Blackwell Publishers

Social Cognition is a collection of readings from the four-volume set of Blackwell Handbooks of Social Psychology that examine the mental representations that people hold of their social world and the way that social information is processed, stored, and retrieved. The readings have been selected to provide a representative sampling of exciting research and theory on social cognition that is both comprehensive and current and cross-cuts the levels of analysis from intrapersonal to intergroup. The book is organized around two broad themes: the cognitive representations of the social world, focusing on cognitions about the social world: and cognition in social interaction, showing how cognition takes place and develops within social relationships and other forms of social exchange.

A Social History of Psychology documents the rise of psychology in the twentieth century and its growing influence on Western society. The book focuses on practical, or «applied», psychology and examines the causes and social consequences of psychology's omnipresence in society. After a general overview of the history of psychology as a practical discipline, the book provides detailed accounts of the role of psychology in the fields of child rearing and education, work, mental health care, culture and ethnicity, delinquency and law, and attitudes and social orientations.Focusing on psychology as a social enterprise, A Social History of Psychology is a unique resource for understanding the history and development of contemporary psychology.

The Virtual Self is a concise, critical introduction to social life in an age of rapid technology and high speed communication. It addresses a fundamental question of our time: is contemporary society significantly different from the society that formed the theories and basic concepts of the founders of sociology? Our rapidly changing society requires innovative sociological concepts, and this book proposes 'the end of the social', a time somewhere between modernity and postmodernity when we can no longer assume that people inhabit a public sphere of civic discourse.The Virtual Self addresses major issues in sociology that inform virtually all of a student's course work. Of central concern is the relationship between everyday life and social structure in key domains of communication, personality, work/family, leisure and entertainment, and economics. At the same time, the book advances an argument about our stage of civilization, joining dialogue with critical thinkers and theorists who bemoan the loss of community and civic discourse. These perspectives from critical theory and postmodernism are introduced in readable, digestible ways as discussions are linked to standard sociological concerns such as the relationship between self and society.Written in a lively, accessible style, The Virtual Self presumes no sociological background and cites ample literature for further reference. Students and scholars will find it an engaging and exciting text.

A Companion to Economic Geography presents students of human geography with an essential collection of original essays providing a key to understanding this important subdiscipline. The contributions are written by prominent international scholars offering a wide-ranging overview of the field.The authors provide the reader with an understanding of the tradition of geographic research in all the relevant topics of economic geography whilst focusing on the developments of the last twenty years. All the entries provide critical assessments of the state of the field and highlight the contribution of each approach to an understanding of economic geography.The Companion is ideally suited to undergraduates and first year graduates and will provide them with a comprehensive review of economic geography in a clear and accessible format.

A Companion to Political Geography presents students and researchers with a substantial survey of this active and vibrant field. The volume contains specially written essays by prominent scholars from around the world and covers a wide variety of crucial themes in contemporary critical political geography.Each contributor not only charts the important work that has been done in the past, but also helps to define directions for future research. The material is organized thematically, but within this structure key debates and controversies are addressed from a range of theoretical viewpoints, including the most cutting edge. In this way, the Companion not only introduces the best thinking on political-geographic issues, but also supplies readers with a sense of the relevance and possibilities of the subject.

This authoritative handbook provides a cutting-edge overview of classic and current research as well as an assessment of future trends in the field of intraindividual processes. After outlining a set of integrative perspectives — evolutionary and cultural, developmental, and methodological — it goes on to provide an in-depth treatment of current research on social cognition and social motivation. The handbook concludes with chapters devoted to research on applying cognitive and motivational principles. — 28 specially commissioned chapters offer unparalleled coverage of the whole field of intraindividual processes — A carefully chosen team of authors from around the world ensure a truly international perspective — Fully referenced chapters include bibliographies for easy access to further study. This handbook is essential reading for upper-level students looking for succinct overviews and for researchers seeking an authoritative definition of the field which also indicates likely future trends.

This authoritative, state of the art overview of the field of intergroup processes is divided into nine major sections on cognition, motivation, emotion, communication and social influence, changing intergroup relations, social comparison, self-identity, methods, and applications. — Includes 25 specially commissioned chapters offer unparalleled coverage of the whole field of intergroup processes. — A carefully chose team of authors from around the world ensures a truly international perspective. — Fully referenced chapters include bibliographies for easy access to further study. This handbook is essential reading for upper-level students looking for succinct overviews and for researchers seeking an authoritative definition of the field, which also indicates likely future trends.

This book introduces students to new ways of thinking about culture and development. The book integrates the recent scholarship in the area of cultural studies within the existing frameworks of development studies, which have primarily focused on issues of political economy and structural transformation. Rather than viewing culture as simply an attribute of the societies undergoing development, this text critically examines how «development» itself operates as a cultural process. The authors draw on theories of modernity, poststructuralism and post-colonial studies to show how development institutions, processes and practices are inevitably caught up in a web of cultural presuppositions, values and meanings.The authors use the themes of gender, tradition and identity, human rights and new communication technologies to explore the challenges that processes of cultural change pose to conventional understandings of development. The book concludes by considering the move beyond «development» to a «post-development» paradigm.The book is made up of thematic chapters which include outlines and overviews of the specific topics, as well as case studies to illustrate the issues. The authors have designed the book specifically for students and teachers and the material included has been class-tested during their own teaching.

People's lives are inescapably bound with the groups to which they belong. Whether at home, work, or play human beings are essentially group beings. Thus, an understanding of behavior in group settings is a central task for social psychology.Group Processes aims to deepen our understanding of relationships within and between groups by means of three key ideas. First, groups are a source of social identity; our sense of who we are and what we are worth derives from our group memberships. Second, there is a constant tension in group life between its task and socio-emotional aspects; getting on with the job whilst also getting on with people. Third, group dynamics are frequently governed by comparison processes, both within the group and between the ingroup and various outgroups.In this comprehensively revised edition, Rupert Brown introduces readers to the major developments in the field of group processes in a clear and compelling way. All the chapters have been thoroughly updated and several new sections have been added. There are considerably extended treatments of such key topics as group cohesion, social comparison, leadership, social facilitation, group performance, socio-cognitive aspects of intergroup relations, and social identity processes. The new material is woven seamlessly into the existing structure of the book, integrating the latest theory and research with classic contributions from the past. There are many supporting illustrations from contemporary life throughout the text.

Philosophy: A Beginner's Guide is unique in its approach to introducing philosophy. Its succinct and self-contained chapters make this jargon-free text accessible to people who have had little or no previous contact with philosophy. In this new, revised and extended edition of the popular student text, Teichman and Evans introduce philosophy as it is studied in mainstream colleges and universities. Assuming no previous contact with philosophy, the authors guide the reader through the most central and important questions of philosophy, including the nature of existence, knowledge, freedom, feminism, God, morality, politics, science, reason, logic, and human purpose. This edition includes a new chapter on scepticism.