This book considers the social and cultural aspects of 20th-century modern industrial social formations, focusing on Britain and Europe, with reference to North America and Australasia. The main topics of the social dimension include an analysis of the class, gender and racial divsions; women, the family, and the romantic sphere; patterns of consumption; and conceptions of the self, the body and sexuality. The section on cultural dimensions focuses on an analysis of contemporary ideologies and belief systems; the growth in popular culture, the revolution in mass communications; the reshaping of knowledge in education and the modern metropolis as the privileged scene of modernity.
Part 1 Social dimensions: family and household, Helen Crowley - readings from Harriet Bradley, R. Pahl, Sylvia Walby and Nancy Chodorow; lifestyles and consumption, Robert Bocock - readings from J. Baudrillard, D. Miller, M. Featherstone and R. Williams; health, the self and social interaction, David Boswell - readings from C. Baron, H.V. Haynes and R.D. King, and P. Sedgewick; the body and sexuality, Jeffrey Weeks - readings from C. Vance, J. Weeks, F. Mort, L. Davidoff, S. Webb, V. Amos and P. Parmar, and K. Plummer; conclusion to part 1. Part 2 Cultural dimensions: religion, values and ideology, Kenneth Thompson - readings from J.A. Beckford; popular culture and the mass media, Celia Lury - readings from R. Williams and W. Benjamin; education and knowledge, Geoffrey Whitty - readings from S. Bowles and H. Gintis, R. Moore, R. Dale, S. Ball, and P. Willis; the city and the metropolis, James Donald - readings from G. Simmel and M. Berman; conclusion to part 2; summary and conclusion.
