robin DiAngelo

In this volume, DiAngelo has gathered a selection of her groundbreaking works leading up to White Fragility. Speaking as a white person to her fellow white people, she seamlessly blends the personal with the political. The result is an engaging and provocative analysis of the sociopolitical forces of race that shape our lives. Taking up familiar ideologies such as individualism and meritocracy, she breaks down how these concepts function to protect and obscure structural racism. Collectively, these essays show how racism infuses our society and its institutions; it is a system that goes well beyond individual intentions or conscious acts of meanness.